The first round of the Swimming World Cup for 2025 took place this past weekend in Indiana and as expected there was a lot of interesting results and performances from some of swimming’s biggest names. The fast swimming on display is an indication of what is in store for the 2 remaining rounds then swimming fans are in for a treat.

Perhaps one of the most surprising and exciting performances of the weekend came from veteran South African swimmer Chad Le Clos who had his breakout back in 2012 at the London Olympics winning Gold in the 200-metre butterfly ahead of the Michael Phelps. Le Clos returned to the podium on the world stage at the age of 33 with a bronze medal in the 100-metre butterfly in a very fast time of 49.57. He is the most decorated swimmer in Swimming World Cup history with over 200 medals and he added to that total in Indiana. After a reduced programme at the Paris Olympics in 2024 only swimming the 100-metre butterfly and choosing to skip the World Championships in the summer of 2025 it was a surprise to see him confirmed for the World Cup but after his performance in Indiana, fans can be a little excited about his return and potential improvements.

Elsewhere there were some very impressive performances from a number of swimmers. American Shaine Casas had a strong showing in the 100 and 200 metre medley events beating out French superstar Leon Marchand. Matt Richards had a strong swim in the 200-metre freestyle. The British Olympic and World Champion finished 3^rd behind Americans Luke Hobson and Chris Giuliano in a very close race with the top 5 separated by just a few tenths. Other notable performances over the weekend included Noe Ponti of Switzerland and Ilya Kharun of Canada who traded victories in the Butterfly events.

But the top performers from the first round according to the World Aquatics scoring system were American youngster Carson Foster in 3^rd place, who had dominant victories in the distance freestyle and medley events, Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands, in 2^nd place had a strong showing in the breaststroke events winning the 100 and 200 metre breaststroke and coming second in the 50 breaststroke. But the winner of the first round of the World Cup was Hubert Kos of Hungary who took a clean sweep of victories in the 3 backstroke events, cementing himself as one to watch for the other 3 legs and could potentially take the overall title for the 3 rounds. The top 3 finishers from the first round in Indiana will be taking home some of that extra prize money but they will all want to ensure they continue their form into the next 2 rounds to give themselves the best chance of winning the big prize money at the end of the series, whilst also setting themselves up for the remainder of the season.

Meanwhile, the women’s side was dominated by Gretchen Walsh. The American superstar not only topped the female standings for the first round but she also set a World Record in the 50-metre butterfly on her way to victory earning herself a $10,000 bonus in the process. She also won the 100-metre butterfly and the 100-metre individual medley setting a World Cup record in the medley to score a near perfect 59.1 points out of 60 to secure top spot on the World Aquatics rankings for round 1 of the World Cup. American teammate Kate Douglass took 2^nd place overall winning both breaststroke and freestyle events and will be a strong contender for the overall title at the end of the 3 rounds. Australian Kaylee McKeown was 3^rd overall for round 1 taking victories in the 200 and 50 metre backstroke and 2^nd in the 100-metre backstroke behind her rival Regan Smith. Smith also had an impressive win in the 200-metre butterfly considering that it is not her best stroke and if backstroke events go her way on round 2 and 3 she could climb the overall rankings come the conclusion of the 3^rd round.

There were other impressive swims on the female side from Australian Mollie O’Callaghan who had strong swims in the freestyle and backstroke events. Backstroke being her 2^nd stroke making her performance even more impressive. Briton Abbie Wood also had a strong performance winning the 400 metre Individual Medley and taking second place in the 200 metre Individual Medley.

Lots of swimmers are using the World Cup as a test meet to see where they are physically at this stage of the season. Based on times a lot of the swimmers put up the remaining 2 rounds in Chicago and Toronto over the next few weeks could get even faster and even more exciting with improvements expected and the potential for more World Records. With the expected addition of Canadian Summer McIntosh for rounds 2 and 3, after missing the first round due to illness, the women’s race for overall champion could get very interesting. The men’s side could also further open up with Leon Marchand opting not to swim in rounds 2 and 3 presenting opportunities for others. We will have to see who takes those opportunities. The next round starts in Chicago Illinois on Friday the 17^th of October.