Cavaliers Win 13 Medals, Set Two World Records at World Aquatics Championships

SINGAPORE– Virginia swimming student-athletes and alumni won 13 medals at the 2025 FINA World Aquatics Championships, held July 26 through August 3 at the World Aquatics Championships Arena in Singapore.

The Cavaliers tallied 13 medals (seven gold, five silver, one bronze), helping to lead the US to the top of the medal table.

Alumna Gretchen Walsh won individual golds in the 50m and 100m Butterfly, the first long course world titles of her career. She also earned relay gold in the 4x100m Medley Relay.

Alumna Kate Douglass won three golds, including an individual title in the 200m Breaststroke, setting an American record with her swim. Douglass swam on two gold medal relays, helping Team USA set world records in both the 4x100m Medley Relay and the Mixed 4×100 Free Relay. She also earned silvers in the 100m Breaststroke and the 4×100 Free Relay.

Team USA was tied with Australia in the gold medal race with eight apiece heading into the final event of the championship, the 4x100m Medley Relay. Douglass posted the fifth-fastest breaststroke split in history (1:04.27) before turning the race over to Walsh who posted the fastest butterfly split in history (54.98) to keep the relay on record pace before Torri Huske brought it home for the gold.

Rising junior Claire Curzan earned gold with the 4×100 Medley Relay. Curzan swam the butterfly leg in prelims, earning the Americans the top seed in the evening final. Curzan competed in the 200m Backstroke, earning a bronze medal.

Other medalists for the Cavaliers included alumna Alex Walsh, who took silver in the 200m IM, and rising sophomore Anna Moesch, who earned two relay silvers in the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays.

Incoming freshman Sara Curtis, swimming for Team Italy, made the finals of the 100m Freestyle, placing 8th overall. She just missed the final of the 50m Freestyle, placing ninth in the semifinals after setting an Italian record in the event in prelims (24.41). She also helped the Italians set a national record in the Mixed 4×100 Free Relay.

Rising senior Aimee Canny swam in two individual events for South Africa, the 200m Freestyle and 200m IM, as well as helping set an African Continental Record while swimming the anchor leg of the 4x100m Medley Relay.

Rising sophomore Katie Grimes finished sixth in the 400m IM.

The Cavalier men also had two swimmers competing with rising senior Jack Aikins swimming in the prelims of the 100m and 200m Backstroke events. Incoming freshman Thomas Heilman competed in the prelims of the 100m Butterfly.

DETAILED DAILY RECAPS

Sunday, August 3 Recap

Team USA was tied with Australia in the gold medal race with eight apiece heading into the final event of the championship, the 4x100m Medley Relay. Kate Douglass posted the fifth-fastest breaststroke split in history (1:04.27) before turning the race over to Gretchen Walsh who posted the fastest butterfly split in history (54.98) to keep the relay on record pace before Torri Huske brought it home for the gold.

Claire Curzan earned gold with the 4×100 Medley Relay. Curzan swam the butterfly leg in prelims, earning the Americans the top seed in the evening final.

Aimee Canny swam the anchor leg for Team South Africa in the prelims of the 4×100 Medley Relay, helping the team to post an African record in the event (3:59.47), the first African relay to go under four minutes. The team just missed making the final with the ninth-fastest time in prelims.

Katie Grimes finished sixth in the 400m IM with a 4:36.52.

Gretchen Walsh was denied her third individual medal of the meet, placing fourth in the final of the 50m Free (24.40).

Saturday, August 2 Recap

The Cavaliers collected two golds and a bronze on Saturday.

Gretchen Walsh won her second world title of the championship, taking the gold in the 50m Butterfly (24.83). She is the first American to win gold in the event since its debut in 2001 in Fukuoka.

“I felt like myself again in the water,” Walsh said. “I was happy that I got that feeling back. I was happy that I executed and to get under that 25 barrier again is always a huge feat for me, so I was happy to do it. I’ve learned that I’m stronger than I think, and also that the work that I put in all year doesn’t just go away. It’s still there. I just have to dig deep, find it, and also learn to give myself a little time to recover.”

Walsh swam a double in the night session, qualifying for the finals of the 50m Free with the third-fastest time in the semis (24.31).

Kate Douglass helped lead the Americans to their first relay gold of the championship. Douglass swam the third leg of the Mixed 4×100 Free Relay, taking over with Jack Alexy and Patrick Sammon having put the squad ahead of world record pace. Douglass, with a 52.43 on her split, handed it over to anchor Torri Huske still well ahead of the record line. Huske held on for both the gold and the record at 3:18.48.

It was the second gold and fourth overall medal of the meet for Douglass, who also swam in the morning prelims, helping to earn the top seed in the final.

Claire Curzan took bronze in the 200m Backstroke (2:06.04), finishing just behind silver medalist Regan Smith, giving Team USA two performers on the podium for all three backstroke events at the championship.

“It’s incredible for us to both be medalists here,” Curzan said. “I was just hoping to get that privilege to share with them. And it’s always an honor to get another medal team for Team USA, especially beside Regan.”

Incoming freshman Sara Curtis swam in the prelims of the 50m Free, breaking her own Italian record in the event (24.41) to qualify third for the semis. She just missed advancing, placing ninth in the semis (24.48). Curtis then just missed the podium in the Mixed 4×100 Free, with the Italian squad finishing fourth 3:21.48.

The championships wrap up with prelims of the 400 IM and 4×100 Medley Relays in the 10 pm session Saturday night. The last finals session takes place on Sunday at 7 a.m.

Friday, August 1 Recap

Kate Douglass found her way to the top of the podium, taking the gold medal in the 200m Breaststroke to highlight Friday’s action.

Douglass, the Olympic gold medalist in Paris in the event, added the world gold to her collection, leading the race from start to finish, out touching the world record holder Evgenila Chikunova by 1.46 seconds. Douglass clocked a 2:18.50, an American record and the second fastest time ever. The mark was also a World Aquatics Championship record.

It was the third medal of the Championship for Douglass who earned silver in the 100 Breast and silver in the 4×100 Free Relay.

“I was more excited, I think, about the time than the title itself,” Douglass said. “I really wanted to go two-eighteen last summer, so to finally drop below two-nineteen, I was just so happy about that. With the training I’ve done this year, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to go that this summer, but these last four weeks, I feel like I’ve really had great two breast training. And then I just got really excited to race the world record holder in this event. I think we both pushed each other to be better, and she pushed me to be able to go to a two eighteen tonight.”

Douglass had 15 minutes between her 200 Breast final and being on the blocks to swim a semi of the 50 Fly. She just missed making the final by 0.12 of a second after having the fourth-fastest time in prelims.

Gretchen Walsh returned to action in the 50 Fly, posting the fastest time in the prelims (25.22) and semis (25.09) to earn the top seed for Saturday’s final. In other prelim action, Claire Curzan had the third-fastest time in the prelims (2:08.52) and semis (2:08.13) of the 200 Back to earn a place in Saturday’s final of that event.

Incoming Hoo Sara Curtis represented Italy in the final of the 100m Freestyle, clocking a 53.41 to finish eighth. She is the first Italian swimmer to compete in the final of the women’s 100m Free at the World Championships.

Incoming freshman Thomas Heilman swam in the prelims of the 100 Fly 52.02, but did not advance to the semis.

Thursday, July 31 Recap

Anna Moesch picked up her second medal of the Championships, winning silver with the US 4×200 Free Relay. Moesch swam the third leg in morning prelims, helping the American squad to the top time in the heats with a 7:49.43. The finals session team of Claire Weinstein, Anna Peplowski, Erin Gemmell and Katie Ledecky turned in an American record time of 7:40.01 to finish just behind the Australians.

Moesch qualified for Team USA as a relay swimmer. She also won silver on the first night of the competition in the 4×100 Free Relay.

In other Thursday action, incoming Cavalier Sara Curtis qualified for the final in the 100m Freestyle. Curtis turned in the second fastest time in the prelims (53.53) and was seventh in the semis (53.39) to book her spot in Friday’s final. Gretchen Walsh scratched the event.

Kate Douglass earned a spot in the final of the 200m Breaststroke. She had the second-fastest time in both the prelims (2:23.28) and semis (2:20.96). Alex Walsh advanced to the semis with a 14th place swim (2:26.56) but failed to advance to the final, placing 12th in the semis (2:25.16).

Jack Aikins was 24th in the prelims of the 200 Back (1:58.56). Aimee Canny swam in the prelims on the 4×200 Free Relay for South Africa, but the team did not advance to the final.

Wednesday, July 30 Recap

Incoming freshman Sara Curtis helped lead the Italian team to the top time in the prelims of the 4×100 Mixed Medley Relay (3:42.19). Curtis, who swam the freestyle anchor leg again in the finals, saw her team finish in sixth place with the exact same time.

Tuesday, July 29 Recap

Kate Douglass won silver in the 100m Breaststroke, posting a personal best (and UVA-record) time of 1:05.27. Douglass was 0.08 seconds behind gold medalist Anna Elendt and 0.37 ahead of the bronze medalist.

This was Douglass’s first time swimming the 100 Breast in senior international competition and first time since the 2018 Youth Olympics. It is her second silver medal of the championships to go with a relay silver. This is the first of the three individual events she will be competing in at the championship.

“I just wanted to give it my all that last fifty,” Douglass said. “I wanted to try to be a little bit faster than I was last night.  I never expected going that time coming into this meet. so i’m really happy with that. I definitely love this event. I think I’ll keep continuing to focus on it in the future.”

Aimee Canny was the only other Cavalier competing on Tuesday. Canny tied for 8th in the prelims of the 200m Freestyle (1:57.53), but came in 12th in the semis (1:57.52) and will not advance to the final. She has one event remaining as she will swim in South Africa’s 4×200 Free Relay.

Monday, July 28 Recap

Gretchen Walsh won the first individual long course world title of her career on Monday in the 100m Butterfly. Walsh went 54.73 in the final to take gold in a championship-record time. Her mark was the second fastest time in history, trailing only her world-record mark set earlier this year in Fort Lauderdale. She now owns the eight fastest performances all time in the event.

“I knew that tonight was going to be a fight for me, and that swim took a lot of guts, but I’m really so happy with the result,” Walsh said of her performance in the 100 fly. “I was aiming for a 55, so to go 54 was really a surprise, and something I’m really proud of. In my mind, I am thinking, ‘do not let these people catch you.’ I’m a swimmer who flies and dies, and I’ve just been working so hard at staying strong on the end. I wanted to do that here. So I was just thinking, keep my technique, keep my form, and that’ll get me to the finish.”

Gretchen Walsh owns five individual 25m World Short Course titles, but this was her first in the 50m pool.

Alex Walsh also stood on the medal stand on Monday, taking silver in the 200m IM (2:08.58). It is her fifth career World Aquatics Championship medal of her career and first in Singapore. She is also the first American woman to win three world championship medals in the 200 IM (gold 2022 Budapest, silver 2023 Fukuoka, silver 2025 Singapore).

Kate Douglass swam the prelims and semifinals of the 100 Breast, posting a 1:05.49 in the semis to earn the top seed in Tuesday’s final. The mark was a personal best for Douglass, and a program record.

Sunday, July 27 Recap

Alumna Kate Douglass and rising sophomore Anna Moesch both earned silver medals with the women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay in the first day of competition. Moesch and Douglass swam in the prelims, giving the Americans the top time of 3:33.57, with Douglass clocking a 52.04 on her split.

Douglass swam the second leg of the final, with the American squad trailing the Australians until the final leg when Torri Huske put the Americans ahead, only to have the Olivia Wunsh surge at the end to outtouch Huske by 0.44. Gretchen Walsh was slated to swim the third leg of the relay, but was a late medical scratch, replaced by Erin Gemmell.

Walsh swam in the semis of the 100m Butterfly earlier in the session, tying for the top time with a 56.07. Huske had been slated to compete in the 100 Fly, but scratched the event to concentrate on the 4×100 Free Relay.

Alex Walsh also began competition on the opening day, swimming the 200m IM. Walsh had the second-fastest time in the semifinals, posting a 2:08.49.

Finals for the 100 Fly and 200 IM will take place during the 7 a.m. ET session on Monday, July 28.

Douglass will swim in her first individual event, the 100m Breast, during Sunday’s 10 p.m. ET prelims session. Rising senior Jack Aikins is also scheduled to swim in the prelims of the 100m Back. All sessions stream live on Peacock.

Cavaliers Competing at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships

• Jack Aikins (USA): 100m Backstroke, 200m Backstroke
• Aimee Canny (RSA): 200m Freestyle, 200m IM
• Sara Curtis (ITA): 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle
• Claire Curzan (USA): 200m Backstroke
• Kate Douglass (USA): 50m Butterfly, 100m Breaststroke, 200m Breaststroke
• Katie Grimes (USA): 400m IM
• Thomas Heilman (USA): 100m Butterfly
• Anna Moesch (USA): 4×100 Free Relay
• Alex Walsh (USA): 200m Breaststroke, 200m IM
• Gretchen Walsh (USA): 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly, 100m Butterfly

Lana Pudar (BIH) qualified for the 100m Butterfly and 200m Butterfly, but will not be competing

CAVALIER EVENT SCHEDULE

July 26, 10 pm

• W 100 Fly Prelims
• W 200 IM Prelims
• 4×100 Free Relay Prelims

July 27, 7 am

• W 100 Fly Semis
• W 200 IM Semis
• 4×100 Free Relay Finals

July 27, 10 pm

• W 100 Breast Prelims
• M 100 Back Prelims

July 28, 7 am

• W 100 Breast Semis
• W 100 Fly Finals
• W 200 IM Finals
• M 100 Back Semis

July 28, 10 pm

• W 200 Free Prelims

July 29, 7 am

• W 200 Free Semis
• W 100 Breast Finals

July 29, 10 pm

• Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay Prelims

July 30, 7 am

• W 200 Free Finals
• Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay Finals

July 30, 10 pm

• W 100 Free Prelims
• W 200 Breast Prelims
• M 200 Back Prelims
• W 4×200 Free Relay Prelims

July 31, 7 am

• W 100 Free Semis
• W 200 Breast Semis
• W 4×200 Free Relay Finals

July 31, 10 pm

• M 100 Fly Prelims
• W 200 Back Prelims
• W 50 Fly Prelims

Aug 1, 7 am

• W 100 Free Finals
• W 200 Breast Finals
• W 200 Back Semis
• W 50 Fly Semis

Aug 1, 10 pm

• W 50 Free Prelims
• Mixed 4×100 Free Relay Prelims

Aug 2, 7 am

• W 200 Back Finals
• W 50 Fly Finals
• W 50 Free Semis
• Mixed 4×100 Free Relay Finals

Aug 2, 10 pm

• W 400IM Prelims
• 4×100 Medley Relay Prelims

Aug 3, 7 am

• W 50 Free Final
• W 400 IM Final
• 4×100 Medley Relay Final