Singapore, July 29, 2025: Hangzhou Asian Games MVP Qin Haiyang won China’s first swimming gold medal of the World Aquatics Championships Singapore 2025 on Monday, July 28.
Qin, 26, prevailed in the men’s 100m breaststroke in a time of 58.23, just 0.35 seconds ahead of Italy’s Paris Olympic champion Nicolo Martinenghi, who took silver in 58.58.
Denis Petrashov, 25, finished third in a national record of 58.88 to earn Kyrgyzstan’s first swimming medal at the world championships – a bronze.
“This definitely helps with confidence,” Qin was quoted by World Aquatics.
“In the last 10 meters we were all spent; maybe this was when my technique gave me a little bit of an advantage. This win gives me confidence. To win this gold medal is not something that’s easily said and done for me,” added Qin, who was named Hangzhou Asian Games MVP along with fellow swimmer Zhang Yufei.
Petrashov is coached by Arthur Albiero at the University of Louisville in the United States, and is making his seventh trip to the World Aquatics Championships. This was his first time in the final.
“I’m not an emotional person, but this is very emotional for me,” Petrashov said. “First medal for my country at the Worlds, so very proud and happy. I was not expecting this at all. I had no idea where I was in the race. I saw the turn, we were close to each other, but I didn’t see anything.
“Of course, we all want to win something. This was the final, I had nothing to lose. If you have a lane, you have a chance. It means a lot. Hopefully, we’ll get more resources for swimming. We don’t have an Olympic-sized pool in Kyrgyzstan. Hopefully this is a big step to more things.”
Qin’s victory was China’s first gold medal in swimming, taking their World Aquatics Championships tally to 10 gold with four in artistic swimming and five to date in diving.
Qin will be hoping there is more to come, as he swam to a 50m-100m-200m breaststroke treble at the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan in 2023, and earned a fourth gold in the mixed medley 4x100m.