Nicolò Martinenghi finished second. © APA/afp / FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT

Martinenghi takes silver, 12-year-old finishes fourth

The Italian swimmers won medals 12 and 13 at the World Championships in Singapore on Monday. Meanwhile, a 12-year-old narrowly missed a sensation.

July 28, 2025

From: leo/apa

Nicolò Martinenghi has experienced anxious moments over the past 24 hours. After the Paris Olympic champion set the second-best time in the 100-meter breaststroke semifinal on Sunday, he was mistakenly disqualified. Hours later, he finally received confirmation that he would be allowed to swim in the final. However, the man from Varese claims to have been unable to sleep a wink that night due to food poisoning, which is why he even considered not competing in the final.

However, the 26-year-old Martinenghi gritted his teeth and won the silver medal in a thrilling race. Only in the final meters did he lose to Qin Haiyang of China. Qin continued where he left off at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, winning all three breaststroke events.

Ceccon wins bronze

A little later, Italy had more reason to celebrate, as superstar Thomas Ceccon won the bronze medal in the 50-meter butterfly, behind Frenchman Maxime Grousset and Noe Ponti. The latter thus missed out on Switzerland's first long-course World Championship gold. Italy is still waiting for its first gold medal at these World Championships. Ceccon has a great chance to end this drought on Tuesday in the 100-meter backstroke. He is the Olympic champion and world record holder over this distance.

Yu Zidi almost won a medal. © ANSA / FAZRY ISMAIL

Meanwhile, Canadian star Summer McIntosh won her second gold medal. After winning the 400m freestyle the day before, the 18-year-old won the 200m individual medley in 2:06,69 minutes. McIntosh was 0,99 seconds over her world record, set on June 9 at the Canadian World Championship Trials, and was therefore not entirely satisfied. "I'm not super happy with the time, but I'm still happy about the gold," she said.

Twelve-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi finished fourth in 2:09,21, missing bronze by just 0,06 seconds. The youngest World Championship participant will also compete in the 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley. American Alex Walsh, on the other hand, lived up to her role as favorite, finishing more than a second ahead in the 100m butterfly in 54,73, but missing her world record by just 0,13 seconds.