The Dolphins and Eagles kept their leading roles at the helm of global pace easily afloat and airborne in 2025, as the dominant forces at the only global gathering last year to feature the best possible line-up of stars and nations, the World long-course Championships in Singapore.

Australia continued to box well 'beyond its weight' on national head counts and topped the medals table for swimming, pool and open water combined, both for the overall and women's team titles, while the United States confirmed its status as the strongest swim nation at the helm of points scores reflecting the top 8s across all events, overall and women.

The men's meet took on some unfamiliar shapes. In the midst of the count is this stark shifts that might have seemed 'impossible' not all that long ago: on overall medals, the USA men finished 7th, while on points, they were beaten for the gold by Italy.

The USA women's program had a fine championship despite the impact of a gastro-bug that laid low key challengers for gold and medals from several nations at the outset of the meet. While the Americans topped the women's counts on points, the closeness of battle with the Australians in the pool and Moesha Johnson's golden meet on the wave, where the USA struggles to tread water with the best of 'em, tipped the overall and women's podium scores by one gold medal in favour of the Dolphins.

All of that and more in our tables overall, women and men for podiums and points... and a few awards, including:

The Punch Above Weight Performance Team Trophy:

• AUSTRALIA - swimmers and their coaches

Entertainment Cup

The United States and Australia women's teams and their coaches in the USA, AUS and Germany, are providing some off the most entertaining, thrilling and nail-biting battles the sport has enjoyed over the long haul for a long time. Australia, under the direction of performance head Rohan Taylor, has managed the next wave of a female force on a roll for a quarter of a century, skilfully, in the midst of the Worlds 2025 team numbers a developing relay force, with two to three reserves a relay pocking up valuable experience (as well as their first big medals), some as heats swimmers in Singapore.

Fight For The Final Cup

Italy's men's team and their coaches. They show up, event after event, as a team, this time, nine men making the medals for their country, 7 in the pool, 2 on the wave. What makes the difference on team points scores is the consistency of quality through the ranks, the art of making finals and letting the fight go where it will. In the points scores, regardless of finishing position.

The USA men made 18 top 8 places in showdowns in pool and open water. Only one nation topped that: Italy, with 19.