Singapore 2025: Popovici wins Men’s 200m Freestyle thriller as Elendt takes first world title 

Romania’s David Popovici regained his Men’s 200m Freestyle world title, which he last won in 2022, following an intense final of the event at the World Aquatics Championships 2025 in Singapore, on a night where Germany’s Anna Elendt also made history of her own with her first world title. 

The 20-year-old turned fourth at the halfway stage, and looked out of the picture for the title as it came towards the final turn, but he turned up the pace with 25 metres to go – taking USA’s Luke Hobson on the touch to record his third gold medal at a World Championships, and perhaps his most impressive considering the depth of the field, which had four athletes under 1:45, and no one above 1:46. 

After winning the Olympic title in the event last year, he becomes one of only a small number of athletes to follow it up with a world title the next year.  

“I think even better than the Olympics, to be honest.” He said about his win when speaking to World Aquatics. “You know why? I trained a lot for the Olympics, but this coming (in) a year, a more relaxed year, more easy-going after the Olympics… I’m very proud of myself.” 

Poland’s Kamil Sieradzki, Italy’s Carlos D’Ambrosio and Great Britain’s James Guy all made good accounts of themselves in difficult circumstances, finishing in fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. 

Germany’s Anna Elendt provided a similar story to those in attendance at the World Aquatics Championships Arena in Singapore, as the 23-year-old produced an incredible final 50 metres to get the better of USA’s Kate Douglass and record her first ever World Championship title. 

She never looked outside of the medals, but she was only truly in the lead at the final touch, and she looked over the moon with her achievement. 

“I am so speechless.” She told World Aquatics. “When I knew I was going to start from Lane 1, I was only thinking about my coach, who always used to say, ‘If you have a lane, you have a chance’. I was following that. Just doing everything we worked on in practice, doing my underwaters. It worked out so well.” 

Italy’s Anita Bottazzo and Lithuania’s Kotryna Teterevkova finished in sixth and eighth respectively, as they both continued to gain valuable experience on the world stage. 

Simona Quadrella set a new European record on her way to taking silver in the Women’s 1500m final, as her time of 15:31.79 pushed USA’s Katie Ledecky all the way over the 30 lengths of the pool. 

The Italian gave a good account of herself in what was at times a lonely race, as she never deviated from her plan – executing her race to an impressive degree of effectiveness as she came in for the medal.  

Her time sees her as the second fastest swimmer ever in the event, with France’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova also going well in the final, finishing in fifth. 

There was European representation from second through to fifth place in the men’s 100m backstroke final, with Italy’s Thomas Ceccon and France’s Yohann Ndoye-Brouard taking respective silver and bronze in a field that was separated by just over seven tenths of a second. 

Ceccon arguably had the best finish of the field as he came in just five hundreths behind the eventual winner, Pieter Coetze of South Africa. Ndoye-Brouard was also good value for what was his first ever World Championship medal, with Hungary’s Hubert Kos and Great Britain’s Oliver Morgan both giving good accounts of themselves as they finished in fourth and fifth respectively, with Greece’s Apostolos Christou in eighth. 

In the semifinals, Poland’s Krzysztof Chmielewski booked himself a spot in lane five for the Men’s 200m Butterfly final, as he qualified in second place following a solid evening swim. He will be joined in tomorrow night’s final by the Italian pairing of Alberto Razzetti and Federico Burdisso, who qualified in sixth and seventh respectively. 

Another Italian to make it through to tomorrow night’s finals is Simone Cerasuolo. The 22-year-old booked lane five for the Men’s 50m Breaststroke final after coming off the right side of a close battle for progression. Also making it through were Netherlands’ Koen De Groot, Germany’s Melvin Imodu, and Austria’s Luka Mladenovic. 

Czechia’s Barbora Seemanova and Great Britain’s Freya Colbert will both return for tomorrow night’s Women’s 200m Freestyle final, as they progressed in fourth and sixth respectively. 

Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics

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