Leslie & Smith Swim Finals on Second Night in Singapore
- dale493
- Sep 23
- 4 min read
Day Two Wrap – 2025 World Para Swimming Championships
Cameron Leslie (Whangarei) and Gaby Smith (Vikings & University of Queensland) both competed in finals on the second day of competition at the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore.
Leslie kicked off his eighth World Para Swimming Championships on the second day of competition. The 35-year-old competed in the longest event of his schedule in Singapore – the men’s 100m freestyle S4.
There was one heat during the morning session, with nine swimmers racing for eight spots in the final later in the day. Leslie got away to a strong start from the blocks to be in the lead through the opening stages, before the centre lanes moved through. Leslie (1:34.43) did what he needed to comfortably qualify through to the final as the seventh fastest.
In the final, Leslie executed another good dive from lane one and got into his fast stroke rate to be alongside the leaders through the opening 25m. The middle lanes pushed the pace through the middle stages of the race, with Leslie turning in sixth at halfway. Leslie was engrossed in a close tussle with Gustavo Ramon Sanchez Martinez through the dying stages, with Leslie (1:30.78) narrowly getting to the wall ahead by 0.01 seconds to place sixth. Ami Omer Dadaon (Israel – 1:19.49) took the gold medal ahead of Cristiani Federico (Italy – 1:21.27) and Angel de Jesus Camacho Ramirez (Mexico – 1:23.39).
Leslie returns on day four in the men’s 50m backstroke S4 where he enters as the reigning World Champion.
Gaby Smith returned to the competition pool after her silver medal-winning performance on the opening day. The 19-year-old raced in the women’s 200m individual medley SM10 from lane one. She got away from the blocks well to start the butterfly leg and swam her own race through each of the strokes. She used her form in the breaststroke to bridge the gap to those ahead and finished strong in the freestyle to achieve the third best time of her career (2:40.00). There was a battle throughout for the gold, with outside flier Defne Kurt (Turkey – 2:28.30) impressing with a late surge to cap off a dominant display to win gold. Faye Rogers (Great Britain – 2:28.52) was narrowly back in lane four to claim the silver, with Lisa Kruger (Netherlands – 2:32.07) having a strong second half of the race to earn the bronze.
Smith concludes her programme in Singapore, highlighted by a major career milestone on the opening night with her first medal at the World Para Swimming Championships. Congratulations to Smith, her coach David Heyden and her support team.
Day Three Preview
Two Kiwis are in action on day three in Singapore, with both making their Aquablack debut. Asher Smith-Franklin (North Shore) competes in the morning session in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB14, whilst Rylee Sayer (Matamata) competes in the evening session in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB7 final.
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
Tuesday 23 September
Day Three Heats - from 1pm NZST
Men's 100m breaststroke SB14 (Smith-Franklin)
Day Three Finals - from 9.30pm NZST
Women's 100m breaststroke SB7 (Sayer)
Men's 100m breaststroke SB14 (Smith-Franklin*)
Wednesday 24 September
Day Four Heats - from 1pm NZST
Men's 50m backstroke S4 (Leslie)
Day Four Finals - from 9.30pm NZST
Men's 50m backstroke S4 (Leslie*)
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 (entry time: 43.05)
Men's 50m freestyle S4 (entry time: 37.24)
Rylee Sayer
Women's 100m breaststroke SB7 (entry time: 1:46.15)
Women's 50m butterfly S7 (entry time: 37.36)
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 (entry time: 1:10.56)
Men's 200m individual medley SM14 (entry time: 2:16.06)
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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