Day 7 Heats Wrap World Para Champs

A FINAL showdown awaits the Australian Dolphins team tonight after Alexa Leary (pictured) headlined this morning’s heats with a championship record in her 50m freestyle, setting herself up to chase the sprint-double world title.

In total, 10 Dolphins and Australia’s mixed 4x100m freestyle 34pt relay will compete for the final medals on offer at the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore.

Already the 100m freestyle S9 champion at this meet, Leary goes into tonight’s 50m sprint as the favourite after she touched in a championship record time of 27.36, eclipsing Brazil’s Mariana Ribeiro’s previous mark of 27.70 set in 2023. Ribeiro qualified second fastest in 27.79, followed by Australia’s Emily Beecroft in 29.43.

If Leary claims gold tonight, it will mark her first-ever 100-50m sprint double crown on the world stage.

“Deep down, I’ve got to get the (50m) win. I just have to get it. I know this year I’ve worked really hard on the 100m and the 50m,” said Leary.

“Last year at the (Paris) Games, the 50m was a bit of a letdown and this year I’m just like ‘comeback Lex, come on, you’ve got to have a massive comeback’.”

At her world championship debut in Manchester 2023, the Gold Coast-based athlete burst onto the international scene with her 100m freestyle win but missed the 50m crown to Ribeiro.

In Paris 2024, Leary competed up a class (S10) and placed sixth overall, as the women’s S9 event is not currently on the Paralympic program. A few days later she sensationally raced home to win gold in the 100m freestyle S9 and danced atop the dais in celebration.

Leary also holds the world record of 27.23 in the 50m S9 event, having broken USA’s Christie Raleigh Crossley’s previous mark of 27.25 at the Sydney Open.

“I definitely have way more in the tank for tonight. I know I do.”

As someone who puts records on notice every time she dives in, tonight’s women’s 50m freestyle S9 final is not one to miss.

In other events:

• Australia’s ironman of the meet, Tim Hodge, will line up in his tenth and final race – the men’s 100m breaststroke SB8 – as the fifth-fastest qualifier. Hodge has featured in all five finals on his Singapore program, the most of any Dolphin, and has so far collected gold in the 200 IM SM9, silver in the 100m fly, and bronze in the medley relay.
• Rachael Watson made her first Singapore appearance in the women’s 100m freestyle S3 after medically withdrawing from the 50m freestyle S3 and 50m breaststroke SB2 events. Watson qualified second fastest (1:33.10) behind USA’s Leanne Smith (1:28.60).
• Tom Gallagher cruised to the men’s 100m backstroke S10 final after a late scratching meant all eight swimmers in his heat automatically advanced. Gallagher, who clocked a PB of 1:00.84 leading off the mixed 4x100m medley relay to win bronze on Day 5, will race from lane eight tonight.
• In the 100m butterfly S14, Ben Hance and Paige Leonhardt qualified fifth fastest in their respective events. Rookie Declan Budd secured the final spot as eighth qualifier and will join Hance in the men’s final. Ricky Betar finished 14th overall.
• Jasmine Greenwood, who made her Dolphins debut at just 12-years-old at the 2017 World Championships in Mexico, qualified fourth for the women’s 100m backstroke S10 final.
• Chloe Osborn is the second-fastest qualifier in the women’s 100m freestyle S7 (1:12.78), behind USA’s Morgan Stickney (1:11.61). Osborn has already picked up a 400m freestyle silver medal and a medley relay bronze this meet.

Find full results here: https://www.paralympic.org/swimming/live-results