Resilience After Early Struggles
The United States swimming team finished first in the medal standings at the World Aquatics Championships, despite grappling with an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis that affected several athletes during the early days of competition. The team closed out the championships with a world record performance in the women’s 4x100m medley relay, securing its ninth gold and 29th total medal, edging ahead of Australia, which earned eight golds and 20 medals overall.
The victory marked a comeback from a slow start, as Team USA claimed only five golds in the first six days. By the final weekend, the Americans had added four more golds, improving on their performance from the previous year’s championships, although still below the totals from 2023 and 2022.
Team officials confirmed the illness was contracted during a training camp in Thailand. The impact was visible in the team’s sluggish start, which sparked criticism from former athletes and media. Among them, Ryan Lochte posted an image of a tombstone labeled “In loving memory of United States Swimming,” which was reshared by Michael Phelps with a pointed caption suggesting it might serve as a wake-up call.
Athletes Respond With Performances
Despite the criticism, several athletes rose to the challenge. Gretchen Walsh emerged as one of the standout performers, securing three gold medals, including the women’s 100m butterfly, where she posted the second-fastest time in history. Walsh acknowledged the external pressure but emphasized the importance of focusing internally. “It’s hard to get the criticism in the first place because I don’t think people quite understand the magnitude of everything going on behind the scenes,” she stated.
Kate Douglass added to the team’s late momentum with a championship-record swim in the 200m breaststroke. Her performance, followed by Katie Ledecky’s gold in the 800m freestyle with another championship record, solidified the US recovery. “I wanted to just get a gold for Team USA to help our medal count… we’ve done a great job of coming back,” Douglass said.
Canadian Breakthrough With McIntosh
While the US topped the overall medal table, the individual standout of the championships was Canada’s Summer McIntosh. The 18-year-old claimed her fourth gold of the meet by winning the women’s 400m individual medley in a championship-record 4:25.78. Though shy of her own world record, her margin of victory was decisive, finishing more than seven seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
McIntosh joins Katie Ledecky as the only women in history to win four individual golds at a single world championships, according to NBC Sports. She was aiming to match Michael Phelps’ record of five, but was denied by Ledecky in the 800m final.
In the 400m individual medley, a rare dead heat for silver occurred between Australia’s Jenna Forrester and Japan’s Mio Narita, who both touched at 4:33.26. Just behind them, 12-year-old Yu Zidi from China finished fourth in a breakout performance.
Shifting Narratives and Final Takeaways
Despite early doubts, Team USA’s swimmers demonstrated depth, adaptability, and resilience, rebounding from a health-related setback to top the global leaderboard. Their final tally of 29 medals, including nine golds, showcased the team’s enduring competitiveness even amid adversity.
Canada’s McIntosh reinforced her status as one of swimming’s rising stars, delivering consistency across multiple events. Meanwhile, the emergence of young talents like Yu Zidi suggests a generational shift is already underway in global swimming.