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.

In other events, Gretchen Walsh became the first American woman to win gold at the world championships in the 50m butterfly. Regan Smith and Claire Curzan took silver and bronze, respectively, in the women's 200m backstroke. Alexy's bronze in the men's 50 freestyle was his third medal of the 2025 world championships.