Singapore wraps up historic World Aquatics Championships, passes baton to Budapest

CNA

3 days ago

SINGAPORE: The World Aquatics Championships wrapped up in Singapore on Sunday (Aug 3), with the championships flag officially handed over to Budapest, the next host city of the event.
The ceremony took place on Sunday evening before the final session of the competition, tournament organisers said in a media release.
The championships flag was received by Hungarian Swimming Federation President Sandor Wladar and International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission Member Daniel Gyurta.
Budapest is slated to host the event in 2027.
"The last three weeks have brought us enthralling and inspiring performances in the water, and we're honoured to have witnessed these incredible feats from the world's best aquatics athletes," said Singapore 2025 organising committee co-chair and former national swimmer Mark Chay.
World Aquatics President Captain Husain Al-Musallam lauded Singapore as an "outstanding host" for World Aquatics events.
"As the first edition of the Championships to be held in Southeast Asia, this event marked an important milestone for our sport."
He added that the organisation is proud to have such a "strong and trusted partner in this important region of the world'.
RECORDS AT SINGAPORE 2025
The edition in Singapore saw over 10 championship records, including at least three world records set.
France's Leon Marchand broke the men's 200m individual medley world record with a time of 1:52.69 in the semi-finals, while the USA lowered the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay world record.
The US also smashed their own world record in winning the women's 4x100m medley relay world title with 3:49.34, beating their previous record of 3:49.63 from Paris a year ago.
Germany's Florian Wellbrock dominated in the waters off Sentosa, becoming the first athlete to win four gold medals in open water swimming at the championships.
China topped the medal table with 15 gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze medals across the six sports.
This was followed by Australia - 13 gold, seven silver, eight bronze - and the US with 10 gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze medals.
TEAM SINGAPORE
There were plenty of firsts and historic moments for Team Singapore, which fielded its largest contingent of 72 athletes, including 30 debutants.
Paris Olympian Gan Ching Hwee smashed three national records in two days in the women's 400m, 800m, and 1,500m freestyle.
She also became the first Singaporean woman since 2007 to reach a final at the World Aquatics Championships, when she qualified fourth in the women's 1,500m freestyle heats. She later finished seventh in the final.
Debutant Ainslee Kwang, 14, became the first Singaporean diver to qualify for a semi-final at the championships after scoring a personal best of 285 in the women's 10m platform.
Singapore's men's water polo team made their World Championships debut, finishing 15th in the competition.
Singapore swimmers were also the top Southeast Asian athletes in several open water swimming categories.
Chantal Liew and Kate Ona were the top Southeast Asian finishers in the women's 10km and 5km, respectively, while teammate Artyom Lukasevits was the top Southeast Asian in the men's 10km.
The aquatics championships in Singapore was attended by about 140,000 spectators across three weeks, with "sell-out sessions" at the finals of diving, swimming, water polo and artistic swimming, tournament organisers said.
It reached a global audience spanning 145 territories with over 300 hours of live broadcast coverage of the six aquatic sports across 24 days of competition.