France’s Maxime Grousset headlined the European effort on the second day of competition at the World Aquatics Championships 2025 in Singapore, as he took the Men’s 50m Butterfly title on a night which saw a number of athletes from the continent setup intense final showdowns for tomorrow.
The 26-year-old lined up as the fastest seed for the one-length event following an impressive semifinal performance the previous day, and continued in the same vein this time around.
Despite not having the best start, he made the most of his speed down the final 20 metres and timed his finish to perfection, as he chose to glide into the wall rather than taking an extra stroke.
This saw him get his hand to the wall in a time of 22.48 – just 0.03 ahead of Switzerland’s Noe Ponti, who was leading right the way through to the touch.
The times of both athletes are the fourth and fifth fastest times respectively in the history of the event, which has gained renewed importance after it was announced that all 50m events would be on the Olympic programme for 2028.
Italy’s Thomas Ceccon also recorded an impressive time of 22.67 for the bronze medal, as his time was the eighth fastest of all-time in the event. The result was a European lockout of the podium, which also saw the likes of Diogo Ribiero and Ben Proud take plaudits in a full European top-7.
Elsewhere, Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk took her first ever medal at a world championships with silver in the Women’s 100m Buterfly, as she held her nerve to better her semifinal time and hold onto her second seed in a tight battle with USA’s Gretchen Walsh, who set a new championship record.
The 20-year-old was always within the medal places, and didn’t put a foot wrong as she was only the wrong side of the gold medal through a record-breaking swim.
Also taking a medal on day two was Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi. The reigning Men’s 100m Breaststroke Olympic champion took to the World Aquatics Championships Arena as the second seed, and he maintained that position in a final which saw all podium finishers under the 59-second barrier.
Martinenghi made the most of his 50m speed to touch first at the halfway turn, and he did well to maintain the pace through the back-end of the race – coming in just behing China’s Qin Haiyang for second with a time of 58.58 – half a second quicker than his winning time in Paris last year.
In other finals, Great Britain’s Abbie Wood was once again in the mix for the Women’s 200m Individual Medley, as she took sixth place with a time of 2:09.92, with Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko and Ireland’s Ellen Walshe also in the final, taking seventh and eighth respectively.
Hungary’s Hubert Kos will lineup for tomorrow’s Men’s 100m Backstroke final as the fastest seed, with his time of 52.21 seeing him take lane four.
Italy’s Anita Bottazzo continues her impressive surge onto the international scene, as she will lineup in lane five for tomorrow’s Women’s 100m Breaststroke final after qualifying in second place with a time of 1:05.61.
The French pairing of Mary-Ambre Moluh and Pauline Mahieu will take the outside lanes for the Women’s 100m Backstroke final, with the latter athlete earning her place through a swim-off as they qualified in seventh and eighth respectively.
Finally, Poland’s Kamil Sieradzki takes lane three for the Men’s 200m Freestyle final, which will bring open procedings on day three. The semifinals for the event saw some big names missing out on progression, and there will be a whole host of European athletes looking to make inroads in that final when the action gets underway at 13:02 CEST tomorrow.
Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
