Katie Ledecky's sustained brilliance and a late gold-rush by her female teammates added gloss to an underwhelming campaign for Team USA at the swimming world championships in Singapore. The team's preparations were hit by a bout of gastroenteritis during a pre-meet camp in Thailand and they rallied to finish top of the medal table with nine golds,

Ledecky, trailing McIntosh at the 700-meter mark, surged ahead on the final lap, fending off a hard-charging Pallister as McIntosh faded in the closing meters. With the win, Ledecky remained undefeated in the 800-meter freestyle finals event on the world stage dating back to 2012.

Australian Kaylee McKeown and American Regan Smith went one-two in the 200m backstroke, just as they did in all three backstrokes at the 2023 Worlds, both backstrokes at the 2024 Olympics and in the 100m back earlier at these worlds.