British records fall on first night of swimming finals in Singapore

On the primary night of swimming competition action in the World Aquatics Championships Arena, British was well-represented across four semi-finals with the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle final set to bookend the action.

A professional heats swim in which Tom Dean played his part qualified the team into lane seven, and gave the quartet of Jacob Mills, Matthew Richards, Jacob Whittle and Duncan Scott the stage to battle with the world’s best.

In the final, world’s debutant Mills took out the first leg before passing onto Richards – who’d been rested in the morning – to continue the team’s effort. The subsequent takeovers were equally as sharp with Whittle and Scott producing a great backend to Great Britain’s charge.

While the medal places were beyond the quartets reach, delivering a fourth placed finish in a new British record time of 3:10.73 was a pleasing result.

"It's a British record, it's the first time we've managed to get basically everything right and we've got three years to hopefully get on the podium - so it's a great start and somewhere to keep moving it on from," said Whittle.

"It was four really good swims there from all of us and that's what we were talking about coming into this," added Richards,

"We wanted to put four good efforts individually together as obviously that's exactly what creates a good relay, so I think we executed that really well tonight. It's a good start to the meet and we can continue to build from there."

Ben Proud had already reset one British record in the Singapore pool, as he powered his way to a 22.74 second swim in the Men’s 50m Butterfly semi-final.

The eight-year-old marker hadn’t been on Proud’s mind as he continued his progress through the rounds, and he moves forward to Monday night’s final ranked third.

“I didn’t even realise it was a British record until coming down here and speaking to the guys,” said Proud.

“That time back in 2017 to win [the world title] was the perfect swim to me back then but clearly a lot has changed - I’ve progressed physically and mentally, and also the world stage has moved on a lot.

“It feels great to say I’ve got another record in 2025, it’s a real positive and reflection on the years past. This for me is still a fun event - prepping for this meet I’ve been in a very relaxed state, just enjoying it and I don’t think I should change that because it’s how I get the best out of myself in this event.”

Abbie Wood was equally successful in booking her place among Monday finals with a business-like semi-final swim in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley.

“I think there’s a lot I can work on before tomorrow but that’s what I wanted to do this meet, I feel like I’ve finally got the experience to be able to hold my nerve from heats, to semi, to final,” said Wood.

“In the past coming out of the heats ninth I might have of been stressing and needing to do a really fast time to give myself confidence but I’ve tried to keep myself composed all day to just move through the rounds and as I have done, get myself into a good lane for the final.”

For Keanna MacInnes in the Women’s 100m Butterfly and Greg Butler in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke there was new personal bests delivered on the world stage as both prepare for involvement in further events across the week in Singapore.

Stream live free-to-air coverage of the World Aquatics Championships 2025 taking place in Singapore at www.aquaticsgb.com/live.

Sunday 27th July Swimming results

• Men’s 400m Freestyle: Jack McMillan – 14th overall
• Women’s 100m Butterfly: Keanna MacInnes – 12th overall
• Men’s 50m Butterfly: Ben Proud – 3rd into final
• Men’s 100m Breaststroke: Greg Butler – 13th overall
• Women’s 200m Individual Medley: Abbie Wood – 5th into final, Katie Shanahan – 18th overall
• Men’s 4x100m Freestyle: Jacob Mills, Matthew Richards, Jacob Whittle, Duncan Scott and Tom Dean – 4th overall

Extended results available on the World Aquatics website here.