William Ellards Shatters World Record at Day-1 of the 2025 Toyota World Para Swimming Championships
The 2025 Toyota World Para Swimming Championships kicked off yesterday in Singapore, marking the arrival of the first-ever World Para Swimming Championship in Asia.
S14 athletes (intellectual impairment class) will be competing across a number of events not just to win championship titles, but also to lower record marks.
Day 1 brought thrilling races, new world records, and history-making performances.
In the Men’s S14 200m Freestyle, Great Britain’s William Ellard stormed to victory, setting a new World Record of 1:51.08.
“I feel really good. I was expecting to go a bit faster, maybe 1:50 point low 1:49 hoping, but I think I went out too quickly and didn’t. Just got to me a bit in my head, rather than thinking I thought that time, rather than the swim itself, so, yes, a good race to see happens to get gold. Bandeira was quite close there, best time is under the old world record as well, so it’s good to have someone quite close, and yeah, it’s just it’s been quite a chilled out year after Paris, so hopefully come up here next year, could function more freestyle. Campers, relax. Yeah, really good,” William, the Paralympic Champion from Paris 2024 told World Para Swimming.
Brazil’s Gabriel Bandeira touched second in 1:52.03, followed by Nicholas Bennett of Canada in 1:53.97. Bandeira reflected on his swim:
“I tried to swim as smoothly and efficiently as possible, without spending too much energy. I felt good in the water, was pleased with the result, and I’m confident it will be even better this afternoon.”
The Women’s S14 200m Freestyle, places were swapped between Paris 2024 Paralympic medalists and revenge were taken. A nail-biting battle between Poppy Maskill of Great Britain and Paralympic Champion Valeriia Shabalina (NPA) was staged in the fight to grab the gold. Maskill surged ahead in the closing stages to claim gold in 2:06.19, with Shabalina just 0.13 seconds behind. Britain’s Louise Fiddes secured bronze, marking her third consecutive world medal in this event, while Georgia Sheffield finished just outside the podium in fourth.
Maskill, flanked by her British teammates as she walked to her lane, delivered a career-defining performance:
“I’m in shock! I didn’t think I was going to win, but I saw her next to me and I just really wanted it so I tried my hardest,” Poppy said after clinching her first-ever individual world title.
“For the rest of this meet I’ll just try my hardest and see what happens – I just want to do well, aim for a couple PB’s if I can and hopefully a few more medals.”
Day 1 set the tone with records shattered, medals spread across nations, and the S14 class once again proving its place at the heart of Para swimming’s biggest stage.
Full results can be accessed from here.
