Leslie Dazzles With Another Silver Medal in Singapore
- dale493
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Day Five Wrap – 2025 World Para Swimming Championships
Cameron Leslie (Whangarei) has secured his second silver medal in as many days at the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships. Debutants Rylee Sayer (Matamata) and Asher Smith-Franklin also impressed on the fifth day of racing in Singapore with personal bests and a New Zealand record.
Fresh from his silver medal in the men’s 50m backstroke S4, Leslie returned for the last event of his schedule in the men’s 50m freestyle S4. Leslie swam strongly through the opening 35m in the heats to comfortably book his spot in the final as the fourth fastest qualifier (39.06).
In the final, Leslie got off to a strong start and surfaced quickly into his rapid stroke. He was alongside the World Record holder, Ami Omer Dadaon (Israel) at halfway with a share of the lead. He held his pace into the final stages with the pair moving clear of the field in a two-horse race to the finish. Leslie stormed home in the last 5m to touch on the wall just 0.01 seconds behind Dadaon in a nailbiter. Dadaon took the gold (37.43) ahead of Leslie (37.44), with Takayuki Suzuki (Japan – 37.73) edging out Angel de Jesus Camacho Ramirez (Mexico – 37.74) for the bronze.
Leslie was thrilled with his performance in the final.
“Very happy with the result tonight. We knew it was going to be a close race, so the focus was just on executing the plan without caring about where my competitors were. It’s a season best time and my ninth fastest ever, which across a 19-year career is pretty respectable I think.”
Leslie paid respect to his rival.
“I must say I’m a bit gutted to miss the opportunity to beat Dadaon, he’s a hard man to beat so to be that close and not take the opportunity is rough. However, coming off the back of a disappointing 2024 I am very pleased with a double silver.”
Leslie also acknowledged his support team.
“It’s been a group effort to get me through the last year so it’s really satisfying to get some positive results.”
Leslie has now concluded his campaign in Singapore, having won two silver medals and made the final in all three of his events. Congratulations to Leslie, his coach Tom Onley and his support team.
Rylee Sayer made her second appearance of the championships in the women’s 50m butterfly S7. The 17-year-old swam from lane six in her heat and got away to a blistering start with powerful underwater kicks to surface at the front of the pack. Sayer was in third place at the halfway mark and finished strongly to maintain her position (37.34). The teenager set a personal best in the morning session and qualified through to the final as the fifth fastest.
In the final, Sayer made another good start to be with the leaders in the early stages. The middle lanes pushed the pace as Sayer held her form throughout to touch fifth in the world (37.30). It was another personal best for the teenager, dipping under the time she swam in the morning heat.
Danielle Dorris (Canada – 33.93) was dominant for a Championships Record to claim the gold, with Mallory Weggemann (USA – 34.25) in silver and Sara Vargas Blanco (Colombia – 35.21) the bronze.
Sayer was thrilled with her swims across the day.
"I am really proud of my efforts today, getting in to a final in my first heat race at my first World Championships, and then finishing fifth! I'm only halfway through my racing and can't wait for tomorrow's 50m freestyle."
Congratulations to Sayer for making her second final in as many events. She will return for the 50m freestyle S7 on day six.
Asher Smith-Franklin competed in the men’s 200m individual medley SM14. The teenager swam from lane one in the second heat, and made a good start into the butterfly leg. Smith-Franklin had work to do at the halfway mark, and successfully utilised his breaststroke and freestyle skills to move through the field. He motored home on the final lap to touch sixth in the heat (2:15.91). It was a personal best and broke the SM14 New Zealand record he set in Auckland earlier this year when he qualified to make his Aquablack debut.
Smith-Franklin placed 11th overall, his best result of his debut World Para Swimming Championships thus far.
Smith-Franklin will return on the final day of competition for the men’s 100m butterfly S14.
Swimming NZ's Paralympic Head Coach, Simon Mayne, has been impressed with the performances by the team across the championships thus far.
"I think the key to this competition was our ability to focus on the small details revealed in the data initially in camp and then using that information from heats to finals. My goal was for everyone to improve on entry seeding and then building on that momentum in the finals."
Mayne has been pleased with how the team has executed learnings.
"Using warm-ups to refine technical execution, and then applying those skills in the heats, made a real difference. I've seen a noticeable improvement in how the athletes understand and apply race analysis."
New Zealand now has three silver medals from the championships with two days of competition remaining.
Day Six Preview
Rylee Sayer is the only Kiwi in action on the penultimate day as she competes in the women’s 50m freestyle S7.
Heats each day commence at 1pm NZST and the finals each day from 9.30pm NZST. You can find the detailed daily schedule and results for our team below.
You can stay up-to-date with the action by following our social media channels for live updates and our website for wraps of the action taking place each day.
You can watch the livestream for free, live or on demand, on the Paralympics YouTube channel.
Daily Schedule
*Start times are subject to change, while finals are subject to athlete progression
Thursday 25 September
Day Five Heats - from 1pm NZST
Men's 50m freestyle S4 (Leslie)
Women's 50m butterfly S7 (Sayer)
Men's 200m individual medley SM14 (Smith-Franklin)
Day Five Finals - from 9.30pm NZST
Men's 50m freestyle S4 (Leslie*)
Women's 50m butterfly S7 (Sayer*)
Men's 200m individual medley SM14 (Smith-Franklin*)
Friday 26 September
Day Six Heats - from 1pm NZST
Women's 50m freestyle S7 (Sayer)
Day Six Finals - from 9.30pm NZST
Women's 50m freestyle S7 (Sayer*)
Saturday 27 September
Day Seven Heats - from 1pm NZST
Men's 100m breaststroke SB8 (Willmer)
Women's 100m freestyle S7 (Sayer)
Men's 100m butterfly S14 (Smith-Franklin)
Day Seven Final - from 9.30pm NZST
Men's 100m breaststroke SB8 (Willmer*)
Women's 100m freestyle S7 (Sayer*)
Men's 100m butterfly S14 (Smith-Franklin*)
Swimmer Results
Cameron Leslie
Men's 100m freestyle S4 (result: 1:30.78 in final = 6th overall, 1:34.43 in heat)
Men's 50m backstroke S4 (result: 42.54 in final = Silver, 43.50 in heat)
Men's 50m freestyle S4 (result: 37.44 in final = Silver, 39.06 in heat)
Rylee Sayer
Women's 100m breaststroke SB7 (result: 1:46.33 - 6th overall)
Women's 50m butterfly S7 (result: 37.30 in final = 5th overall & 2 x PB, 37.34 in heat)
Women's 50m freestyle S7 (entry time: 34.34)
Women's 100m freestyle S7 (entry time: 1:18.73)
Gaby Smith
Women's 100m breaststroke SB9 (result: 1:19.56 = Silver & PB)
Women's 200m individual medley SM10 (result: 2:40.00 = 8th overall)
Asher Smith-Franklin
Men's 100m breaststroke SB14 (result: 1:12.24 = 14th overall)
Men's 200m individual medley SM14 (result: 2:15.91 = 11th overall & NZR & PB)
Men's 100m butterfly S14 (entry time: 58.87)
Josh Willmer
Men's 100m breaststroke SB8 (entry time: 1:12.52)
Selected Team
The swimmers selected to represent New Zealand:
Name | Aquablack Number | Club | Coach |
Cameron Leslie | 272 | Whangarei | Tom Onley |
Rylee Sayer | Debutant | Matamata | Graeme Laing |
Gaby Smith | 274 | Vikings & University of Queensland | David Heyden |
Asher Smith-Franklin | Debutant | North Shore | Graham Hill |
Josh Willmer | 275 | Coast | Michael Weston |
The coaches and support staff selected to guide our Aquablacks are:
Name | Organisation | Role |
Simon Mayne | Swimming NZ | Head Coach |
Tom Onley | Whangarei | Assistant Coach |
Elliot Snedden | HPSNZ | Performance Analyst |
Amanda White | Swimming NZ | Team Manager |
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