2025 World Championships: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap ...Middle East

By Mark Wild on SwimSwam

2025 World Championships

Day 3 Prelims Heat Sheet

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening, or Good whatever time it is that you are tuning into this article. The third morning of what has been an already twisting and turning meet is about to get underway. With just four events, it is one of the shorter sessions on tap this week, but that certainly does not mean it is devoid of stories, stars, and potential upsets.

The session kicks things off right where we left off last night as the world’s top breaststrokers return to the pool, this time in the 50 breaststroke. Now, an Olympic event, this event is bound to attract more attention and with it faster and faster times as a bevy of athletes try their best to get closer to the World Record of Adam Peaty. While another sub-26 performance may seem to be a Herculean task, the first step to doing so is by putting forth a strong effort this morning. Ilya Shymanovich, a former world record holder in the short course meter version of this event is the top seed with a time of 26.37, but will come under heavy pressure from the #2 and #3 seeds Ivan Kozhakin and Simone Cerasuolo, as well as from the podium in the 100 as Qin Haiyang and Nicolo Martinenghi enter as they flank Shymanovich in the final heat. The USA’s Campbell McKean makes his return to the pool and will be looking to right the ship after a poor showing in the individual 100, a similar situation to his compatriot Michael Andrew, who finished last in the semifinals of the 50 fly.

Team USA’s women in the 200 free are in a different boat, as Erin Gmmell, produced a strong split on the silver medal winning 4×100 free relay after being called up late to fill in for Gretchen Walsh, while her compatriot and the #2 seed, Claire Weinstein, will all have a lot of attention on her, if she swims, as she withdrew from the prelims of the 400 free on day 1. The pair of Americans will likely be vying for the minor medals, as Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan is the heavy favorite to win, especially in the absence of her fellow Paris medalists. The top seeds in the event, if on form, should easily move forward, but things get very bunched up after O’Callaghan and Weinstein. Keep an eye on the 5th seed Mary-Sophie Harvey, who, after collecting the bronze last night in the 200 free, may feel less pressure and throw down a fast prelims time. So too could Erika Fairweather, who, after being DQed in the 400 free, may be looking for a strong swim to turn the meet around.

The men’s 200 fly is a little wider open as the gold and silver medalists from Paris, Leon Marchand and Kristof Milak, are absent from the event. The bronze medalist, Ilya Kharun, is present but will not swim in the last heat as his NCAA rival, Luca Urlando, is the top seed in Marchand’s absence and, after missing the semifinals in Paris, will likely not hold back too much. His compatriot Carson Foster, too, is making his meet debut as the American hunts for his individual gold medal. The three aren’t the only ones looking to make the podium, as Krzysztof Chmielewski and Alberto Razzetti may see this as their best chances to improve upon their silver medals from the 2023 and 2024 World Championships.

The session concludes with three heats of the men’s 800 free. Daniel Wiffen, the defending Olympic and World Champions, will occupy the middle lane in the first of two circle-seated heats and will be under pressure from those on both sides as he squares off against the 1500 SCM World Champion, Ahmed Jaoudi, and the 400 free champion from night 1, Lukas Martens. The second semifinal is just as strong as the top seed Sven Schwarz finds himself in the sandwich of Samuel Short, the runner-up in the 400 free, and Bobby Finke, the 2021 Olympic champion in this event and the 1500 World record holder.

Men’s 50 Breaststroke – Prelims

Top 16 Qualifiers

Through the start of the circle-seeded heats, the fastest time belonged to Choi Dongyeol, as the Korean stopped the clock in 27.13. The 26-year-old looked strong from the get-go and lined things up perfectly to take the win from lane 0.

Heat 7, the first of the circle-seeded heats, saw the #3 seed Simone Cerasuolo flanked by Kirill Prigoda and Koen de Groot. The Italian, who did not compete in the 100 breaststroke event, used a strong middle 25 of the race to pull himself away from the NAB and Dutch swimmer as he got his hands onto the wall in 26.42, a drop of .11 from his seed. Prigoda, who was disqualified in the final of the 100 breaststroke last night, took 2nd in the heat at 26.76, with de Groot not far back at 27.01.

France’s Antoine Viquerat had the best start of the field in heat 8 and popped up with a lead after the pull-out, but was quickly run down as Japan’s Taku Taniguchi used a quick turnover to pull himself into the lead and take the heat win in 26.65. The Japanese swimmer entered the meet with a time of 27.13, cutting an impressive.48 off his time, which continues his run of good form after having dropped time in the individual 100. Behind him, Germany’s Melvin Imoudu held off a late charge from the #2 seed Ivan Kozhakin to touch 2nd in the heat 26.74 to 26.77. The trio were not the only ones to get under the 27-second barrier as Ronan Wantenaar of Namabia posted a time of 26.85, swimming out of lane 1.

The last heat, which was loaded with talent, as it contained both the gold and silver medalists from the 100 final last night, Qin Haiyang and Nicolo Martinenghi, as well as the top seed Ilya Shymanovich. However, perhaps because they were so evenly matched or perhaps because they were some shadowboxing was going on, the heat was very close at the finish, with no one really asserting themselves in the closing meters. South Africa’s Chris Smith made the most of the opportunity as he took the heat win in 26.82. While his time ranks just 6th overall, the field behind him was very close as Shymanovich was back just .07 at 26.89 with Martinenghi, Caspar Corbeau, and Qin right behind at 26.90, 26.94, and 26.98.

The American pair of Campbell McKean and Michael Andrew struggled in the event, finishing in 24th and 25th, respectively, with times of 27.32 and 27.37. Last night’s bronze medalist, Denis Petrashov, also missed the cut, finishing .01 ahead of McKean.

WOMEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – Prelims

Top 16 Qualifiers

Great Britain’s Freya Colbert got herself out to a strong start in the 3rd heat of the 200 free, opening in 57.49 to flip equal with the Australian Jamie Perkins, with the top seed Barbora Seemanova of the Czech Republic not far back at 57.54. Colbert started to fade over the 3rd 50 as the South African Aimme Canny moved up from 4th to 1st. Canny, who trains at the University of Virginia, tried to keep her momentum but couldn’t hold off the late charge back from Perkins and Seemanova. The Australian took the heat win in 1:57.08 with Seemanova back .05 at 1:57.13. The times were not that fast, as compared to their entries, so there may be a nervous wait for Canny and Colbert, who tied for 3rd at 1:57.53.

Speculation was rampant as to whether Claire Weinstein of the United States would take to the blocks. The American, who had withdrawn from the 400 free prelims on day 1, was 4th at 50, trailing Hungary’s Nikolett Padar by .39 to sit in 4th with the Hungarian opening in 27.40. However, by the 100-meter turn, Weinstein had overtaken the lead, opening the race in 57.65, a slower split than the previous heat’s best 100 time. Padar fell to 3rd as Stephaine Balduccini of Brazil had moved up as well to sit .11 back of the leader.

Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey was  1.50 back at the 100 and sat in 10th, but had closed the gap to just .42 over the 3rd 50 and looked to, along with the 400 silver medalist Li Bingjie run down Weinstein, but the pair ran out of pool space as they touched in 2nd and 3rd with times of 1:57.57 and 1:57.72 with the American taking the heat win in 1:57.38.

Mollie O’Callaghan and Erin Gemmell did not wait to backhalf the race like Harvey did as they opened in a swift 27.01 and 27.03, with Erika Fairweather of New Zealand not far off the pace, flipping just .08 back. As mentioned above, Fairweather was DQed in the 400 free, and certainly seemed to be taking out some frustrations, as she closed the, albeit small, gap and flipped first in 56.76, .04 ahead of the Australian and .10 ahead of the American. O’Callaghan’s underwaters pulled her ahead over the first half of the 3rd and 4th 50s, but Gemmell and Fairweather had the higher stroke rate and pulled ahead of O’Callaghan with Fairweather taking the heat win in 1:56.54, .20 ahead of Gemmell, with MOC taking 2rd in 1:57.04.

Men’s 200 Fly – Prelims

Top 16 Qualifiers

The 2nd heat of the men’s 200 fly was lead out by Italy’s Federico Burdiso 54.27, who led Carson Foster by .36. This was Foster’s first appearance in Singapore, and he looked strong over the first 150 as he took over the lead from the Italian and by the last turn had built himself a lead of .14 over the Italian with Martin Espernberger, an Austria 200 fly specialist back in 3rd by .22. Espernberger, who trains out of the University of Tennessee increased his tempo on the last 50 to pull himself into the lead and take the heat win in 1:55.45, with Foster back by .23 at 1:55.68. The pair were the only two under 1:56 as Burdisso held off a late charge from New Zealand’s Lewis Clareburt to place 3rd in the heat, 1:56.08 to 1:56.35.

The penultimate heat, which held the only returning 2024 Olympic medalist, Ilya Kharun, saw the Canadian take the race out fast, opening in 24.49 and establishing himself a lead of nearly a second on Japan’s Genki Terakado and Korea’s Kim Mineseop. The Canadian, who had a disappointing 50 fly semifinals, where he finished 9th, continued to lead at the 100, but Terakado had cut it down by a tenth and by the 150 turn he had closed it to just .34. However, Kharun fought back and used his strong underwater off the last wall to take the win in 1:53.74, a very quick prelims swim. Terakado, too, was much faster than the previous heat as he placed 2nd in 1:54.64, holding off a late surge from Michal Chmielewski, who was just .04 back.

Australian Harrison Turner looked best off the blocks, but Team USA’s Luca Urlando jumped into the front and hit the first wall in 24.98 ahead of Michal Chmielewski’s brother, Krystof Chmielewski. The pair led at the halfway turn with Urland opening it up in 53.14, with the Pole three-quarters of a second back at 53.89. Urlando continued to build his lead and had a near body length lead, or exactly a second, at the 150-meter mark. However, Chmielewski put in a strong pull and started to run down a somewhat flagging Urlando, but such was his lead that Urlando touched the wall with the fastest time of the morning, stopping the clock in 1:52.71. The Pole was rewarded for his strong last 50 as he touched in a new Polish record of 1:52.89. Behind the two, Italy’s Alberto Razzetti and China’s Chen Juner tied for 3rd at 1:54.54

Men’s 800 Freestyle — Prelims

Top 8 Qualifiers

The fastest time from the first heat was Canada’s Ethan Ekk, who stopped the clock in 7:53.30. The time was a very strong drop from his seed of 8:01.75, but such was the strength of the next two heats that the time was not likely to hold up. In the 2nd heat, 400 free World Record holder Lukas Martens took things out very quickly as he flipped at the 100 meter mark in 54.02, 1.18 under the 16-year-old world record set back in 2009 in Rome. Also under that pace were the Olympic Champion Daniel Wiffen (54.54) and Ahmed Jaouadi of Tunisia (54.84). At the 200, Martens still held the lead, flipping in 1:52.14, but was quickly slipping off the WR pace as he was now only .41 under it, with Jaoadi, who had passed Wiffen just .01 under it.

By the 400, they were nearly two seconds off the pace, but it was Jaouadi, now leading as he had slowly reeled in the German and led by .36, 3:48.66 to 3:49.02. The Tunisian continued to extend his lead on the two swimmers in the middle lanes, but faced a challenge from the pair in lanes 7 and 8 as Turkey’s Kuzey Tuncelli and Sweden’s Victor Johansson made their move on the last four with the pair passing Wiffen and then running down Martens on the last 50 to touch 2nd and 3rd behind Jaouadi. The 1500 SCM World Champion took the heat in 7:41.58, with the Swede taking 2nd in 7:44.81, .22 ahead of Tuncelli. The 2nd and 3rd place finishers each not only recorded new PBs but also new national records for Sweden and Tuncelli.  Martens faded on the end, but it looked more controlled than Wiffen, with the pair touching in 4th and 5th, recording times of 7:45.54 and 7:46.36.

With a target time of 7:41.58, the last heat saw Australia’s Sam Short and top seed Sven Schwarz of Germany establish an early lead, with Short opening in 54.90, 0.30 under world record pace. The USA’s Bobby Finke was not far behind at 55.49 and remained in 3rd at the 200 as he flipped in 1:53.61, .57 back of Short, who had fallen back under the WR line by .49 splitting 1:53.04. Over the next two hundred, the trio stayed at the front, with Short splitting 3:49.79 at the 400 turn. Finke, the 2021 Olympic champion in this event, had inched himself ahead of Schwarz by .10, flipping in 2nd at 3:50.50.

Every 50, Short just slightly extended his lead, and by the 600 it was over a second, and by the 700 it had ballooned out to over a body length. The Australian took the win in 7:42.22, with the German Schwarz passing Finke on the last 100 to take 2nd in the heat with a time of 7:43.60, .42 ahead of Bobby Finke, who was at 7:44.02. The trio easily moved onto the final, but the heat’s 4th place finisher, Benjamin Goedemans, was too far back and would wind up 9th overall with a time of 7:48.66.

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