The women's 50 metre butterfly event at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships was held from 1 to 2 August 2025 at the World Aquatics Championships Arena at the Singapore Sports Hub in Kallang, Singapore.
Background Sarah Sjöström, who won the previous six world titles in the event, had taken maternity leave. Gretchen Walsh of the United States entered as the fastest active swimmer, having recorded 24.66 earlier in the year, making her the second woman ever to swim under 25 seconds. Her programme in Singapore included the 50 freestyle semifinal and mixed 4×100 freestyle relay on the same day as the 50 butterfly final.
Japan's Rikako Ikee held a 25.41 season best and was seeking her first World Championships medal in this event. Other leading entrants included Australia’s Alexandria Perkins (25.36), the United States’ Kate Douglass (25.39), Germany’s Angelina Köhler (25.55), Sweden’s Sara Junevik (25.50), Greece’s Anna Ntountounaki (25.63), and Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk (25.63).
Qualification Each National Federation was permitted to enter a maximum of two qualified athletes in each individual event, but they could do so only if both of them had attained the "A" standard qualification time. For this event, the "A" standard qualification time was 26.23 seconds. Federations could enter one athlete into the event if they met the "B" standard qualification time. For this event, the "B" standard qualification time was 27.15. Athletes could also enter the event if they had met an "A" or "B" standard in a different event and their Federation had not entered anyone else. Additional considerations applied to Federations who had few swimmers enter through the standard qualification times. Federations in this category could at least enter two men and two women to the competition, all of whom could enter into up to two events. +Top 10 fastest qualification timesSwimmerCountryTimeCompetitionGretchen Walsh24.662025 United States ChampionshipsSarah Sjöström24.732024 Sette ColliMélanie Henique25.222024 Eindhoven meetRikako Ikee25.332024 Australian ChampionshipsAlexandria Perkins25.362025 Australian TrialsKate Douglass25.39Fort Lauderdale stop of the 2025 TYR Pro Swim SeriesZhang Yufei25.422024 Summer OlympicsVanessa Ouwehand25.432025 New Zealand ChampionshipsSara Junevik25.502025 Swedish ChampionshipsAngelina Köhler25.552025 Sette Colli
Records Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.
Heats The heats took place on 1 August at 11:25.
RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes 1 9 4 Gretchen Walsh 25.22 Q 2 7 4 Alexandria Perkins 25.41 Q 3 7 1 Silvia Di Pietro 25.49 Q, NR 4 7 6 Arina Surkova Neutral Athletes B 25.56 Q 4 9 5 Kate Douglass 25.56 Q 6 8 5 Sara Junevik 25.59 Q 7 8 4 Rikako Ikee 25.63 Q 7 9 7 Tamara Potocká 25.63 Q, NR 9 9 1 Mizuki Hirai 25.64 Q 10 9 3 Angelina Köhler 25.65 Q 10 9 6 Tessa Giele 25.65 Q 12 7 3 Lily Price 25.77 Q 12 7 5 Erin Gallagher 25.77 Q 14 8 6 Roos Vanotterdijk 25.79 Q 15 7 0 Taylor Ruck 25.95 Q 16 7 2 Wang Yichun 25.97 Q 17 8 3 Anna Ntountounaki 26.01 18 9 8 Louise Hansson 26.04 19 7 7 Daryna Nabojčenko 26.16 20 9 2 Wu Qingfeng 26.18 21 8 7 Maaike de Waard 26.20 22 9 0 Lismar Lyon 26.30 NR 23 8 2 Mariia Osetrova Neutral Athletes B 26.37 24 8 0 Iris Julia Berger 26.39 24 8 8 Zoe Pedersen 26.39 26 2 6 Celia Pulido 26.40 NR 27 7 9 Arielle Hayon 26.46 28 8 1 Beatriz Bezerra 26.56 29 7 8 Laura Quilter 26.60 30 6 5 Quah Ting Wen 26.69 31 6 4 Elisabeth Ebbesen 26.73 32 8 9 Sofia Spodarenko 26.75 33 9 9 Anastasiya Kuliashova Neutral Athletes A 26.79 34 6 0 Lee Lee-na 27.01 35 6 3 Chiu Yi-chen 27.12 36 6 1 Cielo Moya 27.16 37 5 4 Oumy Diop 27.19 NR 38 6 7 Yeung Hoi Ching 27.22 39 5 3 Emma Sabando Toro 27.28 40 6 2 Maari Randväli 27.32 41 5 2 Imane Houda El Barodi 27.47 NR 42 6 6 Jessica Calderbank 27.50 43 6 9 Amel Melih 27.64 44 6 8 Marina Spadoni 27.66 45 5 0 Avigayle Tromp 27.86 NR 46 5 7 Imara Bella Patricia Thorpe 27.88 47 1 3 Timipame-Ere Akiayefa 28.21 NR 48 5 6 Adriana Giles 28.23 49 5 1 Napatsawan Jaritkla 28.29 49 5 9 María Schutzmeier 28.29 51 5 5 Paige Schendelaar-Kemp 28.60 52 5 8 Ashley Calderon 28.61 53 4 2 Yeva Karapetyan 28.66 54 4 4 Valerie Tarazi 28.72 55 4 1 Nubia Adjei 28.82 56 4 0 Noelie Annette Lacour 28.98 57 4 5 Kennice Aphenie Greene 29.13 58 1 5 Antsa Rabejaona 29.31 59 4 3 Kyra Dalilah De Cuba 29.36 60 4 8 Victoria Russell 29.41 61 3 4 Cheang Weng Chi 29.42 62 4 7 Naekeisha Louis 29.46 63 3 3 Ionnah Eliane Douillet 29.48 64 2 0 Kirabo Namutebi 29.55 65 2 1 Honey Nan 29.67 66 4 6 Carlota Filipa Silva 29.78 67 1 4 Liana Planz 29.99 68 4 9 Erina Idrizaj 30.08 69 3 6 Kestra Kihleng 30.51 NR 70 3 2 Loane Russet 30.69 NR 71 3 5 Mashael Meshari A Alayed 30.70 NR 72 3 1 Mayah Chouloute 31.33 73 2 5 Marta Mpfumo 31.75 74 2 7 Arleigha Hall 32.38 75 3 7 Adaya Sian Bourne 32.73 76 2 3 Hareem Malik 33.20 77 3 0 Grace Manuela Nguelo'O 33.51 78 3 9 Lina Alemayehu Selo 34.63 79 2 2 Marie Amenou 39.85 80 2 4 Kalisa Keza 40.00 2 8 Hazel Alamy 3 8 Tayamika Chang'anamuno
Semifinals The semifinals took place on 1 August at 20:24.
RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes 1 2 4 Gretchen Walsh 25.09 Q 2 1 1 Roos Vanotterdijk 25.32 Q, NR 3 2 1 Erin Gallagher 25.39 Q, NR 4 1 4 Alexandria Perkins 25.52 Q 5 1 5 Arina Surkova Neutral Athletes B 25.54 Q 6 2 5 Silvia Di Pietro 25.58 Q 7 1 7 Lily Price 25.61 Q 8 1 2 Angelina Köhler 25.62 Q 9 2 2 Mizuki Hirai 25.63 10 1 3 Sara Junevik 25.65 11 2 6 Rikako Ikee 25.67 12 1 8 Wang Yichun 25.68 13 2 8 Taylor Ruck 25.71 14 2 3 Kate Douglass 25.74 15 1 6 Tamara Potocká 25.86 15 2 7 Tessa Giele 25.86
Final The final took place on 2 August at 19:02.
Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 4 Gretchen Walsh 24.83 6 Alexandria Perkins 25.31 =OC 5 Roos Vanotterdijk 25.43 4 8 Angelina Köhler 25.50 NR 5 2 Arina Surkova Neutral Athletes B 25.59 6 1 Lily Price 25.61 7 7 Silvia Di Pietro 25.64 8 3 Erin Gallagher 25.66
References