It was a memorable final day for the United States at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. The Americans set a world record in the women’s 4×100 metre medley relay. The American team in the final were Regan Smith of Lakeville, Minnesota, Kate Douglass of Pelham, New York, Gretchen Walsh of Nashville, Tennessee and Torri Huske of Arlington, Virginia.
Overcame adversity
Many of the swimmers on the United States swim team to begin the championships suffered from acute gastroenteritis. Huske, who is the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 100 metre butterfly was seriously impacted from the disease. However, she regrouped and was an instrumental part of the American team that broke the world record.
What was the world record time?
The new American time set was 3:49.34. Smith had a time of 57.57 seconds in the women’s 100 metre backstroke, Walsh had a time of 54.98 seconds in the women’s 100 metre butterfly, Douglass had a time of 1:04.27 in the breaststroke and Huske had a time of 52.52 in the freestyle. Smith has the world record in the women’s 100 metre backstroke from the 2024 United States Olympic Trials with a time of 57.13 seconds. Walsh has the world record in the women’s 100 metre butterfly from the 2025 TYR Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with a time of 54.6 seconds.
What was the previous world record time?
The previous world record was 3:49.63. This was set by the United States at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The quartet that was part of this American team that set this world record were Smith, Walsh, Huske and Lilly King of Evansville, Indiana.
How much did the United States win a medal by?
The Americans won a medal by 5.83 seconds over Neutral Athletes B (also known as Russia). The Neutral Athletes B team comprised of Russians Alina Gaifutdinova, Evgeniia Chikunova, Daria Klepikova, and Daria Trofimova and had a time of 3:55.17. The Australians who won silver had a time of 3:52.67. The four Australians were Kaylee McKeown, Ella Ramsay, Alexandria Perkins, and Mollie O’Callaghan. The Chinese won the bronze medal with a time of 3:54.77. The four Chinese swimmers were Xuwei Peng, Qianting Tang, Yufei Zhang, and Yujie Cheng.
Other world records
There were two other world records set from the championships. The United States set the world record in the mixed 4×100 metre freestyle relay (a non Olympic event) with a time of 3:18.48. Leon Marchand of France set the world record in the semifinal in the men’s 200 metre individual medley with a time of 1:52.69.
