Singapore 2025: Gabrielzinho clinches his first gold with championship record 

A day after breaking his own SM2 world record racing in the men’s 150m individual medley SM3 final, the Brazilian armless Para swimming star Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo made it to the top of the podium in the 100m backstroke S2 with a new championship record of 1:54.58.

The 23-year-old, who had to settle for fifth place previous day, beat Neutral Para Athlete Vladimir Danilenko by 7.71 seconds while Poland’s Jacek Czech claimed the bronze on the third day of the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships Singapore 2025.

“I reached my first goal,” said dos Santos Araujo, who is nicknamed “Gabrielzinho”.

“It was a sensational race, very close to my best time. For the beginning of a new cycle, this is a very good result. I was surprised by the time; I barely believed it.”

The five-time Paralympic champion, who triumphed in the event at Paris 2024, kicked off the race with his trademark power, propelling himself through the water with efficient, consistent legwork. He kept widening the gap to the chasing pack until it was impossible for anyone to close in.

Finishing well beyond the two-minute mark – a barrier few have broken – to collect his seventh world title, Gabrielzinho promised that greater things are yet to come.

“This is just the start. There will be more Gabrielzinho in the pool and I hope to be positively surprised again in the next races,” the winner said.

In the past two editions of the world championships as well as at last year’s Paralympic Games, he has, in addition to the 100m backstroke S2, also won gold in the 50m backstroke S2 and 200m freestyle S2.

“These results give me more confidence, and they make me believe that I can achieve my other goals here.”

The third day of competition in the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships Singapore 2025 was a successful one for Brazil. Finishing off with a mixed 4x50m medley relay 20pts triumph, the South Americans claimed seven medals, including four gold and two one-two finishes.

Beatriz de Araujo Flausino won the women’s 100m breaststroke SB14 final with a new championship record of 1:12.61, finishing 2.47 seconds ahead of her teammate Debora Borges Carneiro who clinched the silver.

🇨🇳 China takes the lead and 🇧🇷 Brazil is back to the top 5️⃣ of the #Singapore2025’s medals table.

🇮🇹 Italy, 🇬🇧 Great Britain, and 🇺🇸 USA are keeping the pace.

🔗 Check out the full results of Day 3️⃣: https://t.co/OQinfcJt77#ParaSwimming #Singapore2025 pic.twitter.com/cpIxXRnsmw

— Para Swimming (@Para_swimming) September 23, 2025

Narrow win

Brazilian veteran Maria Carolina Santiago, 40, pulled off a narrow win over her compatriot Lucilene da Silva Sousa as she won gold in the women’s 50m freestyle S12. The world record-holder touched the wall six tenths of a second before her teammate, who was 0.16 seconds ahead of bronze medallist Tsujiuchi Ayano from Japan.

“I’m super happy with this second win,” said Santiago, who had claimed gold in the women’s 100m backstroke S12 on Sunday.

“I was expecting a lower time, but the more gold I can take to Brazil, the better. I’m always happy to add to our medal tally.”

First gold for Barlaam 

Italy’s eight-time Paralympic medallist Simone Barlaam bagged his first gold medal of the championships beating Australia’s Timothy Hodge by 2.17 seconds in the men’s 100m butterfly S9 final. Beating his own championship record with a time of 57.96 to pick up his 12th individual world title, Barlaam was more than delighted.

“I’m happy with the performance. A championship record, European record and a gold – I can’t complain," the 25-year-old triple Paris 2024 champion said.

“I had a little problem at the last five metres and the touch, but I’ve improved from Paris, and I have this important medal around my neck.”

Mariia Pavlova (NPA) smashes her own world record in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB7, improving from 1:26.09 at Paris 2024 to 1:24.51 here at #Singapore2025! 🏊‍♀️🔥

The Paralympic champion is now also the world champion. 🏆

📺 Watch live: https://t.co/f2WlmGfDZL pic.twitter.com/XTJAcAXuPn

— Para Swimming (@Para_swimming) September 23, 2025

Perfect campaign

Great Britain’s Alice Tai extended her perfect Singapore 2025 campaign with a third gold medal in three days on Tuesday. The 26-year-old, who had won the women’s 100m backstroke S8 and 400m freestyle S8, made another strong performance in the 100m butterfly S8 final, finishing 2.45 seconds ahead of silver medallist Viktoriia Ishchiulova (NPA) as teammate Brock Whiston made it two Brits on the podium.

Many in the stands of the packed OCBC Aquatic Centre had put their hopes on home star Yip Pin Xiu in the women’s 100m backstroke S2 final.

Since the 33-year-old Para sports icon became Singapore’s first Paralympic gold medallist at Beijing 2008, she has won a total of eight Games gold medals and two silver, including at Paris 2024 where she excelled in the 100m backstroke to raise the hope for the home fans.

Despite that, she had to settle for a silver medal, finishing 4.13 seconds behind Neutral Para Athlete Diana Koltsova. Yip, however, was not sad to miss out on an eighth world title in front of the home fans.

"It feels amazing. To be able to have all my family and friends coming here to cheer me on has been phenomenal. I'm enjoying it so much,” said the home favourite, who had come into the final with the fastest qualifying time.

"I did better in the morning, I think by the afternoon I was just a little bit more tired, so I couldn't really execute my race strategy. But I think it's really a lesson learned, and the next time I race the 100m I'll be able to do better.”

It’s a world record night! 🌍🔥

Paralympic and now World Champion Hong Yang (China) lowers his own mark in the men’s 200m individual medley SM6, setting a new record of 2:36.73.#Singapore2025 #ParaSwimming pic.twitter.com/mO2hyR19Ci

— Para Swimming (@Para_swimming) September 23, 2025

World record for Hong

China’s Yang Hong set a world record as he won the men’s 200m individual medley SM6 gold medal, Katie Kubiak of the United States broke women’s 50m butterfly S4 world record while Neutral Para Athletes Roman Zhdanov and Mariia Pavlova set world records in the men’s 150m individual medley SM4 and women’s 100m breaststroke SB7 respectively.

In the third day of World Championships action in Singapore, Para swimmers from Colombia, Japan, Netherlands, Ukraine and the United States also topped the podium.

China, with six world titles on Tuesday, took over the first place in the medal standings with a total of 12 gold medals. Brazil are in second place on seven, followed by Italy and Great Britain, also on seven golds but with fewer silver medals.