The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships was held from 31 July to 1 August 2025 at the World Aquatics Championships Arena at the Singapore Sports Hub in Kallang, Singapore.[1][2]
| Men's 200 metre breaststroke at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | World Aquatics Championships Arena | |||||||||
| Location | Singapore Sports Hub, Kallang, Singapore | |||||||||
| Dates | 31 July (heats and semifinals) 1 August (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 39 from 36 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 2:07.41 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Background
editThe event will feature one of the closest fields of the meet, with 15 swimmers seeded under 2:10. China’s Qin Haiyang, the world record holder and 2023 world champion with 2:05.48, is expected to seek redemption after missing the 2024 Olympic final, having already clocked 2:07.44 in 2025. His teammate Dong Zhihao, the 2024 world champion, may also challenge for a medal. Japan’s Ippei Watanabe and Yamato Fukasawa are both entering near 2:07 form, though Watanabe has a history of slower championship swims. Rising Japanese talent Shin Ohashi will not compete despite recently setting a 2:06.91 World Junior Record. Key absences include France’s Léon Marchand, Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook, and American Matt Fallon, opening medal opportunities for contenders such as the Netherlands’ Caspar Corbeau and Russia's Kirill Prigoda, who is competing as part of the Neutral Athletes B team.[3]
Qualification
editEach National Federation was permitted to enter a maximum of two qualified athletes in each individual event, but they could do so only if both of them had attained the "A" standard qualification time. For this event, the "A" standard qualification time was 2:10.32. Federations could enter one athlete into the event if they met the "B" standard qualification time. For this event, the "B" standard qualification time was 2:14.88. Athletes could also enter the event if they had met an "A" or "B" standard in a different event and their Federation had not entered anyone else. Additional considerations applied to Federations who had few swimmers enter through the standard qualification times. Federations in this category could at least enter two men and two women to the competition, all of whom could enter into up to two events.[4][5]
| Swimmer | Country | Time | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Léon Marchand |  France |
2:05.85 | 2024 Summer Olympics |
| Matt Fallon |  United States |
2:06.54 | 2024 United States Olympic Trials |
| Zac Stubblety-Cook |  Australia |
2:06.79 | 2024 Summer Olympics |
| Ippei Watanabe |  Japan |
2:06.94 | 2024 Japanese Olympic Trials |
| Yu Hanaguruma | Japan |
2:07.06 | 2024 Japanese Olympic Trials |
| Yamato Fukasawa | Japan |
2:07.47 | 2025 Japanese Championships |
| Qin Haiyang |  China |
2:07.57 | 2025 Chinese Championships |
| Caspar Corbeau |  Netherlands |
2:07.90 | 2024 Summer Olympics |
| A J Pouch | United States |
2:08.00 | 2024 United States Olympic Trials |
| Joshua Yong | Australia |
2:08.08 | 2024 Australian Olympic Trials |
Records
editPrior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.[7]
| World record | Qin Haiyang (CHN) | 2:05.48 | Fukuoka, Japan | 28 July 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competition record | Qin Haiyang (CHN) | 2:05.48 | Fukuoka, Japan | 28 July 2023 |
Heats
editThe heats took place on 31 July 2025 at 11:12.[8][9]
Semifinals
editThe semifinals took place on 31 July at 20:12.[8][11]
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Ippei Watanabe | Japan | 2:08.01 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | 5 | AJ Pouch | United States | 2:08.34 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 3 | Caspar Corbeau | Netherlands | 2:08.44 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 2 | Yamato Fukasawa | Japan | 2:08.45 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 3 | Carles Coll |  Spain | 2:08.49 | Q, NR[12] |
| 6 | 2 | 4 | Aleksandr Zhigalov |  Neutral Athletes B | 2:08.55 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 6 | Kirill Prigoda | Neutral Athletes B | 2:08.91 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 5 | Qin Haiyang | China | 2:09.32 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 6 | Gregory Butler |  Great Britain | 2:09.60 | |
| 10 | 1 | 1 | Cho Sung-jae |  South Korea | 2:10.23 | |
| 11 | 2 | 7 | Oliver Dawson |  Canada | 2:10.32 | |
| 12 | 2 | 1 | Christian Mantegazza |  Italy | 2:10.58 | |
| 13 | 1 | 8 | Erik Persson |  Sweden | 2:10.85 | |
| 14 | 1 | 7 | Maksym Ovchinnikov |  Ukraine | 2:10.95 | |
| 15 | 2 | 8 | Dong Zhihao | China | 2:11.77 | |
| 16 | 1 | 2 | Jan Kałusowski |  Poland | 2:11.84 |
Final
editThe final took place on 1 August at 19.45.[8][13]
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 8 | Qin Haiyang | China | 2:07.41 | |
 | 4 | Ippei Watanabe | Japan | 2:07.70 | |
 | 3 | Caspar Corbeau | Netherlands | 2:07.73 | |
| 4 | 1 | Kirill Prigoda | Neutral Athletes B | 2:07.99 | |
| 5 | 5 | AJ Pouch | United States | 2:09.13 | |
| 6 | 6 | Yamato Fukasawa | Japan | 2:09.21 | |
| 7 | 2 | Carles Coll | Spain | 2:09.44 | |
| — | 7 | Aleksandr Zhigalov | Neutral Athletes B | Disqualified | |
References
edit- ↑ "World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025". worldaquatics-singapore2025.com. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
- ↑ "Start list" (PDF). omegatiming.com. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
- ↑ Griffin, Sean (23 July 2025). "2025 World Championships Preview: Qin The Heavy Favorite Amid Field Loaded With Absences". SwimSwam. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
- ↑ "Standard Entry Times" (PDF). World Aquatics. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
- ↑ "Competition Regulations" (PDF). World Aquatics. pp. 13–14. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
- ↑ "Qualifying | World Aquatics Official". World Aquatics. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
- ↑ "Records book" (PDF). omegatiming.com. 26 July 2025.
- 1 2 3 "Competition Schedule | World Aquatics Official". World Aquatics. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
- ↑ "Heats results" (PDF). omegatiming.com. 31 July 2025.
- ↑ Folsom, Madeline (31 July 2025). "2025 Worlds, Day 5 Oceania Recap: Elizabeth Dekkers Misses Team, Then Wins Bronze". SwimSwam. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ↑ "Semifinals results" (PDF). omegatiming.com. 31 July 2025.
- ↑ Kaufman, Sophie (31 July 2025). "2025 Worlds, Euro Recap: Popovici Earns 100/200 Free Double Gold After Nearly Not Swimming". SwimSwam. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ↑ "Final results" (PDF). omegatiming.com. 1 August 2025.