Singapore 2025: Marchand obliterates 200m IM world record as Cerasuolo takes maiden title on day four
France’s Leon Marchand burst onto the scene at the World Aquatics Championships 2025 in Singapore, lowering the men’s 200m individual medley world record by a full 1.3 seconds in what was only the semi-final of the event.
The 23-year-old four-time Paris 2024 champion looked determined to get the record as he went out with the leaders on the butterfly leg before taking a commanding lead and coming in for the win in 1:52.69 – 2.5 seconds ahead of the nearest qualifier.
Marchand will have another chance to lower the time in tomorrow night’s final, where he will be an obvious top-pick for the title.
“I actually can’t really believe it right now.” he said to World Aquatics following the race. “I knew I was going to get close to my PB because I felt really good today, and the preparation has been pretty good, so I was really excited to race. It’s unbelievable for me.
“What’s crazy is that it’s a whole second… and it’s still hard to believe. A 1:52 on the 200m — that’s insane. I’m so happy, it’s just incredible.”
Also going well in the event was Great Britain’s Duncan Scott, with the 28-year-old coming through in third place and looking to regain the medal he won at the 2023 edition of the competition in Fukuoka. Hungary’s Hubert Kos will also be eyeing-up a chance of success tomorrow night, as he progressed in fifth place.
Italy’s Simone Cerasuolo took his first-ever long-course World Championship medal with gold in the men’s 50m breaststroke – as he beat an in-form Qin Haiyang to take the title.
The 22-year-old made the most of a high-stroke rate out of his pullout, and managed to continue that pace through the length – executing his touch to perfection and taking the victory for his first taste of individual world glory.
“It is amazing for me. This win is unbelievable, and this race was very crazy, so I am happy for this win.” he said to World Aquatics following the race. “I thought of doing the right things. I just thought about myself and my opponents. And that was it. I am happy to have taken the gold medal home.”
Neutral athlete Kirill Prigoda did enough for the silver medal as he finished just less than a tenth of a second behind, also beating China’s Haiyang who finished in third.
Germany’s Melvin Imoudu was ultimately the wrong side of the finish as his albeit impressive effort saw him end up in fifth place, with Netherlands’ Kevin De Groot and Austria’s Luka Mladenovic in seventh and eighth respectively.
Neutral athletes Miron Lifintsev, Kirill Prigoda, Daria Klepikova and Daria Trofimova rattled the Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay world record with an impressive performance from lane 1 – taking the world title in the event with a new Championship record time of 3:37.97.
The quartet led from the front and never looked like relinquishing their lead as they powered home to all of their first titles of the week, with Netherlands, Italy and Poland in fourth, sixth and eighth respectively.
Going well in the men’s 800m freestyle were the German pairing of Sven Schwarz and Lukas Maertens. They took respective silver and bronze medals over a gruelling 16 lengths of the pool, as they did battle with Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi and just came up short – but both putting in times around the 7:40 mark in the process.
Sweden’s Victor Johansson and Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen finished in fifth and eighth respectively, in a race which saw a number of changes of pace, and provided a mixture of outcomes as a result.
Krzysztof Chmielewski repeated his feat from Fukuoka two years ago as he took men’s 200m butterfly silver following a close battle with USA’s Luca Urlando.
Despite ultimately touching just behind at each turn, the Pole did well to keep the pace throughout the four lengths – coming home less than a second behind for his second ever medal on the world stage.
Italy’s pairing of Alberto Razzetti and Federico Burdisso finished in sixth and eighth respectively, with the latter athlete being right in the mix for the medals at the halfway stage before falling away.
Great Britain’s Freya Colbert led the charge for the Europeans in a close women’s 200m freestyle final. The 21-year-old put in a new personal best time on her way to the finish, as she touched just half a second away from an impressive trio of medallists. Czechia’s Barbora Seemanova was just two tenths behind in fifth.
Great Britain’s Lauren Cox will also be a swimmer looking to improve on their Fukuoka performance, with the 23-year-old qualifying from the Women’s 50m Backstroke semifinal in second place, just three hundreths away from first.
France’s Analia Pigree will join her for the final, after she qualified in seventh place.
A hat-trick of Europeans will be in with a chance of women’s 200m butterfly silverware tomorrow night, with Ireland’s Ellen Walshe, Great Britain’s Emily Richards and Denmark’s Helena Bach all putting in impressive semi-final swims to qualify.
They all came in under 2:08, and within half a second of the podium places, with Walshe in third, Richards in fourth, and Bach in seventh ahead of a final which will likely see charges for the medals from each lane.
After taking a sensational victory in the men’s 200m freestyle final, Romania’s David Popovici will be looking to make the freestyle-double tomorrow night as his performance in the semifinals sees him as the second seed for the final.
In one of the fastest semifinals sets of swims ever, the 20-year-old’s time of 46.84, which would’ve normally been enough for an easy qualification as the top-seed, he came up short against the United States’ Jack Alexy by just three hundredths of a second – setting up a spectacle of a final the next day.
Also progressing with chances of both the win and the medals are France’s Maxime Grousset and Great Britain’s Matthew Richards who touched in fifth and sixth respectively.
Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
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