Singapore 2025: Marchand and Meilutyte golden again on final day of World Aquatics Championships

European swimmers created big waves at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships which concluded today – and none more so than France’s 23-year-old phenomenon Leon Marchand, who added 400m individual medley gold to the 200m medley title he had secured four days earlier.

Lithuania also secured gold on the night as Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte with fourth consecutive women’s 50m breaststroke title, with neutral athletes winning the men’s 50m backstroke and men’s 4x100m medley relay.

Marchand, whose performance in earning four golds at last year’s home Olympics in Paris elevated him to the top table of world sport, had taken a staggering 1.31sec off the world record en route to the 200m medley final,  but on this occasion he contented himself with a clear victory as he finished almost four seconds clear in 4:04.73.

Silver went to the Japanese swimmer who followed him home in this event at Paris 2024, Tomoyuki Masushita, who clocked 4:08.32, with neutral athlete Ilia Borodin taking bronze in 4:09.16.

Marchand concluded his efforts by helping France earn silver in the men’s 4x100m medley relay in 3:27.96 behind a neutral athletes team that set a European and Championship record of 3:26.93. Italy finished fourth in 3:28.72, one place behind the United States on 3:28.62.

Those two final medals saw France finish third in the overall table with four golds, a silver and three bronzes behind the United States, who had nine golds in a total of 29, and Australia, who had eight golds in a total of 20. Neutral athletes finished in fifth place with three golds in a total of eight, with Germany two places below them after earning two golds in a total of five.

“Honestly, it was crazy… in the best possible way!” Marchand told World Aquatics. This morning wasn’t easy. Swimming at 9am is never ideal, so I wasn’t too stressed, but I was lucky with my lane, and I managed to swim my race from start to finish.

“I felt really good during warm-up, and I thought I could get close to my record. Unfortunately, I’m still a bit off. It shows I’m lacking some training on the 400 IM. It’s kind of what I expected. After my 200 IM I knew I still had a lot of power, but maybe not as much endurance as I used to.

“The world record? It shows I’ve still got the fire, that I still love this. It’s what excites me most. I still want to keep going, and I saw a lot of things I can improve. So I’ll try to prepare as best as I can for the European Championships.

“Today was proof that I made the right choices and that I’m doing what I love. I didn’t necessarily need that confirmation – I already knew it – but it always feels good to be on the top step of the podium, to hear the national anthem, and to reflect on everything that’s happened this year.”

Meilutyte, 28, who won the London 2012 100m breaststroke title, clocked 29.55 to finish clear of China’s 21-year-old Paris 2024 100m breaststroke silver medallist Qianting Tang, who recorded 30.03.

Italian swimmers filled the next two places, with Benedetta Pilato taking bronze in 30.14 ahead of Anita Bottazzo, who clocked 30.21. Estonia’s 18-year-old – the European 100m breaststroke champion who won at that distance and over 50m at last month’s European Aquatics U23 Championships – finished sixth in 30.29.

One place above the young Estonian, swimming her last race in a career that has seen her win three Olympic golds and 11 world titles, was 28-year-old Lilly King of the United States.

Commenting on her run of victories in this event, Meiluytyte, who embraced King after the race, said:

“That’s eight years, right? That’s crazy, I don’t know, I don’t know what’s happening. I’m just really thankful for this opportunity to do what I’m doing, to be where I’m at.

“Just to share this experience in this pool with great people, and the girls. It was really cool, to do it with Lilly (King) on her last race today. Cheers to Lilly.”

King commented: “Tonight the pressure was off, just kind of show up and it’s your last race, so whatever happens, happens.”

Reflecting upon her embrace with Meilutyte, she added: “It was great. Ruta and I, we’ve been through a lot together. We’re a part of the very exclusive club and the mutual respect we have for each other is pretty amazing, so I always love watching her kick some ass and respect the hell out of her and her journey.”

Germany’s Sven Schwarz, who lowered the men’s European 800m freestyle record to 7:38.12 in May before doing the 800/1500m double at the European Aquatics U23 Championships, earned a second silver as he followed home Tunisia’s 20-year-old Ahmed Jaouadi in the 1500m, just as he did in the 800m.

The Tunisian – who finished sixth in this event at the Paris 2024 Games and fourth in the 800m – secured his second world title in 14:34.41, with Schwarz clocking 14:35.69 and bronze going to the Olympic champion and world record holder Bobby Finke in 14:36.60.

Germany’s 27-year-old Florian Wellbrock, who won Tokyo 2020 bronze in this event and had earlier won four golds in open water swimming at these Championships, was fifth in 14:44.29, one place ahead of Turkey’s 17-year-old European champion Kuzey Tuncelli, who took bronze in this event last year and clocked 14:52.44 on this occasion.

Canada’s 18-year-old Summer McIntosh, who had to settle for bronze in the previous evening’s monumental women’s 800m freestyle – where Katie Ledecky of the United States won her seventh consecutive world title in that event – finished off by returning to the gold standard as she secured her fourth gold in Singapore by winning the 400m individual medley in a Championship record of 4:25.78.

The United States, who had set the second world record of the Championships the day before in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay, concluded the swimming programme with another thanks to a time of 3:49.34 in the women’s 4x100m medley relay.

South Africa’s Pieter Coetze, who set an African record in finishing second behind Hungary’s Hubert Kos in he previous day’s men’s 200m backstroke, added another African record, and silver, as he clocked 24.17 in the 50m backstroke behind neutral athlete Kliment Kolesnikov, who set a Championship record of 23.68.

Neutral athlete Pavel Samusenko shared silver after clocking the same time, with Poland’s Ksawery Masiuk finishing fourth in 24.51.

Milou Van Wijk of The Netherlands was the top European finisher in the women’s 50m freestyle, taking fifth place in 24.47. Australia’s Meg Harris won gold in 24.02 ahead of China’s Qingfeng Wu and Yujie Cheng, who clocked 24.26 and 24.28 respectively.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics

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