Italy won the overall medal table of the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships Singapore 2025, thanks to three triumphs on the last day of action at the OCBC Aquatic Centre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victories by Simone Barlaam, Monica Boggioni and Gabriele Lorenzo brought the European Para swimming powerhouse to a total of 46 medals, including 18 golds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel good, I was hoping to go a little bit; but it is the last day of this long competition, so it is great to finish on a gold medal,\u201d said Barlaam, 25, who won the men\u2019s 50m freestyle S9 final to bag his fourth gold medal at Singapore 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world record-holder and Paralympic champion had been the man to beat in the event in which he has four world titles to his name, but 18-year-old Oliwier Krzyszkowski from Poland gave him a run for the money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the end, however, Barlaam opened almost a body-length gap and could claim his 23rd world title 0.67 of a second ahead of the Polish teenager, who had to settle for a silver. Fredrik Solberg finished third to earn Norway\u2019s first medal of the championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to see so many youngsters coming up. Oliwier, the Polish guy, went superfast and it was a good push for me,\u201d Barlaam said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTommaso Wulzer, the Italian, was also sixth in the world, in his second world championships final. It\u2019s great to see that the legacy of what we\u2019re doing is leaving some real marks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the fourth world championship in a row that the Azzurri won, but it was far from an easy victory as the United States in second place equalled their gold medal tally but only won a total of 35 medals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Leanne Smith (USA) won the women\u2019s 100m freestyle S3 final \u2013 making it three gold medals and two silvers in Singapore for the 37-year-old \u2013 United States had taken over the lead of the overall standings with four events left in the championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then Italy\u2019s 19-year-old Gabriele Lorenzo claimed the victory in the men\u2019s 100m freestyle S3 final with a championship record time, bringing his country back to the top thanks to more medals than their opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was Lorenzo\u2019s fourth medal in Singapore, having won the men\u2019s 200m freestyle S3, finished second in the 50m freestyle S3 and third in the 150m individual medley SM3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China, who had led the medal table over the past few days, had to settle for a third place with a total of 33 podium finishes including 17 victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe competition was great. Singapore did an amazing job in organising these first Asian World Championships,\u201d Barlaam said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a long season for us \u2013 especially after the one of Paris (2024 Paralympic Games), which was very long as well, and I\u2019m happy that I could perform so well and also do some personal best in this event. The year, after the Paralympics, is not that easy so it is great to see these kinds of results. It means that the hard work paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boggioni had started off her Singapore 2025 campaign with two victories in the first day of competition and ended it on top of the podium winning the women\u2019s 100m freestyle S5 title on Saturday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 27-year-old won four gold medals and a silver in Singapore as all three freestyle S5 events \u2013 50m, 100m and 200m \u2013 had the same medallists: Czechia\u2019s Agata Koupilova in second place and Natalie Ornkvist of Finland in third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In her last race of the championships, Boggioni\u2019s black cap set off at a high pace to take the lead after 25m and turn at the halfway mark 2.49 seconds before Koupilova. In the second half of the race, Boggioni continued to increase her lead and bagged her 11th world title by a margin of 4.91 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turkiye\u2019s Defne Kurt finished off an impressive first World Championships campaign with a fifth gold medal as she won the women\u2019s 100m backstroke S10. The 24-year-old leaves Singapore with gold medals in every event she has taken part in, but her last final was a narrow one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After taking an early lead, the sprint expert had got herself a gap of more than half a second down to Canada\u2019s Katie Cosgriffe in second place at the half-way mark. But the second half of the race was less explosive as Cosgriffe and Hungary\u2019s Paralympic champion Bianka Pap got closer. Defne managed to hold back and won in 1:06.95, 0.42 seconds before silver medallist Cosgriffe as Pap, nine tenths of a second behind the winner, clinched bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m feeling really happy about my results,\u201d the world championship debutant Kurt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to be here and to be back swimming again. I was a swimmer before but two years ago I had a car accident, and my spinal cord broke, my small intestine got torn and I nearly died. But I\u2019m standing on my legs and I\u2019m glad to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n