Great Britain’s Alice Tai made it four gold medals in four days as she claimed the women’s 100m freestyle S8 title on Wednesday (24 September), still aiming for more glory at the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships Singapore 2025.
The in-form world record-holder had looked unbeatable in Singapore and extended her perfect World Championships campaign with a strong performance in her fourth final, beating Xenia Francesca Palazzo from Italy by 1.26 seconds. United States superstar Jessica Long, a three-time world champion in the event, finished in third place, earning the 55th World Championship medal of her career.
“I’m really happy with that time, it’s a season’s best,” said 26-year-old from the coastal town of Poole in southern England, who finished in 1:05.49.
“I think it’s the second fastest I’ve gone since my amputation (in her right leg below the knee in 2022, to relieve her of constant pain) and I’m so over the moon with that.”
Topping the Championships’ individual medal table, however, does not come without a cost, the 13-time individual world champion admitted.
“The week is taking its toll a little bit now. I’m definitely a little bit tired; I’ve done a lot of racing. But there’s still three days to go.”
At the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships at home in London, England, Tai won seven gold medals, including five individual titles. In Singapore, she hopes to extend her golden streak over Thursday’s 50m freestyle S8 and the women’s 200m individual medley SM8 on Friday.
“I’ve got to go and swim down and focus on tomorrow when I’ve got the 50m free, and then the relay. So, I’m looking forward to that. If I’m tired now, I think I’m going to be really tired tomorrow evening.”
Tai said there is “plenty more” to come, but “in a good way and a bad way”, as the medal haul is coming at the cost of some sightseeing in the south-Asian metropolis.
“I’d like to explore Singapore, but I don’t think that I’m going to get there because I’ve got races every day,” she said.
“Next time there’s a World Championships in a really nice country, I think I might not enter everything so that I can explore (the place).”
Italy’s Simone Barlaam made it two gold medals in two days as he won the men’s 100m freestyle S9 title, having triumphed in the 100m butterfly S9 on Tuesday. The 25-year-old world record holder had the fastest qualifying time and made no mistake in the final, finishing with a comfortable margin of 3.19 seconds down to runner-up Hector Denayer from France, as bronze medallist Ugo Didier made it two Frenchmen on the podium.
Clocking in at 52.70, Barlaam was less than half a second from the world record he set at the World Championships in Funchal, Portugal, three years ago.
“I’m feeling good,” the winner said.
“It’s a shame I couldn’t get closer to that (2022 version of) Simone Barlaam; but it was a great time and a great final.”
The Milan-born swimmer won three gold medals and a silver at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games but had not taken anything for granted coming into the World Championships.
“It’s been a long season after Paris and there have been some physical issues for me but to be here and to be able to perform like this is very rewarding,” he said.
“I’m also happy for Tommaso Wulzer, a new Italian guy who made it to the final, which was an amazing result. He finished in eighth place; but it was great to share this race with the future and present of Para swimming.”
Another swimmer bagging a second consecutive world title on Wednesday was Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo from Brazil. One day after crushing the opposition in the men’s 100m backstroke S2 final, he was back in the pool at the OCBC Aquatic Centre with another Championship record performance in the 200m freestyle S2.
Finishing the gold medal race in 3:58.45, the 23-year-old Brazilian was 8.85 seconds ahead of runner-up Vladimir Danilenko, a Neutral Para Athlete, as Alberto Caroly Abarza Diaz from Chile claimed bronze, 18.16 seconds behind the winner.
“I’m very happy and satisfied,” the winner said.
“The time that I got was sensational. It was amazing. One more gold medal, one more record, and there is more to come so let’s do this.”
“Gabrielzinho”, who has two consecutive Paralympic Games and World Championships gold medals in the event, came off to a strong start. With no arms, he starts his race diving from the starting blocks and has become an expert in using that momentum with explosive legwork to get an early lead.
Using their arms, however, the rest of the field started to claw back into contention. Danilenko led the chase, putting pressure on the leader throughout the race.
It was only in the last turn that the Brazilian managed to shake Danilenko off, increasing his lead in the final 50m stretch.
“My opponent gave me a bit more work than I expected, which I’m also happy to see. I’m always thinking of development, and it is nice to see that the opponents are also improving. This is very good and important for the low classes,” dos Santos Araujo said.
“But I knew very well what to do, I am very well-trained and it just goes to show that whatever happens that makes it harder, I know the keys to make it easier and achieve the results I want. That’s what I did today and I’m very happy. This medal will be well celebrated.”
In the past two editions of the world championships, as well as at last year’s Paralympic Games, he has, in addition to the 100m backstroke S2 and 200m freestyle S2, also won gold in the 50m backstroke S2. The Brazilian is full of confidence as he aims to complete the hat trick in the final event on Friday.
“Two are achieved and I am well on the way to the third,” the swimmer from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais said.
“I’m very confident and pleased. This time was fantastic and I’m swimming very close to what I did in Paris (2024 Paralympic Games). Right in the beginning I thought it was going to be very difficult to get close to the time from Paris, but I managed to stay strong, focused and it all went well.”
Meanwhile, Katie Kubiak of the United States set world records in the heat as well as in the final en route to winning the women’s 50m backstroke S4. Italy’s Arjola Trimi, in the women’s 200m freestyle S2, as well as Brazil’s gold medallists in the mixed 4x100m medley relay 49 points also won with new world record times.
China’s Jiang Yuyan, Guo Jincheng and He Shenggao continued to make a strong impact on the competition, bagging another three gold medals for their country on Wednesday, in the women’s 400m freestyle S6, men’s 200m individual medley SM5 and women’s 200m individual medley SM5 respectively.
With three gold medals each so far in the competition, Jiang, Guo and He are some of the main contributors as China top the medal table with 15 gold medals, followed by Italy and Great Britain, both on 10.
RESULTS
Men’s 100m Backstroke S13 Final
Gold: Egor Bolotov (Uzbekistan)
Silver: Thomas van Wanrooij (Netherlands)
Bronze: Oleksii Virchenko (Ukraine)
Women’s 100m Backstroke S13 Final
Gold: Gia Pergolini (United States)
Silver: Roisin Ni Rian (Ireland)
Bronze: Carlotta Gilli (Italy)
Men’s 200m Individual Medley SM11 Final
Gold: Danylo Chufarov (Ukraine)
Silver: Rogier Dorsman (Netherlands)
Bronze: David Kratochvil (Czechia)
Women’s 200m Individual Medley SM11 Final
Gold: Daria Lukianenko (NPA)
Silver: Zhang Xiaotong (China)
Bronze: Liesette Bruinsma (Netherlands)
Men’s 100m Freestyle S8 Final
Gold: Callum Simpson (Australia)
Silver: Alberto Amodeo (Italy)
Bronze: Eduard Horodianyn (Ukraine)
Women’s 100m Freestyle S8 Final
Gold: Alice Tai (Great Britain)
Silver: Xenia Francesca Palazzo (Italy)
Bronze: Jessica Long (United States)
Men’s 400m Freestyle S6 Final
Gold: Antonio Fantin (Italy)
Silver: Talisson Henrique Glock (Brazil)
Bronze: Andrei Granichka (NPA)
Women’s 400m Freestyle S6 Final
Gold: Jiang Yuyan (China)
Silver: Nora Meister (Switzerland)
Bronze: Zhu Ji (China)
Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB12 Final
Gold: Timofei Guk (NPA)
Silver: Nurdaulet Zhumagali (Kazakhstan)
Bronze: Oleksii Fedyna (Ukraine)
Women’s 100m Breaststroke SB12 Final
Gold: Mariia Latritskaia (NPA)
Silver: Astrid Carroll (Great Britain)
Bronze: Zheng Jietong (China)
Men’s 200m Freestyle S1 Final
Gold: Anton Kol (Ukraine)
Silver: Iyad Shalabi (Israel)
Bronze: Francesco Bettella (Italy)
Men’s 50m Backstroke S3 Final
Gold: Denys Ostapchenko (Ukraine)
Silver: Josia Tim Alexander Topf (Germany)
Bronze: Serhii Palamarchuk (Ukraine)
Women’s 50m Backstroke S3 Final
Gold: Ellie Challis (Great Britain)
Silver: Leanne Smith (United States)
Bronze: Marta Fernandez Infante (Spain)
Men’s 50m Backstroke S4 Final
Gold: Roman Zhdanov (NPA)
Silver: Cameron Leslie (New Zealand)
Bronze: Arnost Petracek (Czechia)
Women’s 50m Backstroke S4 Final
Gold: Katie Kubiak (United States)
Silver: Anastasiia Goncharova (NPA)
Bronze: Lidia Vieira da Cruz (Brazil)
Men’s 200m Freestyle S2 Final
Gold: Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo (Brazil)
Silver: Vladimir Danilenko (NPA)
Bronze: Alberto Caroly Abarza Diaz (Chile)
Women’s 200m Freestyle S2 Final
Gold: Arjola Trimi (Italy)
Silver: Teresa Perales (Spain)
Bronze: Fabiola Ramirez Martinez (Mexico)
Men’s 200m Individual Medley SM5 Final
Gold: Guo Jincheng (China)
Silver: Antoni Ponce Bertran (Spain)
Bronze: Dmitrii Cherniaev (NPA)
Women’s 200m Individual Medley SM5 Final
Gold: He Shenggao (China)
Silver: Monica Boggioni (Italy)
Bronze: Giulia Ghiretti (Italy)
Men’s 100m Backstroke S7 Final
Gold: Andrii Trusov (Ukraine)
Silver: Federico Bicelli (Italy)
Bronze: Christian Sadie (South Africa)
Women’s 100m Backstroke S7 Final
Gold: Veronika Korzhova (Ukraine)
Silver: Danielle Dorris (Canada)
Bronze: Mallory Weggemann (United States)
Men’s 100m Freestyle S9 Final
Gold: Simone Barlaam (Italy)
Silver: Hector Denayer (France)
Bronze: Ugo Didier (France)
Women’s 100m Freestyle S9 Final
Gold: Alexa Leary (Australia)
Silver: Mariana Ribeiro (Brazil)
Bronze: Mary Jibb (Canada)
Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay 49pts Final
Gold: Brazil (Maria Carolina Santiago, Guilherme Batista Silva, Thomaz Rocha Matera, Lucilene da Silva Sousa)
Silver: Spain (Albert Gelis, Marian Polo Lopez, Juan Ferron Gutierrez, Emma Feliu Martin)
Bronze: Japan (Ishiura Tomomi, Saito Genki, Kimura Keiichi, Tsujiuchi Ayano)
Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay S14 Final
Gold: Great Britain (William Ellard, Poppy Maskill, Dylan Broom, Georgia Sheffield)
Silver: Brazil (Arthur Xavier Ribeiro, Ana Karolina Soares de Oliveira, Beatriz Borges Carneiro, Gabriel Bandeira)
Bronze: Thailand (Phakhawat Kumarasing, Natural Meeprom, Nattharinee Khajhonmatha, Wachiraphon Thavornvasu)
