This race could offer an early preview of the field at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
From Summer McIntosh shattering three world records last month to Gretchen Walsh and Katie Ledecky lowering their own world records in May, the times have only gotten faster since the Paris Olympic Games. With the 2025 World Swimming Championships underway, even more world records could be rewritten.
But there is one record that has been broken before the event has even started. For the first time in history, there will be three swimmers who have swum under 47 seconds all in the same men’s 100m freestyle field– China’s Pan Zhanle, Romania’s David Popovici and USA’s Jack Alexy—making for one of the most competitive races in the history of this event.
With seven out of the eight finalists from last year’s Paris Olympic Games competing, this race will offer an early glimpse into what the field could look like at the 2028 LA Olympic Games.
The 2025 World Swimming Championships will stream on Peacock starting Saturday, July 26.
- Dates: July 26 - August 2
- Venue: Singapore Sports Hub
- Streaming:Peacock
How to watch the men’s 100m freestyle
- Heats: Tuesday, July 29, 10 PM ET
- Semifinals: Wednesday, July 30, 7 AM ET
- Finals: Thursday, July 31, 7 AM ET
- Streaming: Peacock
Who are the top contenders for the men’s 100m freestyle?
Not only is this year’s 100m freestyle field the fastest in history, with five of the top ten swimmers in history competing at this year’s championships, it’s also one of the most experienced group of swimmers, boasting familiar names left and right.
Australia’s Kyle Chalmers, France’s Maxime Grousset, Zhanle and Popovici are all Olympic medalists in this event, while Alexy has a world championship medal under his belt.
Alexy and Popovici are the only two to have clocked a sub-47 time this season, with both of their performances coming last month. Alexy set a new U.S. Open record with a time of 46.99 to win the national title, while Popovici set a new European record and the fastest time in the world this year with a 46.71.
Zhanle, however, shouldn’t be overlooked. Despite not ranking within the top ten this year, he has broken the 47-second mark five times in his career, the most by anyone in the history of this event. Combined, Zhanle and Popovici have nine of the 12 fastest times in the 100m free.
Popovici defended his Olympic gold medal with a win in Tuesday's 200m freestyle, his first world title of the meet, while Zhanle failed to qualify for the event's semifinal, placing 22nd. Grousset earned himself a world title on Monday in one of the newest Olympic races, the 50m butterfly. The 100m freestyle will be his second of four events this meet.
The 100m freestyle world title is truly up for grabs, with the top eight swimmers all coming in with times faster than the silver-medal-winning time at the Paris Olympics.
Who is the defending 100m freestyle world champion?
Chalmers claimed the world championship title in Fukuoka, Japan, in 2023 with a time of 47.15, out-touching Alexy, Grousset and Zhanle. But with the top four swimmers in this event seeded faster than 2023’s winning time, these swimmers will likely have to swim some of the best races of their careers to reach the podium this year. If Chalmers wants to repeat his World Championship-winning swim, he will likely have to swim a personal best and finish under the 47-second mark.
Who won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in the 100m freestyle?
Zhanle is the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 100m freestyle; in Paris, he shattered his own world record with a time of 46.40. Separated by just one-hundredth of a second, Chalmers brought home the silver medal while Popovici claimed bronze. Popovici also went on to win gold in the 200m freestyle. Zhanle, however, has yet to match his Olympic-winning swim since then, with his season’s best time this year coming in at 47.77.
Chalmers unexpectedly won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games as an 18-year-old, but has been unable to conquer that feat again, taking silver in 2021 and 2024.
Category: General Sports
