Singapore – The highly anticipated swimming action at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore is set to commence on Sunday, July 27, 2025, promising eight days of intense competition featuring many of the planet’s elite swimmers. The championships officially began on Friday, July 11, with other aquatic disciplines, but the pool swimming events are now just around the corner.
Here are six key swimmers to watch as they take to the starting blocks:
- Katie Ledecky, United States
The undisputed queen of distance freestyle, 28-year-old American great Katie Ledecky arrives in Singapore for her seventh World Championships, aiming to add to her staggering haul of 21 gold medals. Ledecky continues to defy expectations, having broken her own longstanding 800m freestyle world record (now 8:04.12) just last month. She also holds the world record in the 1500m freestyle (15:25.48) and boasts nine Olympic golds. A thrilling showdown awaits as she is set to clash with Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh in both the 400m and 800m freestyle events.
- Leon Marchand, France
Following his heroic performances at his home Olympics in Paris last summer, Leon Marchand is arguably the biggest name in men’s swimming. The 23-year-old Frenchman captivated audiences by clinching gold in all four of his individual events: the 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, 200m medley, and 400m medley. In Singapore, Marchand will concentrate on the medley events. He currently holds the 400m medley world record (4:02.50, set in 2023) and will be aiming to break Ryan Lochte’s 200m medley mark of 1 minute 54.00 seconds, set in 2011. Marchand came incredibly close to this record in Paris, winning the Olympic final in 1:54.06.
- Summer McIntosh, Canada
At just 18 years old, teenage sensation Summer McIntosh is swimming’s hottest property. She arrives at the World Championships fresh off breaking three long-course world records at the Canadian trials last month. McIntosh reclaimed the women’s 400m freestyle world record (now 3:54.18) from Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, obliterated Hungarian great Katinka Hosszu’s decade-old 200m medley world record (2:06.89), and updated her own 400m medley mark (4:23.65). This incredible feat makes her the first swimmer to break three different long-course world records at the same event since Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. McIntosh also won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics and already holds four world titles.
- Kaylee McKeown, Australia
Australian backstroke specialist Kaylee McKeown demonstrated her dominance at last month’s Australian trials, achieving a clean sweep of the three women’s backstroke events. The 24-year-old, who won two Olympic golds in Paris, holds the world records in both the 50m backstroke (26.86 seconds) and the 200m backstroke (2:03.14). After skipping last year’s World Championships in Doha, McKeown will be looking to replicate her 2023 Fukuoka performance where she won all three backstroke events.
- Pan Zhanle, China
China’s 20-year-old freestyler, Pan Zhanle, had an incredible 2024. At the Paris Olympics, he not only clinched gold in the 100m freestyle but shattered his own world record with an eye-popping time of 46.40 seconds. The biggest threat to his defense of the 100m free world title will come from Romania’s David Popovici, who recently became the second-fastest man in history with a swim of 46.71 seconds. Their clash promises to be one of the most anticipated events of the championships.
- Yu Zidi, China
At just 12 years old, Yu Zidi has emerged from obscurity to make global headlines. The young Chinese swimmer stunned the swimming world at China’s national championships in May with a series of astonishing swims. She took second in the 200m individual medley behind Paris Olympian Yu Yiting, clocking 2:10.63, the fastest time in history for her age group. Wearing her distinctive “doggy” swim cap, Yu then won the women’s 400m individual medley by almost two seconds with a time that would have placed fourth at the Paris Olympics. She also secured victory in the 200m butterfly with another incredibly fast swim, narrowly missing out on a medal in Paris. Her presence at such a young age at a global championship will be closely watched.
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