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Singapore Day 8 - Swimming Wrap

The McIntosh - Marchand show lived up to expectation before the USA women's medley team provided the curtain-closing fireworks at the 22nd World Championships

Craig Lord profile image
by Craig Lord
Singapore Day 8 - Swimming Wrap
The Queen and King of Singapore 2025 - Summer McIntosh and Léon Marchand

Towering efforts from Sumner McIntosh, Léon Marchand and a World record for the USA women's 4x100m medley of Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske provided the thrilling and decisive seals on the Singapore 2025 World Championships vault.

All day 8 words need from me are in the SOS reports, links below. A wrap of all things will follow in thew fullness off time, but not this day.

Thanks for tuning in to our coverage. The live job is a big one in swimming, with long hours and days, spills and thrills a part of the media job. It is far easier to cover these things remotely but to do so misses the set, lights, action, cut of it all, the theatre play, the curtain calls, the gold of being there, asking questions, listening and watching the real people respond and interact in the real world is unbeatable and essential.

The press conference that followed the greatest women's distance freestyle race in history - Katie Ledecky, Lani Pallister, Summer McIntosh and Simona Quadarella - was a case in point.

W800 Free - Empress Of Endurance Ledecky Leads The Greatest Women’s Distance Race In History To Triumph
Gold: 8:05.62 Katie Ledecky (USA); Silver: 8:05.98 Lani Pallister (AUS); Bronze: Summer McIntosh, 8:07.29. “I don’t feel like I have too much to lose ... just knowing what a fast field this was, I knew that if I put my best foot forward, I could be proud of the swim/the season that I’ve had.”

And, in the depths of the men's 1500m free report on day 8, the point about being there and understanding screamed in the words of Bobby Finke, which are worth repeating here in public view:

Finke then sent a very strong message home to armchair critics: 

"I'm proud of the USA team and what we've been able to accomplish, despite all the people back at home saying whatever they want to say. But you know, I'm proud of these boys. If someone's angry, my DMs are open, do whatever you want, okay? But you know, I'm proud of the team and what we've been able to do here…it's a big stepping point for the 2028 LA Olympics.”
“There’s a lot of people who want to comment on what they think is going on behind the scenes, and you know, some of what they said is true. We should probably have a USA swimming CEO by now, but it's not going to change how we're going to compete here. And personally, I have to disagree with what some say, that our swimmers are entitled. I think that's a weak statement. 
“There's a lot of stupid stuff being said. They have zero clue, like, the kind of teamwork that we have behind the scenes, and how well we're being put together. We have like, 11 new guys on a team, and there's a lot of high schoolers… those boys stepped up. And despite everything that was happening these past two weeks, we did great work.
“I don't understand why people are mad. We went to Thailand too, that resort had a very good history of stuff. And don't think it was the resort's fault. You know, it's just, you can't predict everything that's gonna happen. Shit’s gonna happen. That resort's got a great reputation. It's like, why not go there? You’re never gonna win with those people. So I have a lot of thoughts. My brain has just been spiralling. I'm just disappointed, but I'm gonna back these boys no matter what they say.”

Good for him.

As he says, USA Swimming does indeed need to get on with its key appointments - and the organisation would be all the healthier for moving away from the bubble in which some of the same people have held huge sway and influence over American links to governance at home and abroad.

Time to find some fresh folk with new ideas and a deeper understanding of the words integrity and transparency. Some of that plays into the lives of 'team', but Finke is right when he suggests that the success of a national team ultimately comes down to the coal face, not the boardroom.

What we see unfold in the light of super troupers is the product of the work that gets done day after day by all those at the very coal face of the job: athletes, coaches and the sports scientists, physiologists, psychologists and so on. The role of governance is to ensure that those people have the vey best of everything they need in the very specific work environment of cutting-edge, world-class sport, with understanding and without interference in the field of expertise and hands-on experience of the kind that for so long was passed down from generation to generation.

The board and management should not be involved in team selections. Period - in my opinion. They should be involved in the checks and balances required to know when intervention is required - and essential - for reasons of safe sport and related issues that demand full responsibility to be taken by governors as much as those they govern.

Ok, so, Day 8 .... and please note, if you read elsewhere and hear elsewhere anyone wobbling on about how the number of nations making medals - and even gold medals - has swelled beyond recognition ... ignore them. It simply isn't true - and the medals tables of the past are all the evidence one needs.

THE FINAL MEDALS TABLE IN THE POOL

SOS Coverage - Day 8

W400IM: McIntosh’s Record Margin Of Victory Lands Pioneering 4 Golds & A Bronze
“I think it was very obvious that my goal was five golds. Time just didn’t matter. I just wanted to get my hand on the wall first five times. I fell short ... but I think it’ll keep me hungry ... Even if I were to get five golds, I would still want more. That’s just my mentality.” - Summer McIntosh
M400IM: Marchand Back To Winning In Charted Waters After His 200 Timewarp Trip
“Today was proof that I made the right choices and that I’m doing what I love ... 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.” - Léon Marchand
W4x100 Medley: WR Gives Eagles 1-Gold Edge Over Dolphins & Finishing Fireworks For Singapore 2025
“There was a recurring message that the team morale was really high, and I agree wholeheartedly in that, I’ve never felt so closely bonded to a team before in my international senior-level meet career.” Gretchen Walsh
M1500 Free: Jaouadi Subjugates Distance Powerhouses Of The Pool
″ I think it came down to the one who wanted the gold medal more to win, and I won.” Ahmed Jaouadi. Well, no, it came down to a physical capability to rip and roar away from the toweringly fit rivals in the next lane
Harris Completes Dolphins Dash Dominance On Free; 4th Crown To Meilutyte & 1st for Kolesnikov
In 24.02, Meg Harris makes it two freestyle dash titles in Singapore for Australia, with Cam McEvoy; Ruta Meilutyte’s dominant 29.55 on breaststroke marks her 4th win in as many covid-contract-crunch years; and Kliment Kolesnikov takes his first long-course crown on backstroke
M4x100 Medley: Neutrals Lead France & USA In Last Relay
The result sheet and the history file will show ‘neutral athlete B - NAB’ forever more because that’s what the contract and condition of taking part demands.
Singapore 2025 - Day 8 Heats: Marchand Scrapes In As An Outside Smoker
Last day in Singapore: The Olympic champion and World record holder is through - in seventh half a second the right side of the line in 400IM heats

State of Swimming Covers - Singapore 2025

A selection of home-page snaps during the 22nd World Championships


The Records - Day 8

Championship, continental and national... heats, sets and finals:

Women

4x100m medley

Final
United States - 3:49.34 WR / AM / CR / NR
Regan Smith (57.57)
Kate Douglass (1:04.27)
Gretchen Walsh (54.98)
Torri Huske (52.52)

Heats
South Africa - 3:59.47 AR / NR
Olivia Nel (1:00.33)
Rebecca Meder (1:07.63)
Erin Gallagher (57.31)
Aimee Canny (54.20)

Hungary - 4:01.22 NR
Dóra Molnár (1:02.04)
Henrietta Fangli (1:06.63)
Panna Ugrai (58.21)
Lilla Minna Ábrahám (54.34)

Israel - 4:02.43 NR
Aviv Barzelay (1:02.10)
Anastasia Gorbanko (1:06.49)
Arielle Hayon (58.59)
Lea Polonsky (55.25)

400m medley

Final
Summer McIntosh Canada 4:25.78 CR

50m freestyle

Heats
Sara Curtis Italy 24.41 NR
Marina Spadoni El Salvador 25.74 NR
Anahira McCutcheon Fiji 25.84 NR
Tilly Collymore Grenada 26.42 NR
Joselle Mensah Ghana 26.48 NR

50m breaststroke

Semi-finals
Anastasia Gorbenko Israel 30.30 NR

Heats
Barbara Mazurkiewicz Poland 30.22 NR
Teya Nikolova Bulgaria 30.67 NR
Jayla Pina Cape Verde 33.26 NR

Men

50m backstroke

Final
Kliment Kolesnikov Neutral 23.68 CR
Pieter Coetze South Africa 24.17 AF / NR

Semis
Pieter Coetze South Africa 24.32 AF / NR
Ksawery Masiuk Poland 24.41 NR
Hubert Kós Hungary NR

Heats
Miroslav Knedla Czech Republic 24.52 NR
Hubert Kós Hungary 24.62 NR=
Marcus Reyes-Gentry Mexico 24.98 NR
Nikola Aćin Serbia 25.24 NR
Enkhtöriin Erkhes Mongolia 25.76 NR

4x100m medley

Final
Neutral - 3:26.93 CR
Miron Lifintsev (52.44)
Kirill Prigoda (57.92)
Andrey Minakov (50.17)
Egor Kornev (46.40)

Canada - 3:29.75 NR
Blake Tierney (53.03)
Oliver Dawson (59.99)
Ilya Kharun (49.83)
Josh Liendo (46.90)

Heats
Canada - 3:30.86 NR
Blake Tierney (52.95)
Oliver Dawson (1:00.18)
Ilya Kharun (49.98)
Ruslan Gaziev (47.75)

Israel - 3:34.91 NR
Inbar Danziger (54.46)
Gur Itzhaki (1:01.43)
Gal Cohen Groumi (50.78)
Daniel Krichevsky (48.24)

Luxembourg - 3:40.99 NR
Remi Fabiani (55.91)
João Carneiro (1:01.63)
Julien Henx (54.57)
Ralph Daleiden Ciuferri (48.88)


And that, as they say, concludes the entertainment ...
Craig Lord profile image
by Craig Lord

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