Americans Dominate Second Day of World Championships with Podium Finishes Across All Events

SINGAPORE – Team USA painted the pool red, white, and blue on the second day of finals at the Singapore 2025 World Para Swimming Championships, earning a medal in every race they contested. With seven podium appearances on the night, the American team has amassed 10 total medals after two days—including five gold—and sits fourth on the overall medal table. 

The evening was highlighted by a breakout performance from Katie Kubiak (Mequon, Wisconsin), who stormed to gold in the women’s 100m freestyle S4. Competing in just her first year on the international stage, Kubiak continues to build an impressive résumé, adding a world title to her collection of world records. 

 ‘It’s just so surreal still to be here, and the energy has been great in the arena,” said Kubiak. “I’m really proud of my first swim, and it’s nice to have the first one under the belt. I’m excited for the rest of the week.” “The first one is the toughest one for me, so I didn’t really have a time that I wanted in mind, I just wanted to give the best that I had tonight so I’m really happy with it.” 

Continuing her dominance in the event, three-time Paralympic champion Morgan Stickney(Cary, North Carolina) delivered a brilliant performance in her opening race of the championships. She cruised to her third consecutive world title in the women’s 400m freestyle S7, finishing a full 20 seconds ahead of the silver medalist, the same event in which she earned back-to-back Paralympic gold. The 28-year-old fought back tears as she reflected on the challenges of the past year, saying she nearly didn’t make it to Singapore but came to make her family proud. 

“I just went for it,” said Stickney. “I wasn’t sure where I’d be…I had a really rough year. Just three and a half months ago, I lost my stepdad, and two weeks ago, my mom was diagnosed with cancer, so just being here is amazing. I know that they’re so proud of me and I’m so proud of myself.” 

Joining Stickney on the podium was teammate Ahalya Lettenberger (Glen Ellyn, Illinois), who snagged her fourth career world championship medal. The bronze marks her third world championship medal in the event and first podium in Singapore.  

“It’s been a crazy year, a year of transitions,” said Lettenberger. “To be back on the podium means a lot. The pool is incredibly fast, and it feels really good; the atmosphere here is amazing. It was so fun to be with Morgan and have a teammate out there. For her to come away with the win, it’s awesome.” 

Fresh off an incredible debut in Paris, Paralympic champion Olivia Chambers (Little Rock, Arkansas) picked up another first of the evening– her first time crowned as world champion. In a tightly contested race against Ireland, Chambers surged to gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB13, building upon new techniques to outlast her opponents. 

“I’ve been working on my breaststroke,” said Chambers. “I have two different strategies that I’ve been working through. I was ironing out those details this morning and just really hit it home tonight and wanted to have a lot of fun with it.” 

“It feels amazing to grab my first world title. I’m just super grateful to be here.” 

One day after acting as flag bearer for the U.S. team, two-time Paralympian Leanne Smith(Salem, Massachusetts) kicked off her fifth world championship appearance with a silver in the women’s 150m IM SM3. 

“It’s great to get the first race done and out of the way,” said Smith. “I haven’t been able to race that race for a while so it’s good to get back out and see where we’re out with training it, and I'm happy to come away with another medal for Team USA.”

What started as a volunteer role for the Paralympic trials turned into an up-and-coming Para star. Koehn Boyd (Ramsey, Minnesota) picked up silver in his second final event on international soil. After an impressive run in the morning heat, Boyd nearly caught up to the gold medalist in the home stretch to grab a second-place finish in the men’s 200m IM SM10. 

“It feels amazing,” said Boyd. “This morning, I set myself up well, and I was just hoping to get on the podium tonight, so I’m so glad that I was able to represent Team USA well.” 

The American team capped off a spectacular second day as medalists Kubiak and Smith joined forces with teammates Adin Williams (Happy Valley, Oregon) and Zach Shattuck (Mt. Airy, Maryland) for the 4x50 relay 20 points. With Smith as the anchor, Team USA raced to a bronze medal to capture Williams and Shattuck's first medals in Singapore.  

“It’s always nice to be a part of the relay,” said Smith. “It’s an individual sport so anytime you get to swim with your teammates and bring home another medal, it makes it’s just a little bit sweeter.” 

“Whenever a relay can come together and put together a good performance like this, that just proves that everyone played a role in it,” added Williams.  

Competition resumes at 9 a.m. GMT+8 on Tuesday, Sept. 23, for the third day of racing with evening finals beginning at 5:30 p.m. local time. A livestream is available to view at www.youtube.com/paralympics. For more information on U.S. Paralympics Swimming, visit usparaswimming.org.  

For photo or media inquiries, contact Annemarie.Blanco@usopc.org. 

Team USA Results: 

Katie Kubiak, gold, women’s 100m freestyle S4

Morgan Stickney, gold, women’s 400m freestyle S7

Olivia Chambers, gold, women’s 100m breaststroke SB13

Leanne Smith, silver, women’s 150m IM SM13 

Koehn Boyd, silver, men’s 200m IM SM10

Ahalya Lettenberger, bronze, women’s 400m freestyle S7

Katie Kubiak, Leanne Smith, Zach Shattuck & Adin Williams, bronze, 4x50 relay 20 pts