Records, rivalries and races to watch at the World Aquatics Championships

SINGAPORE - As the world’s top swimmers line up at the starting blocks for the World Aquatics Championships (WCH) on July 27, fans can expect some thrilling action in the WCH Arena over the next eight days.

From world champions to Olympic gold medallists and record holders, the battle for supremacy in the pool looks set to heat up from Day 1.

The Straits Times looks at some of the races to watch.

1. Women’s 100m butterfly (July 28)

American Gretchen Walsh is one of the exciting talents to watch in Singapore after dominating the pool this season.

Winner of two golds and a silver at the Paris Olympics, Walsh broke the 50m fly American record at the Pro Swim Series in May after clocking 24.93sec. A day later, the 22-year-old

bettered her own world mark in the 100m fly

twice at the same meet, first clocking 55.09 before improving her time to 54.60.

Out to claim her first individual gold at the world championships, Walsh will face a stiff challenge from Olympic champion Torri Huske (US), 2024 winner Angelina Koehler of Germany and Australia’s Alexandria Perkins, who ranks third in the world this year in the event after Walsh and Koehler.

2. Men’s 100m freestyle (July 31)

In his Olympic debut in Paris 2024, Pan Zhanle

made history by clocking 46.40 seconds in the 100m freestyle

to claim gold and better his own world record – it was China first-ever gold in the event.

Finishing over a second ahead of his rival, Australia’s Kyle Chalmers, Pan also delivered one of the largest margins of victory in the event in decades. Impressively, all eight swimmers in the final finished under 48 seconds – another first for an Olympic final.

Now, headlining the 34-member Chinese squad, Pan is looking to retain his 100m free gold from the 2024 championships.

He will face a tough challenge from 2023 world champion Chalmers and Romania’s David Popovici, who was third in Paris and boasts the world-leading time of 46.71sec clocked at the European Aquatics Championships U23 in Slovakia in June.

3. Men’s 200m breaststroke (Aug 1)

While the focus was initially on Olympic champion Leon Marchand, the Frenchman’s decision

to skip the breaststroke events

has opened up the field in the 200m breaststroke.

China’s Qin Haiyang, 26, is the favourite for gold after setting the world record time of 2:05.48

at the 2023 World Aquatic Championships

. At the meet in Fukuoka, he was also the first swimmer to sweep all the breaststroke golds at a single championships.

Qin will also be out for redemption after failing to progress to the final at the Paris Olympics, but he will have to contend with the likes of former world record holder Zac Stubblety-Cook (Australia) and teammate Dong Zhihao, who will be gunning for back-to-back titles.

4. Women’s 800m freestyle (Aug 2)

The clash of the championships will see two of the world’s best swimmers facing off in the 800m freestyle for the first time on the world stage.

American superstar Ledecky, the veteran at 28, has been unbeatable at the world championships and Olympics for 13 years, barring a sole defeat to Canadian teen sensation Summer McIntosh at the 2024 Southern Zone meet.

While Ledecky’s trophy collection includes 14 Olympic medals – nine of them gold, including four in the 800m free – and 21 world championship titles, McIntosh is aiming to give her a run for her money.

The 18-year-old has been in red-hot form this season, setting world-best times at the recent Canadian Trials in the 400m freestyle (3:54.18), 200m individual medley (2:05.70) and 400m individual medley (4:23.65). In that meet, she was the first swimmer since American legend Michael Phelps to break three individual world records at a single meet. 

5. Men’s 50m backstroke, Aug 3

Back in the pool at the world championships, Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov will be looking to make up for lost time in Singapore.

The 25-year-old missed out on Paris 2024 owing to the

ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes

following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and only received the nod from World Aquatics to compete at the championships this time under neutral status.

In 2023, he set the world record of 23.55sec in the 50m backstroke at the Russian National Swimming Cup – the record remains unbroken.

Kolesnikov is also expected to challenge for the 100m backstroke title – his best finish in the event was a silver at the 2021 edition in Abu Dhabi.