Americans Pick up Three Gold, Six Medals on Fifth Day of World Championships

It’s hard to believe that Katie Kubiak (Mequon, Wisconsin) hasn’t been on the international stage for decades. The 22-year-old continues to mark her historic debut against the world’s best, picking up her third world title, fourth world record and sixth overall podium appearance. The fifth day of competition at the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships saw Kubiak soar to another gold in the women’s 50m freestyle S4 in a record time of 36.83. 

“It’s so special and honestly, it still feels like a dream every single day,” said Kubiak. “I think my mantra all week has been long is strong, strong is controlled and controlled is fast. That’s really been grounding me in all my sprints and keeping me levelheaded, so I’ve been leaning on that a lot.”

Not far behind in collecting medals this week is Paralympian Leanne Smith (Salem, Massachusetts) who added her fifth podium and first 2025 world title on Thursday after an impressive win in the women’s 50m freestyle S3. Smith who was just shy of the record time now holds 17 world titles to her name. 

“This is one I’ve been waiting all week for – for the freestyle events to start up,” said Smith. “I’m glad I had all the exciting races to get ready for this one and I’m happy to be bringing home another gold for Team USA and my first gold for this trip.”

It was an all-American clash in the women’s 50m freestyle S13, where Gia Pergolini (Atlanta, Georgia) surged to her second world title of 2025 in a tightly contested sprint. Olivia Chambers (Little Rock, Arkansas) followed with bronze, her third medal of the competition after back-to-back golds, and Grace Nuhfer (Greenwood, Indiana), the recent 100m butterfly champion, rounded out the American lineup in seventh.

Besting her time from the Paris Paralympic Games, Mallory Weggemann (Eagan, Minnesota) soared to her third podium of the meet and twentieth career world championship medal. With her silver in the women’s 50m butterfly S7, Weggemann has rounded out her 2025 collection with a medal in every finish. 

“Doing things different can be scary,” said Weggemann. “I am so proud of this past year and what we’ve done as a family – my husband, my daughter and I – we’ve truly done every inch of this together. They are at the pool every day for training, and it’s been incredibly grounding. It’s made every part of it meaningful, so I think we’re going to carry a lot of that as we keep heading to LA.” 

Two-time Paralympic medalist Noah Jaffe (Carlsbad, California) won his first medal of the championships racing to a third place in the men’s 50m freestyle S8. After narrowly missing the podium over multiple events this week, the sprint win was an unexpected and pleasant surprise for the California native. 

“I’m just so excited and relieved,” said Jaffe. “I’ve been just off the podium in my other events so to get back on means a lot. The 50 free is definitely not the event I expected to medal in so I’m just really proud of myself.”

Rounding off the evening was the 4x100m medley relay 34 pts, where Jaffe and Winnett returned to the pool with teammates Aiden Stivers (Fortville, Indiana) and Morgan Ray (St. Augustine, Florida). The group fought a tight battle, just missing a medal with a fourth-place finish. 

Additional U.S. swimmers in finals competition included Keegan Knott (Lake Villa, Illinois) who finished in eighth place in the women’s 400m freestyle S9 finals while teammate Taylor Winnett (Hershey, Pennsylvania) picked up the fifth-best time in the women’s 100m butterfly S10. Two-time 2025 world silver medalist Koehn Boyd (Ramsey, Minnesota) picked up a fifth-place finish in the men’s 100m butterfly S10, with Paralympian Julia Gaffney (Mayflower, Arkansas) taking eighth in the women’s 50m butterfly S7. 

Competition returns for the penultimate day on Friday, Sept. 26, beginning at 9 a.m. GMT+8. 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 interview requests, please contact Annemarie.Blanco@usopc.org. 

Team USA Results: 

Katie Kubiak, gold, women’s 50m freestyle S4 and world record (36.83) 

Gia Pergolini, gold, women’s 50m freestyle S13

Leanne Smith, gold, women’s 50m freestyle S3

Mallory Weggemann, silver, women’s 50m butterfly S7 

Olivia Chambers, bronze, women’s 50m freestyle S13

Noah Jaffe, bronze, men’s 50m freestyle S8 

Taylor Winnett, Aiden Stivers, Noah Jaffe and Morgan Ray, 4th, 4x100m medley relay 34 pts. 

Koehn Boyd, 5th, men’s 100m butterfly S10 

Taylor Winnett, 5th, women’s 100m butterfly S10 

Grace Nuhfer, 7th, women’s 50m freestyle S13

Julia Gaffney, 8th, women’s 50m butterfly S7 

Keegan Knott, 8th, women’s 400m freestyle S9