World Championships, Day 7 Prelims: Gretchen Walsh Starts Busy Day in 50 Free
The 2025 World Aquatics Championships are heading to their penultimate day, which means a glut of 50s on the schedule. That includes the women’s 50 free, which sets up a busy day for Gretchen Walsh.
The American speedster has a gold medal in the women’s 100 butterfly to her account already at this meet. She’s also been one of many swimmers to battle illness, leading to a scratch from the women’s 400 free relay final. Progress from morning prelims Saturday in Singapore would set up a semifinal of the 50 free just over an hour after the final of the 50 fly, which starts the finals session (and surely rules Walsh out of a place in the mixed 400 free relay for a United States team desperate for any kind of relay good news).
Saturday’s prelims brings the men’s 50 backstroke, Lilly King’s final career individual swim in the 50 breaststroke, the mixed 400 free relay prelims and the men’s 1,500 free heats.
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Women’s 50 freestyle
The only returning medalist from the Paris Olympics led the way through the heats while the two American favorites, both struggling with effects of the stomach illness that has compromised their team all week, got through to the semifinal round in lower-than-expected position. Australia’s Meg Harris won silver last year in Paris, where she was the only swimmer aside from Sarah Sjostrom to break 24 in the final, and she went 24.32 here to beat out the Netherlands’ Milou van Wijk (24.39), who is coming off a third-place finish in the 100 free final by just two hundredths.
Italy’s Sara Curtis (24.41) took third, followed by consistent Worlds medalist Kasia Wasick (24.44) and China’s Cheng Yujie (24.47). France’s Beryl Gastadello and China’s Wu Qingfeng tied for sixth (24.53) while the Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen, fresh off a world title in the 100 free, was eighth in 24.62.
Americans Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske entered the race with the world’s only sub-24 performances this year, but they were well off the pace in their respective heats, Huske coming in (24.72) and Walsh 14th (24.79). The last qualifier was Hungary’s Petra Senanszky in 24.89.
Men’s 50 backstroke
Neutral athlete Kliment Kolesnikov was among the favorites to win gold in the men’s 100 back, but he fell out of podium contention. Do not expect a repeat of that result in the 50 back after Kolesnikov blasted a mark of 24.08 in prelims to lead the field by 0.28. He is already the quickest swimmer in the world this year with a mark of 23.90.
Kolesnikov was followed in qualifying by South Africa’s Pieter Coetze, a 21-year-old in the midst of a huge meet that has included gold in the 100 back and silver in the 200 back. Coetze went 24.36, followed by Czechia’s Miroslav Knedla (24.52), Great Britain’s Oliver Morgan (24.56) and the Hungarian who won the 200 back, Hubert Kos (24.62). Greece’s Apostolos Christou (24.65) and neutral swimmer Pavel Samusenko (24.66) were next to make it in.
An additional nine swimmers recorded times of 24.7 or 24.8, with the list including the United States’ Quintin McCarty (24.76) and Australia’s Isaac Cooper (24.76). Poland’s Ksawery Masiuk and Italy’s Christian Bacico tied for 15th in 24.89, while big-name swimmers Shaine Casas (tied for 20th, 24.97) and China’s Xu Jiayu (26th, 25.08) were left out.
Women’s 50 breaststroke
Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte has been extremely successful in the 50 breaststroke since making her return to the sport in 2022. She has captured three consecutive world titles in the one-lap event, maintaining her top form even when her 100-meter results have varied, and she will be in position to chase another title here. Meilutyte clocked 29.82 in the morning to lead the field by more than three tenths.
Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova placed second in 30.13, followed by China’s Tang Qianting (30.15) and Germany’s Anna Elendt (30.17). Elendt was the surprise gold medalist in the 100 breast while Tang won bronze. Finishing in eighth place in 30.46 was Italy’s Benedetta Pilato, who has reached the podium in this event at the past four World Championships. Two spots back was Lilly King, who advanced to the semifinals in the last individual race of her career, clocking 30.59. The only swimmers to have broken 30 this year are Meilutyte, Jefimova and King.
It took a time of 30.76 to reach the semifinal round, and the last qualifier was 16-year-old Australian Sienna Toohey.
Mixed 400 freestyle relay
Men’s 1,500 freestyle
