Singapore's Gan Ching Hwee finishes seventh in 1,500m freestyle final at World Aquatics Champs
Legendary American swimmer Katie Ledecky took gold, Italy's Simona Quadarella the silver and Australia's Lani Pallister the bronze.
Singapore's Gan Ching Hwee competes in the women's 1,500m freestyle final at the World Aquatics Championship on Jul 29, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
SINGAPORE: With cheering dignitaries in the stands and swimming royalty in the pool alongside her, Singapore's Gan Ching Hwee notched a creditable seventh-placed finish in the women's 1,500m freestyle final at the World Aquatics Championships on Tuesday (Jul 29).
At the World Aquatics Championships Arena in Kallang, Gan clocked a time of 16:03.51.
Legendary American swimmer Katie Ledecky won gold (15:26:44), Italy's Simona Quadarella the silver (15:31.79) and Australia's Lani Pallister the bronze (15:41.18).
"Definitely overall happy. This was a bonus race if anything, and I really wanted to just do my best," said Gan.
"I should be really happy regardless of the outcome because I really gave my 101 per cent since day one of this competition. Definitely carrying some fatigue across, but that's part and parcel of racing."
Gan is the only Singapore swimmer to have made a final in this edition of the Championships. She is also the first Singaporean female swimmer to qualify for a final at the meet since Tao Li placed seventh in the 50m butterfly in 2007.
The last Singaporean to progress to a Championships final was Teong Tzen Wei, who finished eighth in the 50m butterfly at the 2022 edition.
"Sometimes things don't always go perfectly – like even tonight's race; I don't think it was anywhere near perfect – but it's always a learning journey, and that's sports," said Gan.
Among those in attendance at the race were President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry.
LEDECKY DOMINANT
Ledecky looked in fine form from start to finish, threatening to set a new world record for most of the race.
She eventually registered the fifth-fastest time in history, with the four fastest times also belonging to the American.
Ledecky has now been crowned 1,500m freestyle world champion six times, and has won 22 world titles overall.
She paraded around the arena with an American flag after the race.
"I love this race. This race was the race that I broke my first world record in in 2013," said Ledecky, who has also won nine Olympic golds.
"Lots of great races and memories over the years at worlds. I'm happy I could do it in Singapore."
Speaking about Gan, who graduated from Indiana University in the United States, Ledecky said: "I know she has competed in the NCAA at Indiana, and so a lot of my teammates have swum with her and speak very highly of her."
"(I) was really happy to see her do so well," she added.
The Singaporean described Ledecky as "inspiring".
"She was racing really fast and she was passing me at the 25m mark ... I just use that as fuel to get me through the race to know that someone as inspiring as her, she's able to race so well with such high intensity day after day. It really gives me the inspiration to also keep pushing barriers."
Gan, who qualified for her first Championships final fourth overall, had obliterated her national record in the event's heats on Monday.
She clocked a time of 16:01.29 to eclipse her previous national record of 16:10.13, which she set at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
This meant she qualified ahead of France Olympic silver medallist Anastasiia Kirpichnikova and bronze medallist Isabel Gose, who did not make the final.
According to Singapore Aquatics, Gan's 800m split time in the race on Monday – 8:29.93 – is also a new national record. It is more than two seconds faster than the 8:32.37 mark she set in the 800m freestyle heats at the Paris Olympics.
While Gan had been pencilled in for the 200m freestyle heats earlier on Tuesday, she opted to pull out of the event to focus on the evening's race.
Earlier in the meet, Gan broke Lynette Lim's 15-year-old national record in the women's 400m freestyle.
She finished 13th overall in the heats, with Canada's Summer McIntosh winning the event.
Gan will now turn her attention to the 800m freestyle event on Friday.
"I really want to inspire the next generation, especially with (the) SEA Games coming up on home ground (in 2029) as well," she said.
"I really would love to see the next generation come through and also do their best for Singapore, putting Singapore out there on the world stage. We're just a tiny red dot, but I think we are capable of achieving great things."
