World Championships, Day 3 Semifinals: Claire Weinstein and Luca Urlando Secure Top Seeds
Already a world champion and the reigning Olympic titlist in the 200-meter freestyle, Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan was the headliner of semifinal action during the third night of the World Championships in Singapore. O’Callaghan embarked on the individual portion of her schedule on Tuesday, two days after she helped Australia claim the gold medal in the women’s 400 freestyle relay.
In addition to the women’s 200 freestyle, men’s semifinals were contested in the 50 breaststroke and 200 butterfly. In the 50 breast, China’s Qin Haiyang is looking to complement the gold medal he earned on Day 2 in the 100 breaststroke. As for the 200 fly, the event appears to be wide open, due to the absence of world-record holder Kristof Milak and the decision of Olympic champion Leon Marchand to focus on the individual medley events.
Here is what unfolded during the Night 3 semifinals:
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Men’s 50 Breaststroke
The men’s 50 breaststroke has been, respectfully, chaotic. It got no simpler on Tuesday in the semifinals, even before considering ties for eighth and 10th places.
Qin Haiyang, finding himself in lane 7, found a way into the final, the 2023 champion in position to challenge for another gold. But much more chaos attended the semifinals.
Among those out: Ilya Shymanovich, the bronze medalist in the 100 last year; Nicolo Martinenghi, the Olympic champion in the 100 and two-time silver medalist in this event; and Olympic medalist Caspar Corbeau.
The best way to sum it up: Two swimmers who swam in Lane 8 of their respective semifinal heats – Luka Mladenovic of Austria and Antoine Viquerat of France – tied for eighth and will face a swim off.
Qin at least restored a modicum of calm. He went 26.52, navigating an outside line placement. Fellow Lane 7 swimmer Koen de Groot of the Netherlands was fourth in 26.71.
Also safely through are an Italian, though not the expected one, in Simone Cerasuolo, second in 26.64. Also a Neutral Athlete, though not the expected one, in Ivan Kozhakin in 26.66. His fellow Russian Kirill Prigoda scraped in in seventh.
South Africa’s Chris Smith and Melvin Imoudu of Germany tied for fifth.
In the swim-off, Mladenovic went 26.97 to beat Viquerat by three tenths.
Women’s 200 Freestyle
Claire Weinstein is feeling better, it’s fair to say. The American teen dropped a lifetime best by going 1:54.69 to take home the top seed in the final of the 200 free. It’s the second-best time in the world in 2025. Weinstein had scratched the 400 free to start the meet, presumably due to the wave of illness sweeping through the team.
Weinstein led a loaded second semifinal that produced the top four times and six of the eight finals spots.
Second was Paris Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan in 1:55.49. O’Callaghan is the only holdover from the Paris podium, with Ariarne Titmus skipping this summer’s competition and Siobhan Haughey out with an injury.
Erika Fairweather, perhaps still smarting from the disqualification in the 400 free, blasted another strong 200 in 1:55.52 for third. Barbora Seemanova of Czechia was fourth.
It took winning the first heat to even get into the finals. Jamie Perkins did that in 1:55.89, putting her .02 ahead of Freya Colbert. American Erin Gemmell was second in the opening heat and snuck into the final in eighth, .34 seconds ahead of China’s Liu Yaxin. Li Bingjie, fresh off the 1,500 final, finished seventh.
Men’s 200 Butterfly
After going sub-1:53 during the prelims, American Luca Urlando was the only athlete to visit that territory during the semifinals. Urlando won the second semifinal in 1:52.84 to secure the top seed for the final and is within reach of his first world title. Urlando looked controlled throughout his four laps and finished .77 clear of Poland’s Krzysztof Chmielewski, who won the first semifinal in 1:53.61.
China’s Chen Juner and the United States’ Carson Foster finished behind Chmielewski in the first semifinal, with Chen touching in 1:54.02 and Foster clocking a 1:54.30. The 200 fly is the first of three individual events for Foster, who will also contest the 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley. Foster was followed in fifth by Canadian Ilya Kharun (1:54.43), who was the bronze medalist at last summer’s Olympic Games.
The Italian duo of Alberto Razzetti (1:54.47) and Federico Burdisso (1:54.87) finished sixth and seventh while Australian Harrison Turner grabbed the final slot in the final with a swim of 1:54.94.
