Results / Event Homepage / Broadcast Info / Roster / Media Guide

A sensational night of racing saw USA Swimming bring home five individual medals and a world-record setting relay gold to cap a strong day seven at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships.

Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Gator Swim Club) delivered another signature performance, winning her seventh straight world title in the women’s 800-meter freestyle with a championship record time of 8:05.62. In a historic final that saw three swimmers go under the 8:08 mark, Ledecky relied on her late strength to hold off the field and further cement her legacy as the event’s most dominant performer.

In the final event of the night, USA Swimming powered to a world record in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay, finishing in 3:18.48. The relay team of Jack Alexy (Mendham, N.J./California Aquatics), Patrick Sammon (El Dorado Hills, Calif./ Sun Devil Swimming), Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y./New York Athletic Club), and Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Arlington Aquatic Club) combined for a dominant performance.

Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club) claimed her second individual title of the meet with a 24.83 in the women’s 50m butterfly, making her the third fastest performer in the event all time. Her win comes just days after securing the 100m butterfly crown, and she advances to tomorrow’s 50m freestyle final as the number three seed.

Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Longhorn Aquatics) and Claire Curzan (Cary, N.C./TAC Titans) gave USA Swimming a double podium finish in the women’s 200m backstroke, earning silver and bronze in 2:04.29 and 2:06.04, respectively. The silver marks Smith’s fourth individual medal of the meet.

Jack Alexy (Medham, N.J./California Aquatics) added a bronze in the men’s 50m freestyle with a time of 21.46, his second individual medal of the championships.

In semifinal action heading into tomorrow’s finals, Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club) qualified fourth in the women’s 50m breaststroke, G. Walsh and Huske qualified third and seventh, respectively, in the women’s 50m freestyle, and Quintin McCarty (Colorado Springs, Colo./Wolfpack Elite) placed seventh in the men’s 50m backstroke.

Women’s 50m Butterfly - FINAL

1 – Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club), 24.83

Walsh on winning gold: “I’m very proud. That was a great swim, feels great to feel like myself again in the water after a rough week. Two-time world champion, can’t complain about that.”

Walsh on being motivated to win the title: “I was really motivated. I think it was because I felt so good in the water that I just was like, here we go. We're going to make it to the final. We're going to advance. I knew going into tonight that I had two goals. One was to be on the top of that podium, and the next was just to get a second swim. Really happy with both of the results. I love this sport and I love those events that I got to swim tonight. And even though doubles can be hard, that's probably the most fun and easy one.”

Walsh on her 100 and 50 fly double: “I feel great. To have the title in the 100 and the 50 butterfly is everything to me. I love these two races, and I feel like I've been working towards being a world champion, executing when it mattered most. And I'm just really happy with the results I got tonight, and going under that 25 barrier again is always huge.”

Walsh on what was key to her success in the double: “My start seems to be off, but honestly, it was kind of just digging deep the last 15, getting my hand on the wall. And no matter how it had to happen, it was gonna happen. I just think that I needed to carry the energy that I had, that kind of adrenaline I had going in my system after the 50 fly, and then just get me home in the 50 free.”

Men’s 50m Freestyle – FINAL

3 – Jack Alexy (Mendham, N.J./California Aquatics), 21.46

8 – Santo Condorelli (Jacksonville, Fla./Unattached), 21.73

Women’s 200m Backstroke – FINAL

2 – Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Longhorn Aquatics), 2:04.29

3_– Claire Curzan (Cary, N.C./TAC Titans), 2:06.04

Women’s 50m Breaststroke– Semifinal

4 – Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club), 30.22

18 – McKenzie Siroky (Livonia, Mich./Tennessee Aquatics), 30.56

Women’s 50m Freestyle– Semifinal

3 – Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./New York Athletic Club), 24.31

7 – Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Arlington Aquatic Club), 24.41

Men’s 50m Backstroke – Semifinal

7- Quintin McCarty (Colorado Springs, Colo./Wolfpack Elite), 24.52

20 – Shaine Casas (McAllen/Texas Longhorn Aquatics), 24.97

Women’s 800m Freestyle – FINAL

1 – Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Gator Swim Club), 8:05.62*

*Championship record

Ledecky on winning the event for the 7th time at the world championships: “That’s pretty incredible, three of us going under 8:10… incredibly fast. They pushed me all the way. I’m just really happy I could put that together. I just told myself to trust my legs, because I’ve gotten a bit better at kicking. Just running home at the end. I came in tonight, trying to enjoy it as much as I can. I don’t think I have anything to lose at this point in my career. Just enjoying the crowd, swimming against the best in the world. Everyone in that heat is the next generation of swimmers coming up; just proud to be a part of it.”

Ledecky on the race: “It was a fabulous race, 8:07.29 getting third, that’s under the championship record. We had such a fast field in there. And I remember when I set the goal to break 8:10.00, and at the time I think that was a really crazy goal. And now to see three in one heat under that is awesome and it was really fun to be a part of it. Of course, (it was) stressful at times, you get 36 hours in between preliminaries and finals, and I don't know about you (PALLISTER), but you feel like you’re sitting around twiddling your thumbs, waiting for the race to come. But I was excited just to be there and to be at these world championships and to finish out the season on that note.”

Ledecky on the last 200m: “I think the whole last 200, I just kept telling myself to trust my legs. Believe it or not, I’ve actually gotten a little better at kicking, which, you know, I kind of got tired of everyone saying I don’t kick, so finally got a little better at that. And just at the end, I kind of just kept telling myself ‘trust, trust, trust’. I had to go the whole way. The last 100, I don't know what you (PALLISTER) felt, but it’s like you don’t want to push it too early, because then you get a little afraid that you're going to die at the end. So it was definitely just trying to build into each 100 and yeah, just keep going.”

Mixed 4x100m Freestyle – FINAL

1 – 3:18.48*

*World record

Jack Alexy (Mendham, N.J./California Aquatics), 46.91

Patrick Sammon (El Dorado Hills, Calif./ Sun Devil Swimming), 46.70 

Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y./New York Athletic Club) 52.43

Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Arlington Aquatic Club) 52.44

Douglass on the win for Team USA: “I think we all came out here tonight really wanting to get that first win for team USA. And to do it in a world record, I think we all knew in the back of our minds we had that ability. And I'm really happy with how that turned out.”

Huske on how deep she had to dig to be on the relay tonight: “I gave it everything I had. They set me up really well, and I was just praying that I didn't mess it up. But I felt super inspired watching Katie earlier and that got me going.”

Sammon on how much this win helps with momentum heading into the final day of the meet: “I think it’s great. We got a bunch of finals tomorrow and I think this is going to get everyone hyped up and ready to go.”

Sammon on the race: "I thought it was a great race. We'd come up short just a few times earlier this week, and it just felt good to get back on top of the podium. It’s been a really long meet. A lot of people racing a lot of events, but I think the coolest part is that everyone stepped up. We all wanted to do this relay, we all wanted to go fast, and we had a lot of fun doing it. We were all texting last night about how excited we were, and I think that showed in the pool."

Alexy on what this win means: “It's amazing. It's such an honor to be racing with my teammates, and we knew we'd get the job done and win. The world record was in the back of our minds, but really, it was easy to go through the ready room with these three people. As Patrick (Sammon) said, hopefully (this win) inspires some races tomorrow, but also the next three years going to LA.”

Alexy on ending the week with a gold and world record: "It’s been a long week, a lot of racing, so to close it out with a world record and a gold medal with these guys is incredible. I’m super happy with the way I was able to finish this meet. It’s been a very successful one for me and Team USA as a whole."

Competition concludes tomorrow, Sunday, August 3 at the World Aquatics Championships Arena. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. Singapore standard time/ 10 p.m. ET, while finals start at 7 p.m. Singapore standard time/ 7 a.m. ET. Tomorrow’s finals include the men’s 50m backstroke, women’s 50m breaststroke, women’s 50m freestyle, men’s 1500m freestyle, men’s 400m individual medley, women’s 400m individual medley, men’s 4x100m medley relay, and women’s 4x100m medley relay.