Rising Stars Ready To Break Through

More global talent expected to emerge at meet, inspire new generation of swimmers

- David Lee

While swimming superstars are expected to break records and powerhouses set to dominate across the six disciplines at the July 11-Aug 3 World Aquatics Championships (WCH) in Singapore, there remains scope for surprises with unheralded names bidding to punch above their weight.

In the 2024 edition in Doha, Qatar, there were historic moments for Ireland's men's 800m and 1,500m freestyle champion Daniel Wiffen, Israel's women's 400m individual medley silver medallist Anastasia Gorbenko, and Bosnia and Herzegovina's women's 200m butterfly bronze medallist Lana Pudar, who won their countries' first WCH medals.

In 2023, artistic swimmer Eduard Kim and swimmers Siobhan Haughey and Diogo Ribeiro achieved the same feat for Kazakhstan, Hong Kong and Portugal respectively with a podium finish in Fukuoka, Japan, before winning gold at Doha 2024, where athletes from over 30 other countries and territories won medals.

World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki believes there will be more breakthroughs from the 2,500 athletes from 206 territories, who will be competing across an unprecedented 77 events in Singapore over the next three weeks.

There will also be a record prize money pool of more than US$6 million (S$7.7 million), with an additional US$30,000 world record bonus in swimming.

"You are seeing the emergence of new teams, new faces and recognition of growth across all of our disciplines, and I think we will continue to see that here in Singapore," Nowicki said at the WCH Singapore 2025 opening press conference at Parkroyal on Beach Road on July 10.