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Day 2: 'Flying Fish' Jiang Yuyan smashes world record for second gold

Seven-time Paralympic gold medallist from China won the women’s 100m freestyle S6 final in a new world record time; Emotional victory for Germany’s Josia Tim Alexander Topf in the men’s 150m individual medley SM3; Debutant Defne Kurt from Turkiye adds another gold medal to her maiden World Championship campaign and Germany’s Taliso Engel set a new world record as he won the men’s 100m breaststroke SB13 final even as Italy leads medals table on Day 2 of Toyota World Para Swimming Championships Singapore 2025 22 Sep 2025
A female swimmer swimming freestyle
Chinese star Yuyan Jiang took her second gold in Singapore on Monday in the women's 100m freestyle S6
ⒸYong Teck Lim/Getty Images
By AMP Media | For World Para Swimming

Last week, China’s Jiang Yuyan was unsure whether she would be fit enough to compete at the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships Singapore 2025.

On Monday, the Para swimming superstar made it two world titles in two days as she won the women’s 100m freestyle S6 final, promising that her career peak lies beyond her Paris 2024 medal haul.

On the second day of action at the OCBC Aquatic Centre, the 20-year-old beat runner-up Anna Hontar from Ukraine by 4.28 seconds in a new world record time of 1:09.58.

Jiang, known as the Flying Fish, was only 14 when she claimed gold in the event at her breakthrough World Championships in London in 2019. Since then, she has gone from strength to strength, picking up seven gold medals at last year’s Paralympic Games.

"After Paris, some people may think that I've reached my peak. But I aim to create even higher peaks,” Jiang said.

This year’s Laureus Award winner has, however, been recovering from a shoulder injury and only knew one week ago that she was going to compete. In Singapore, she has shown no sign of it.

With her trademark strength, a single-arm, hip-driven freestyle, Monday’s final became a race against the clock for the world record holder, who knocked a 10th of a second off her own mark from last year’s Paralympic Games.

"The charm of competitive sports lies in its unpredictability,” Jiang said.

"There may be some differences between the races I'm here to compete but, I hope to compete for gold in all my individual events.”

Switzerland’s Nora Meister claimed bronze to make it the same trio on the podium as when Jiang won Sunday’s women’s 100m backstroke S6 final.

 

Emotional victory

Germany’s Josia Tim Alexander Topf produced an emotional victory in the men’s 150m individual medley SM3, his mother screaming with joy in front of a TV next to the pool.

The 22-year-old Paralympic champion followed up his Paris 2024 triumph with a world title, finishing in 2:55.06 to beat runner-up Ahmed Kelly from Australia by just over nine seconds. Italy’s Gabriele Lorenzo clinched bronze.

Topf had started the race strongly, with a significant lead after the backstroke 50m, but was chased down by the field in the breaststroke. Coming into the last 50m stretch of freestyle, he was neck and neck with Kelly but managed to push away from the Australian with an impressive freestyle leg.

It was the first World Championships gold medal for Topf, who had finished in second place at the 2022 edition of the competition, in Funchal, Portugal, missing the 2023 Worlds in Manchester, Great Britain, due to a stomach virus. Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo from Brazil finished in fifth place, breaking his own SM2 world record.

 

Impressive Kurt

Debutant Defne Kurt from Turkiye added another gold medal to her maiden World Championships campaign as she won the women’s 200m individual medley SM10 final by a narrow margin.

Sunday’s 50m Freestyle S10 winner finished 0.22 seconds ahead of Great Britain’s Faye Rogers to clinch her second world title in two days. Lisa Kruger from the Netherlands won the bronze medal, 3.77 seconds behind the winner.

She is not the only swimmer with a perfect record in Singapore so far. Germany’s Tanja Scholz, who won the women’s 150m individual medley SM3 final, Great Britain’s Alice Tai, who finished first in the women’s 100m backstroke S8, and Poppy Maskill, who won the women’s 100m backstroke S14 final with a championship record, as well as David Kratochvil from Czechia, who claimed the men’s 100m butterfly S11 gold medal and Ami Omer Dadaon from Israel, who triumphed in the men’s 100m freestyle S4, also made it two world titles in two days.

 

New record for Engel 

Germany’s Taliso Engel set a new world record as he won the men’s 100m breaststroke SB13 final, cutting 0.15 seconds off his own mark from Paris 2024.

Benjamin Hance from Australia could win the men’s 100m backstroke S14 gold medal with plenty of confidence in the final, having set a new world record in the heats.

Swimmers from Canada, Italy, United States and Spain also won gold medals in Singapore on Monday, as the second day of competition concluded with Ukraine's victory in the mixed 4x50 freestyle relay 20pts final, where Brazil claimed silver and United States bronze. 

Italy lead the overall standings with 15 medals, including six first places. China are in second place, also with six gold medals, followed by Great Britain, on five.

 

Related Topics

Swimming
Yuyan Jiang
Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo
Josia Tim Alexander Topf
Taliso Engel
Alice Tai
Tanja Scholz

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