Tang Qianting Slightly Favored for World Title in Tightly Packed Women’s 100 Breaststroke
In her first three appearances swimming for the United States at major international competitions, Lilly King was untouchable in the 100 breaststroke. A dramatic win at the Rio Olympics was followed by a world record at the 2017 World Championships and then a repeat title in 2019. But that streak ended in dramatic fashion at the Tokyo Olympics, which were delayed one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Olympic final that year, King had the early lead but faded down the stretch as South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker and then American teammate Lydia Jacoby blasted ahead.
Since then, the women’s 100 breast has become one of the most unpredictable events in the sport. Between the four World Championships finals and two Olympic finals held since 2019, each one has resulted in a different winner. Twelve different women achieved podium finishes during this time, with no one reaching the medals more than twice until Schoenmaker, now Tatjana Smith, won Olympic gold last year in Paris.
Smith then added a silver medal in the 200 breast before retiring from the sport, meaning the upcoming World Championships will have yet another new winner in the 100 breast. Of the other recent gold medalists from the event, only two are expected to participate in the event at this year’s World Championships.
Lilly King will swim at one more World Championships — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Jacoby has not competed since last year’s U.S. Olympic Trials, in which she finished third in the 100 breast. Benedetta Pilato and Ruta Meilutyte, the world champions in 2022 and 2023, respectively, are among the world title favorites in the 50 breast but currently not factors over two laps. That leaves King, set to compete in her final meet in Singapore, and Tang Qianting, a 21-year-old from China in the midst of assembling as strong a résumé as any other contender in this event.
Tang won gold at the lightly-attended World Championships last February in Doha, and she finished with silver in Paris, two tenths behind Smith. Tang also won silver in the 50 breast in Doha, and she has won short course world titles in the 100 breast in 2021 and 2024. Her effort last December came up just short of the short course world record. In long course, her lifetime best is 1:04.39, a mark posted at last year’s Chinese Championships to make her the fourth-fastest woman in history. No one had been faster since King set the world record at 1:04.13 seven years earlier.
If Tang can get close to that best time, she will easily secure this year’s world title in the event, with no one else showing any signs of coming close to the 1:05-barrier. Currently, Tang ranks second in the world for 2025 at 1:05.57, toward the top of a rankings list without much clarity. Only six women who have cracked 1:06 thus far, and just two of them, Tang and Germany’s Anna Elendt, have ever reached the podium at a global long course meet.
Leading the way currently is Great Britain’s Angharad Evans, who blasted a time of 1:05.37 at her national championship meet in April. The 21-year-old made her senior international debut in Paris, finishing sixth in the final, and now she is in position to contend for medals in Singapore.
Elendt, the 2022 World Championships runnerup in the event, is third in the global standings at 1:05.72, followed by 200 breast Olympic champion Kate Douglass at 1:05.79. Douglass will swim the 100 for the first time on the international level after she came from behind to edge King at U.S. Nationals. The others who have posted strong times this year are Anita Bottazzo, an Italian who posted huge improvements during her first season at the University of Florida, and Eneli Jefimova, an 18-year-old from Estonia who won the European title and Short Course Worlds bronze in the 100 breast last year.
Just behind that group with times in the 1:06-low range are Japan’s Satomi Suzuki, Italy’s Lisa Angiolini, King and Russia’s Evgeniia Chikunova, the latter of whom is the world-record holder in the 200 breast. Chikunova was just 16 years old when she made the final in both breaststroke events in Tokyo, but she will be racing in the long course World Championships for the first time this year, having recently earned her neutral status during Russia’s lengthy exile from international competition.
The final contender to keep watch on is Mona McSharry, a 24-year-old from Ireland who became only the second woman from her country to win an Olympic medal in swimming with her bronze in this event last year. Since Paris, McSharry swam her fifth year of NCAA eligibility at the University of Tennessee and took second in the 100-yard breast at the national championships. She should not be counted out despite a season-best time of 1:06.87 that leaves her tied for 17th in the world.
If selecting a favorite to win this year’s gold medal, Tang would be the choice but without much confidence, not with the tight nature of the field competing and the lack of a consistent track record for anyone. King was the last swimmer to dominate this event for an extended period, and now, the 28-year-old has a tough task in trying to secure one last 100 breaststroke medal to round out her career.