2024 World Para Championships Day 5: Mallory Weggeman Claims 20th Worlds Medal; Kubiak, Pergolini Win Again
Katie Kubiak up her third world title , fourth world record and sixth overall podium appearance at the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore, claiming gold in the women’s 50m freestyle S4 in a record time of 36.83.
“It’s so special and honestly, it still feels like a dream every single day,” Kubiak said. “I think my mantra all week has been long is strong, strong is controlled and controlled is fast. That’s really been grounding me in all my sprints and keeping me levelheaded, so I’ve been leaning on that a lot.”
USA’s Leanne Smith added her fifth podium and first 2025 world title on Thursday after an impressive win in the women’s 50m freestyle S3.
“This is one I’ve been waiting all week for – for the freestyle events to start up,” said Smith. “I’m glad I had all the exciting races to get ready for this one and I’m happy to be bringing home another gold for Team USA and my first gold for this trip.”
It was an all-American clash in the women’s 50m freestyle S13, where Gia Pergolini surged to her second world title of 2025 in a tightly contested sprint. Olivia Chambers followed with bronze, her third medal of the competition after back-to-back golds, and Grace Nuhfer , the recent 100m butterfly champion, rounded out the American lineup in seventh.
Besting her time from the Paris Paralympic Games, Mallory Weggemann soared to her third podium of the meet and twentieth career world championship medal. With her silver in the women’s 50m butterfly S7, Weggemann has rounded out her 2025 collection with a medal in every finish.
“Doing things differently can be scary,” Weggemann said. “I am so proud of this past year and what we’ve done as a family – my husband, my daughter and I – we’ve truly done every inch of this together. They are at the pool every day for training, and it’s been incredibly grounding. It’s made every part of it meaningful, so I think we’re going to carry a lot of that as we keep heading to LA.”
Two-time Para medalist Noah Jaffe won his first medal of the championships, racing to a third place in the men’s 50m freestyle S8. After narrowly missing the podium over multiple events this week, the sprint win was an unexpected and pleasant surprise for the California native.
“I’m just so excited and relieved,” said Jaffe. “I’ve been just off the podium in my other events so to get back on means a lot. The 50 free is definitely not the event I expected to medal in so I’m just really proud of myself.”
Day 5 Para Winners
- Women’s 100 Breaststroke SB5: Grace Harvey, Great Britain
- Men’s 100 Breaststroke SB5: Andrei Granichka
- Women’s 400 Free S9: Lakeisha Patterson, Australia
- Men’s 400 Free S9: Simone Barlaam, Italy
- Women’s 100 Butterfly S10: Defne Kurt, Turkey
- Men’s 100 Butterfly S10: Stefano Raimondi, Italy
- Women’s 50 Free S4: Katie Kubiak, USA
- Men’s 50 Free S4: Ami Omer Dadaon, Israel
- Women’s 50 Free S8: Viktoriia Ishchiulova
- Men’s 50 Free S8: Eduard Horodianyn, Ukraine
- Women’s 50 Butterfly S7: Danielle Dorris, Canada
- Men’s 50 Butterfly S7: Andrii Trusov, Ukraine
- Women’s 100 Free S12: Maria Gomes Santiago Araujo, Brazil
- Men’s 100 Free S12: Kylian Portal, France
- Women’s 50 Free S6: Anna Hontar, Ukraine
- Men’s 50 Free S6: Antonio Fantin, Italy
- Women’s Para 200 IM SM14: Valeriia Shabalina
- Men’s 200 Para IM SM14: Gabriel Bandeira, Brazil
- Women’s 50 Free S3: Leanne Smith, USA
- Men’s 50 Free S3: Josia Topf, Germany
- Women’s 100 S11: Liesette Bruinsma, Netherlands
- Men’s 100 Free S11: David Kratochvil, Czech Republic
- Women’s 50 Free S13: Gia Pergolini, USA
- Men’s 50 Free S13: Oleksii Virchenko, Ukraine
- Mixed 400 Medley Relay: Spain
