By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
2025 World Para Swimming Championships
- September 21-27, 2025
- OCBC Aquatic Centre – Singapore
- LCM (50 Meters)
- Meet Central
- Youtube Livestream Channel
The 2025 World Para Swimming Championships get underway this evening (in the United States’ time zones at least), streaming on YouTube. After playing host to the World Championships this summer, the lights at the OCBC Aquatic Centre in Singapore will go up on a week of the top para swimmers in the world going head-to-head in the major senior international meet of the season.
Earlier this week, we highlighted five women to keep an eye on at the championships. Now, it’s the men’s turn.
Gabriel dos Santos Araujo, Brazil (Classification: S2, SM3)
Last summer, the then 22-year-old Gabriel dos Santos Araujo was one of the stars of the Paris Paralympics, winning triple gold (50 backstroke S2, 100 backstroke S2, 200m freestyle S2) at his second Games. It was the culmination of an incredibly successful Paralympic cycle for Araujo. After winning gold in the 50m backstroke S2 and 200m freestyle S2, as well as silver in the 100m backstroke S2 in Tokyo, he swept those events at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships.
He also broke multiple world records and was the overall male winner of the 2024 CITI Para Swimming World Series. He’s kept that momentum going at the 2025 Series as well, including his record-breaking habits. In April, he lowered his 150m IM SM2 world record by over a second (3:22.25).
Araujo will take aim at that world record again in his first event of the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships. Later in the meet, he’ll defend his Paralympic titles in the 50/100m backstroke S2 and the 200m freestyle S2.
Individual Event Schedule: Day 2 – 150m IM SM3; Day 3 – 100m backstroke S2; Day 4 – 200m freestyle S2; Day 5 – 50m freestyle S3; Day 6 – 50m backstroke S2
Simone Barlaam, Italy (Classification: S9)
Italy sends a strong contingent to the 2025 Para Swimming World Championships, including four-time Paralympic Games champion Simone Barlaam. The S9 classification has provided some great racing between swimmers like Barlaam, Ugo Didier, and Timothy Hodge the past few seasons—including at last summer’s Paralympic Games, where Barlaam successfully defended his 50m freestyle S9 gold from Tokyo. Barlaam also won gold in the 100m butterfly S9, helping Italy win the men’s 100m butterfly S8, S9, and S10 events.
Barlaam is also no stranger to World Championship gold. He owns 21 World Championship medals including 18 gold. At the last edition of the World Para Swimming Championships, he earned six golds (50m freestyle S9, 100m freestyle S9, 400m freestyle S9, 100m backstroke S9, 100m butterfly S9, and the mixed 4×100m freestyle relay 34 points). His standout swim was the 50 freestyle, where he took down his world record, breaking through the 24-second barrier with a 23.96.
This year, he’s not taking on as many individual events, but will be back in the water for the 50m freestyle S9 and 100m butterfly S9 (where he’s the reigning Paralympic champion) as well as the 100m and 400m freestyle S9 events.
Individual Event Schedule: Day 3 – 100 butterfly S9; Day 4 – 100 freestyle S9; Day 5 – 400 freestyle S9; Day 7 – 50 freestyle S9
Nicholas Bennett, Canada (Classification: S14, SB14, SM14)
Nicholas Bennett’s breakout on the international stage came two years ago at the last World Para Swimming Championships, winning two titles as a teenager. He backed up those performances a year later in Paris, winning gold in the 100m breaststroke SB14 and 200m IM SM14, as well as silver in the 200m freestyle S14. His effort made him the first male Canadian swimmer to win Paralympic gold since 2012. Not only that, but he was the first to win multiple golds at a single Paralympic Games since 2004, and the first to win three medals since 2012, for which he was one of Canada’s flagbearers at the Closing Ceremony.
After an incredible summer, Bennett took a break from swimming after the Games, like many Olympic and Paralympic swimmers. Though he didn’t make a coaching change as he started this season, he did change his training base, following his coach and sister Haley Bennett-Osborne to HPC-Quebec, where she is the new head coach.
This year, Bennett told Swimming Canada “of course I’d love to break my world record int he 200m IM. The ultimate goal is, you know, try to replicate the success we had last year. But showing up [at Worlds] is already an accomplishment, just with how stressful the past couple of months have been.”
Bennett’s slated for four events in Singapore, including the 200m IM SM14, where he’s looking for a third-straight gold at a senior international meet at 21-years-old.
Individual Event Schedule: Day 1 – 200m freestyle S14; Day 3 – 100m breaststroke SB14; Day 5 – 200m IM SM14; Day 7 – 100m butterfly S14
William Ellard, Great Britain (Classification: S14)
Bennett will clash with William Ellard in the 200m freestyle S14 in what could be one of the best races of the meet. Bennett and Ellard have been on a similar timeline–both broke out on the senior international stage at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships, then won gold in their Paralympic debuts in Paris.
Ellard is a freestyle specialist, winning Paralympic gold in the 200m freestyle S14 and mixed 4×100 freestyle relay S14 but also earned silver in the 100m butterfly S14 last summer. It’s his sprinting that has shone this year; he tied his 100m freestyle S14 world record at the 2025 Aquatics GB Championships in April (51.07). However, Ellard isn’t on the entry list for that event in Singapore, instead taking on the 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly S14 in addition to the 200m freestyle.
Individual Event Schedule: Day 1 – 200m freestyle S14; Day 2 – 100m backstroke S14; Day 3 – 100m butterfly S14
Keiichi Kimura, Japan (Classification: S11)
Keiichi Kimura got the rare experience of winning his first Paralympic gold in front of a home crowd at the 2021 Paralympics. It was his fourth Paralympic Games and he continued to excel at his fifth in Paris, defending his title in the 100m butterfly S11 and adding a gold in the 50m freestyle S11.
Now a ten-time Paralympic medalist, Kimura has also racked up an impressive medal haul of 19 at the World Championships. He was the silver medalist in both the events that he won in Paris, so he’ll be aiming to move to the top of the podium in Singapore. If he wins gold in the 50m freestyle S11, it will be his first World title in the event.
The S11 events will be some great races as Kimura faces challenges from Hua Dongdong, Uchu Tomita, and Rogier Dorsman.
Individual Event Schedule: Day 1 – 50m freestyle S11; Day 2 – 100m butterfly S11
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Five Male Swimmers To Watch At The 2025 World Para Swimming Championships
