SINGAPORE -- Australia didn't need to add to its gold medal haul on the final night of competition at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships for this highly anticipated meet to be considered a raging success. But thanks to sprint star Meg Harris, it did anyway.
Harris overcame a stacked 50m freestyle field -- and plenty of her own self doubt and nerves -- to prevail in the fastest women's swimming race on the planet. Like Cameron McEvoy in the men's event 24 hours earlier, Harris emerged from her dolphin kicks with her head in front of the pack and never looked like relinquishing the lead. She touched the wall in a time of 24.02s, whipped around to check the results on the stadium monitors, and then cupped her hands over her mouth in sheer disbelief.
A staple of many great Australian relay teams over the past few years, the 23-year-old from Albury is no stranger to standing on the top step of the most prestigious podiums in world swimming. But this was different. This was her first gold medal in an individual event. This time the spotlight was firmly on her.
"I still don't have the words to process this, but this is a dream," said a near speechless Harris. "I felt really good for the first 15m, and that's been my weakness so far. I knew if I got that right, I just had to hold on. I love sprinting, I love racing."
Harris' historic victory also levelled up the gold medal count between Australia and the United States, the fascinating subtext underlining the final night of competition in Singapore. Eight apiece. And when American favourite Bobby Finke was beaten by Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi in an enthralling men's 1500m freestyle final, there was more than a glimmer of hope the Dolphins could repeat their heroics from Fukuoka two years ago in knocking off their old rival in the pool.
At least there was brief hope. Those dreams were quickly scuppered when the American quartet of Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske closed the program with a new world record in the women's 4x100m medley relay, beating Australia by two full body lengths.
So Australia lost out to the United States by one gold medal. So what, right? The reality is this class of swimmers from Down Under dazzled once again on a major international stage, providing countless moments that will live long in our memory banks. Outside that record shattering run in Fukuoka, this return in the pool -- eight gold, six silver, and six bronze -- is Australia's best at a world championships since Melbourne hosted the event in 2007. To achieve that level of success without Ariarne Titmus, arguably its biggest star, is no mean feat.
The performer of the week has to be Mollie O'Callaghan. Five swims. Three gold medals. Two silvers. She won the 200m freestyle in spectacular fashion, missed gold in the 100m by a little over a tenth of a second, and steered Australia to back-to-back exhilarating relay wins. Only Canada's Summer McIntosh -- four gold and a bronze -- had a more successful meet than O'Callaghan, who remains firmly on track to become the nation's most decorated swimmer.
How about Kaylee McKeown? For the fourth major swim meet in succession, the backstroke ace completed the 100m, 200m double, powering to victory and leaving her rivals scratching their heads for answers. To say McKeown has a stranglehold on these events might be the understatement of the year. She hasn't been beaten in either race since the 2019 world championships in Gwangju.
And then there's Lani Pallister. Under the expert tutelage of master coach Dean Boxall, Pallister has transformed as a swimmer, resulting in a raft of personal bests at the Australian Trials earlier in the year. But nobody could have predicted she'd beat McIntosh and give American great Katie Ledecky an almighty scare in the women's 800m freestyle final on night seven, unquestionably the race of the championships. Her silver medal will go down in history as one of the nation's all-time great swimming performances.
The often under fire Australian men also delivered. Sprint king McEvoy repeated his Paris performance with gold in the men's 50m freestyle, while the evergreen Kyle Chalmers made it a sixth straight major race podium in the men's 100m freestyle, swimming's blue-riband event, taking bronze in a stacked field. He also anchored Australia to a surprise gold medal on night one in the men's 100m relay, just 15 minutes after the Australian women had collected gold in their race.
Was it a perfect meet? No. The Dolphins suffered humiliation on the penultimate morning by failing to qualify for the mixed 100m freestyle relay final. The plan had been to rest O'Callaghan and Chalmers for the medal race, but the team of Kai Taylor, Maxi Giuliani, Milla Jansen, and Hannah Casey failed to post a top-eight time in the heats and missed out on a place in the final.
It was a similar story 24 hours later when the men's mixed medley squad failed to advance to the decider. But this time it was a full strength team of Chalmers, Josh Edwards-Smith, Nash Wilkes, and Matthew Temple. Chalmers split a tired 48.38s, more than two seconds slower than his best effort in the 100m freestyle this meet, only highlighting the significant workload Australia's top swimmers have endured this week.
But back to the positives. Australia enjoyed a gold rush at the world championships in Singapore, will soon welcome back Titmus from her layoff, as well as Zac Stubblety-Cook from injury, and are further ahead in the supposed rebuild than many thought was possible. It all means one thing; bring on Los Angeles in 2028!
Here's how night eight unfolded: