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Singapore 2025: Golden hat-trick for Italian superstar Barlaam

The Para swimmer star from Milan secures a thrilling win in men’s 400m freestyle S9; USA's debutant Katie Kubiak continues her successful campaign with a third world record, en route to winning women’s 50m freestyle S4 final; Brazil’s Gabriel Bandeira too set a new world record while winning men’s 200m individual medley SM14 and Turkiye’s Defne Kurt claims her third gold medal in Singapore triumphing in women’s 100m butterfly S10 final on day five of the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships Singapore 2025 25 Sep 2025
Swimmers at the start line-up
Italy's Simone Barlaam (second from left) gets ready at the start line for men’s 400m freestyle S9 race, which he finished ahead of the rest in 4:13.33 seconds at the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships Singapore 2025 on Thursday.
ⒸSimone Castrovillari / Singapore 2025
By AMP Media | For World Para Swimming

Italian Para swimming superstar Simone Barlaam claimed his third gold medal at the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships Singapore 2025, winning a hard-fought final in the men’s 400m freestyle S9 on Thursday.

For most of the four-minute race, the 25-year-old from Milan was neck and neck with Spain’s 2019 world champion Jacobo Garrido Brun, who had the fastest times from the third to the seventh turn. In the final 50m stretch, however, Barlaam made one last push and managed to edge his opponent, claiming the victory in 4:13.33 – three tenths of a second faster than Garrido Brun.

“It was an amazing race,” said Barlaam, who has made it three titles in as many days.

“In the 400m, for me, anything could happen. I could be in last or in first place, and I was surprised by the result.”

After hugging Garrido Brun poolside, congratulating him on a good battle, Barlaam said he had not been fully aware of how close his opponent in lane six had been.

“On the way back, I’m breathing on my left side (away from the pool) so being in lane one, I couldn’t really see. But when I was turning at the 350 (mark) I saw that it was close,” he said.

“Coming back, I saw my family and my coach in the stands, waving, was like ‘f*** it, let’s bring it home’, and it hurts so much but I brought it home.”

At the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Barlaam won three gold medals but had to settle for a silver in the 400m freestyle, beaten by home favourite Ugo Didier from France after another nail-biter of a final. This time, Barlaam refused to let go of the first place.

“I went back to my old strategy in comparison to Paris and it was good,” Barlaam said.

Just like at last year’s Games, Australia’s world record-holder Brenden Hall clinched the bronze medal. The 32-year-old veteran, who won the world title in the event in 2010, touched the wall 1.36 seconds after the winner as Paralympic champion Didier, who had been in a podium position for much of the race, finished fourth.

 

Third world record

Championship debutant Katie Kubiak of the United States continued her successful Singapore 2025 campaign with a third world record of the competition as she won the women’s 50m freestyle S4 final in 36.83 seconds.

Brazil’s Lidia Vieira da Cruz took an early lead in the race but the 22-year-old USA swimmer, who set a Championship record in the heats, started to make ground and had caught up with her by the halfway mark. The rest of the race was a race against the clock for Kubiak, who touched the wall 2.15 seconds ahead of Vieira da Cruz as Patricia Pereira dos Santos made it twice 
Brazil on the podium. 

New York University student Kubiak, who majors in journalism and film, has won three individual gold medals and a silver as well as two relay bronze medals at her first World Championships, having made her international debut in April

“It is so surreal. It feels like I’m waking up in a dream every single day and I’m just so honoured to be here, representing Team USA, and competing against some amazing athletes,” said the promising Para swimmer born in the state of Wisconsin.

“It was a really fast heat, and I had some great competitions in there and it was awesome getting up to race against them.”

Breaking the 37-second barrier, her winning time was almost a second faster than her Championship record of 37.78 seconds in the heats, knocking nine hundredths of a second off the previous world record, set by Germany’s Tanja Scholz in April 2022.

“It was something that I was hoping for. I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen today, so touching and seeing that 36 on the board was really special,” Kubiak said.

“I really owe it to the people in my heat. It was a really fast heat, and they really pushed me.”

 

Golden treble

Also breaking records in the fifth day of action at Singapore’s OCBC Aquatic Centre, Turkiye’s Defne Kurt won a narrow women’s 100m butterfly S10 final to claim her third gold medal of the championships. Only three hundredths of a second separated the 24-year-old from Paralympic and world champion Faye Rogers from Great Britain.

Kurt, who had previously bagged world titles in the 50m freestyle S10 and 200m individual medley SM10, used her sprint speed over the first 50m to build a gap on endurance specialist Rogers. 

In the second half of the race, the Brit came closer, but Kurt managed to hold onto the lead, touching the wall at a new European record time of 1:03.91. Katie Cosgriffe of Canada set an American record of 1:05.82 to claim bronze.

 

Bandeira finally gets gold

Brazil’s Gabriel Bandeira set a new world record as he won gold in the men’s 200m individual medley SM14, adding a first place to his previous two silver medals from Singapore 2025.

Great Britain’s Bethany Firth, who gave birth to her first daughter Charlotte in August last year, finished third in the women’s 200m individual medley SM14 final to win a second medal in her comeback world championships.

“I’m so happy,” the 29-year-old said after adding a bronze to her 100m backstroke silver from Monday.

“Charlotte has just turned one and to be back competing, I just want to show her that even though things are hard you’ve got to keep going and keep trying, and I hope that I’ve made her really proud being here.”

Not only thinking about her daughter, the six-time Paralympic champion hopes to also inspire other mothers to fulfil their dreams.

“I’m so excited. I just want to say to all the mums out there that we can do it, we can come back, and we can have it all.”

With two days remaining in the competition, the medal table is tightening. China hold the first place with 15 gold medals, chased by Italy in second place on 13. Ukraine won four gold medals on Thursday to take over third place, with a total of 12. Behind the top trio, Great Britain and the United States have claimed 11 titles, and Brazil 10.

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