World Aquatics Championships open water races to proceed after E. coli concerns ease
In its latest statement, the sport's governing body confirmed that samples taken on 15 July 2025 have met the competition's water quality standards.
The men's 10km race will begin at 1pm Singapore time, followed by the women's 10km at 4pm.
Analysis of three water samples collected along the course at 5pm on 15 July showed E. coli levels ranging from 'good' to 'excellent', according to World Aquatics regulations.
Officials had postponed the men's and women's 10km races on Tuesday, citing unacceptable water quality levels.
Tests from samples collected last Sunday showed elevated E. coli levels that exceeded safe thresholds.
Brent Nowicki, World Aquatics executive director, said the bacteria levels forced organisers to delay the races to safeguard athletes' health.
He added that the exact source of contamination remains unclear.
E. coli bacteria naturally occur in the intestines of humans and animals but can cause illness if harmful strains are ingested. Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting.
Nowicki said World Aquatics follows limits set by the World Health Organization and uses independent agencies for testing.
In the weeks leading up to the Championships, water samples had met required safety standards.
World Aquatics assured participants that regular water quality monitoring would continue throughout the competition to ensure safety.
Tickets issued for the original women's 10km race remain valid for today's rescheduled session. Ticketholders seeking refunds must submit requests to Sistic by 20 July 2025.
Sentosa is hosting the Championships' high diving and open water events.
This edition of the Championships, which began on 11 July and concludes on 3 August 2025, is the first to be held in a Southeast Asian nation.
The event also includes swimming, water polo, diving, and artistic swimming.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Americans finish as top swimming nation at WCH 2025 after women's 4x100m medley world record
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Americans Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske celebrating their women's 4x100m medley world record at the World Aquatics Championships Arena on Aug 3. SINGAPORE – Americans Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske provided a fitting finish to the World Aquatics Championships (WCH) on Aug 3, as they broke the women's 4x100m medley world record in 3min 49.34 at the WCH Arena, going below the previous mark of 3:49.63 set by the United States at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Australia's Kaylee McKeown, Ella Ramsay, Alexandria Perkins and Mollie O'Callaghan finished second in 3:52.67 and China's Peng Xuwei, Tang Qianting, Zhang Yufei and Cheng Yujie were third in 3:54.77. The Americans' record-breaking win brings the number of world records set during this meet at the specially built WCH Arena to three. Douglass, who was also part of team that lowered the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay world record on Aug 2, hailed the effort after the Americans had struggled with food poisoning at their training camp in Thailand. The 23-year-old said: ' It's not over till it's over. I'd say Team USA always knows how to finish with a bang. And I think it just sends a really positive message out to the viewers at home who didn't really believe in us. 'We had a higher gold-medal tally than we had in Fukuoka (nine this year, seven in 2023) under insanely terrible circumstances, to put it bluntly, so I'm so excited for our future.' While Summer McIntosh and her Canadian teammates were fifth behind the neutral athletes from Russian, it remained a summer to remember for the teenage sensation. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore No plans to fully liberalise cross-border ride-hailing services between Singapore and Johor: LTA Singapore LTA, Singapore bus operators reviewing Malaysia's request to start services from JB at 4am World Trump is winning his trade war, but Americans will pay the price Singapore President Tharman meets migrant workers who saved driver of car that fell into sinkhole Singapore Singapore must stay socially progressive while conserving its cultures: President Tharman Sport A 'wake-up call': National coach Gary Tan on Singapore swimmers' performances at WCH 2025 Opinion The charm – and drawbacks – of living in a time warp in Singapore Life KPop Demon Hunters to get sequels, expanded universe to include musical, live-action remake She won the women's 400m individual medley final in a championship record of 4min 25.78sec, quicker than her own 2023 mark of 4:27.11, to become the most bemedalled athlete of this meet with four golds and one bronze. The 18-year-old was peerless in front of a whistling and shrieking sold-out crowd at the 4,800-seat facility as she won by almost 7.5 seconds, with Australia's Jenna Forrester and Japan's Mio Narita taking joint-silver in 4:33.26. China's 12-year-old Yu Zidi (4:33.76) missed the podium by less than a second in a third individual event. Canadian Summer Mcintosh (left) and Frenchman Leon Marchand are named the best female and male swimmers of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO McIntosh, who was named the meet's Best Female Swimmer, said: 'It was very obvious that my goal was five golds. Time just didn't matter. I just wanted to get my hand on the wall the first five times. 'I fell short of that, but I think it's just going to keep me hungry and push, and keep moving forward. Even if I were to get five golds, I would still want more. That's just my mentality.' Meanwhile, Leon Marchand also sealed his individual medley double by touching the wall first over 400m in 4:04.73, almost four seconds ahead of Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita (4:08.32) and Russia's Ilia Borodin (4:09.16). The Frenchman, who was named the Best Male Swimmer after setting a men's 200m individual medley world record (1:52.69) earlier, said: 'The world record shows I still got the fire, that I still love this. 'I still want to keep going, and I saw a lot of things I can improve. 'So I'll try to prepare as best as I can for the European Championships. 'After that, I'll be back at it at the end of August in Austin with coach Bob (Bowman). 'We'll work on the IMs, maybe even the 400 free.' The 23-year-old later helped France claim silver in the men's 4x100m medley final in 3:27.96, alongside Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, Maxime Grousset and Yann Le Goff. Russians Miron Lifintsev, Kirill Prigoda, Andrei Minakov and Egor Kornev won gold in a championship record of 3:26.93, improving on the United States' 2023 mark of 3:27.20, as Americans Tommy Janton, Josh Matheny, Dare Rose, Jack Alexy took bronze in 3:28.62. There were many other standout performers as another championship record fell on the final day. Russian world record holder Kliment Kolesnikov won the men's 50m backstroke final in 23.68 to go under Briton Liam Tancock's longstanding time of 24.04 from 2009 and claim his first long-course world title ahead of joint silver medallists South African Pieter Coetze and Russian Pavel Samusenko (24.17). Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi flew the African flag high by completing the distance double, winning the men's 1,500m freestyle in 14:34.41 to finish ahead of German Sven Schwarz (14:35.69) and American Bobby Finke (14:36.60) and add to his 800m freestyle gold. Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte made it four consecutive women's 50m breaststroke golds since 2022 by winning in 29.55, ahead of China's Tang Qianting (30.03) and Italy's Benedetta Pilato (30.14). Australia's Meg Harris won the women's 50m freestyle final in 24.02, ahead of China's Wu Qingfeng (24.26) and Cheng Yujie (24.28) to add to the men's 50m freestyle gold by Cameron McEvoy . But it is the US who remain the best swimming nation with nine golds, one ahead of Australia, as freestyle specialist Katie Ledecky won the women's 800m and 1,500m golds, 4x200m silver and 400m freestyle bronze to get to within three gold medals of compatriot Michael Phelps' WCH record of 26 golds and 33 medals. Elsewhere, there were first WCH medals for Kyrgyzstan with Denis Petrashov's men's 100m breaststroke bronze, and Monaco with Lisa Pou's women's 10km open water bronze. In the overall medal table, China reigned for the third edition running with 15 golds, aided by their dominance in diving (nine out of 13 golds) and artistic swimming (four out of 11 golds), ahead of Australia (13 golds) and the US (10 golds). Among the highlights of the 24-day championships were Spain giving Felipe Perrone a fairy-tale gold finish in men's water polo; German Florian Wellbrock dominating open water swimming with four golds; Russian Aleksandr Maltsev's hat-trick of artistic swimming titles; Australia, Italy and Mexico's upset of China in some diving events; and Australian Rhiannan Iffland extending her unbeaten women's high diving streak to a fifth WCH. After Singapore 2025 organising committee co-chair Mark Chay handed over the WCH flag to representatives from 2027 hosts Hungary, he said: '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. 'Singapore 2025 has been a great demonstration of the Singapore spirit, and it's been heartening to see how various stakeholders within the Singapore society worked together to deliver a spectacular championships.'
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
On swimming's last night, a thrilling wait: Will a world record happen again?
The extraordinary Leon Marchand set one world record in the 200 individual medley but could not repeat the feat in the 400 IM on the last night. The buzzer sounds. An Omega clock starts to tick. It's 8.04pm on the final day of the World Aquatics Championships and Leon Marchand, son of Olympians and cousin of Aquaman, is trying, in a manner of speaking, to defeat eight things in the 400m individual medley (IM). Seven other men and that clock. He wants a 1 by his name and perhaps also a WR. One is the greatest number, the other is the finest acronym. World Record. It's what I've come to see on this night. The WR is somewhat rare – the men's 400m IM record has been broken only thrice in the past 20 years – which is why they are unforgettable. People say this is a 'fast' pool but what is more readily verifiable is that Marchand, a Frenchman, is a fast fellow. Days earlier Chad le Clos, four-medal Olympian, pays him an Everest of a compliment. 'He's like a young Michael (Phelps). He's got everything. Speed, endurance, nerve under pressure.' Records are usually snipped, sliced and shaved. They're set by a fingernail and broken by an eyelash. The faster humans go, the tighter the margins logically become. Yet in the 200m IM on July 30, Marchand lops over a second off the world record. He doesn't break it, he mutilates it. Human potential, he reminds us, is a well whose depth we cannot comprehend. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore No plans to fully liberalise cross-border ride-hailing services between Singapore and Johor: LTA Singapore LTA, Singapore bus operators reviewing Malaysia's request to start services from JB at 4am World Trump is winning his trade war, but Americans will pay the price Singapore President Tharman meets migrant workers who saved driver of car that fell into sinkhole Singapore Singapore must stay socially progressive while conserving its cultures: President Tharman Sport A 'wake-up call': National coach Gary Tan on Singapore swimmers' performances at WCH 2025 Opinion The charm – and drawbacks – of living in a time warp in Singapore Life KPop Demon Hunters to get sequels, expanded universe to include musical, live-action remake If he doesn't break one on Aug 3, then maybe Summer McIntosh will in her 400m IM. At 8.19pm she dives in, a young woman whose age is only 18 yet her ambition is transparent. In the 200m butterfly, she won but marginally failed to break the WR and swore in annoyance. History had slipped away. Days later after coming third in the 800m, you could see defeat had stung. 'I hate losing more than I like winning,' she said. 'Moments like these are what I think about in training when I'm dying in a hard set and have to keep pushing.' Maybe this fury would push her to a WR. After all, this year she has already set three. The WR is proof of a species' advance. Through time humans in multiple nations are simply bigger, they eat smarter, train harder, study technique on computers and soothe bodies in ice baths. And so records tumble under the assault of science and ambition. In 1959, the men's 400m IM WR was 5min 8.80sec, now it is 4:02.50. The WR requires bravery, belief, temerity. 'I don't think limits,' Usain Bolt once tweeted. Phelps made the same point in the title of his autobiography which was No Limits. It's a language understood by only a few. Perhaps by the man who climbed 914m of sheer rock without a rope and the woman who descended over 120m into the ocean on a single breath. Will is their superpower, hard labour their preferred morning routine. Marchand leads from the first 50m and so does McIntosh in her race. In truth, they are chasing only themselves. The 400m IM records they pursue are ones which they own. As the race progresses, the blue line which marks the WR on television is ahead of them, the rest of the pack is way behind. Both these swimmers are flying yet how do they feel? Sometimes accelerating athletes can feel like a gale force, sometimes they can't tell a record is imminent. Regan Smith, the current 100m backstroke world-record holder, told The Straits Times days ago, 'I feel like I've had world-record swims where I feel lights-out incredible and I've had world-record swims where I feel like I'm crawling to the finish'. But once a WR is set, how must it feel? When Italy's Thomas Ceccon, the reigning 100m backstroke world-record holder was asked, he sighed. 'Everyone can win, right? But the world record is different because you are the fastest man alive. Ever. That's me, that's my name, and, yeah, it's very cool.' No athlete forgets their tilt at history. The day I interview Smith is, she says, exactly six years since the day she broke her first world record. 'I'll never forget the way that it felt because at that point I didn't think that I was that type of athlete who was capable of doing something like that.' Marchand and McIntosh are capable of anything on any day, but their first job on Aug 3 is to win and they leave with gold. Neither breaks a world record and yet they are out of this world. The Frenchman wins by 3.59 seconds, the Canadian by 7.48sec. He leaves with two individual golds, she with four. This last night of a long aquatic championships which began with a water polo game on July 11 ends with the 4x100m women's medley relay. The swimmers have to be tired, it's been hot, the tension thick, the days long with racing and yet the beauty of elite athletes is their commitment to striving. The US win in 3:49.34. The scoreboard says WR.
CNA
4 hours ago
- CNA
Singapore wraps up historic World Aquatics Championships, passes baton to Budapest
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.
