Aleksandr Maltsev will leave Singapore as the king of the Men’s Solo events at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships. On Monday, he won the Solo Free world title to match his victory in Saturday’s Solo Tech final. China’s Guo Muye, 17, took Solo Free silver. Italy’s Filippo Pelati, 18, claimed the bronze.
SINGAPORE – Heading into Monday’s final, everyone knew there would be a new world champion in Men’s Solo Free because the 2024 gold medalist Giorgio Minisini of Italy retired, and the 2023 gold and 2024 silver medalist Dennis Gonzalez Boneu of Spain sat out the event in Singapore.
This year, neutral athlete Aleksandr Maltsev led the 14-man final with the debut of his “Inside of You” program. He set the standard early, as just the third swimmer to compete. His 229.5613-point victory gave him his sixth career world title at age 30.
“I was very nervous today,” Maltsev said. “For me, [the free routine] is more difficult than the technical routine because there are six hybrids. I’m very satisfied that I could show my best swim today because we created this routine one month ago for the world championships. During the training, I did four routines – two mixed duets and two solos – and this routine is one of the most difficult of all.”
China’s Guo Muye earned his first senior world championship medal, a silver, with the Expedition routine that won gold at the 2025 Super Final just one month ago in Xi’an. Guo trailed Maltsev by 9.3687 points on Monday.
“I feel quite happy about winning this medal, but this is not yet a gold so I still have much to work on,” Guo said. “At the world championships, I’ve seen the gap between me and other athletes. I need to get better with the height and lines of my routines, as well as my eye contact and interaction with the judges.”
The long-legged Filippo Pelati, 18, of Italy, placed third by portraying the devil in a 2 minute, 15 second performance that began with such a loud and striking downbeat that it immediately caught the audience’s attention. Pelati finished just 6.2076 points behind Guo.
“I’m very happy with my performance because I didn’t expect the result,” Pelati said. “I was only enjoying the moment. I only felt the music and the choreography and thought about nothing. I’m very proud of myself to win a bronze. It’s like a gold medal…because it’s with all the best male artistic swimmers.”
Ranjuo Tomblin of Great Britain placed fourth, one place ahead of the bronze medalist from Saturday’s Solo Tech final, Diego Villalobos Carrillo of Mexico. Also of note: Gustavo Sanchez of Colombia, 24, missed the Men’s Solo Free podium for the first time in the event’s three-year history at the world championships, placing seventh. (Sanchez had taken silver at 2023 Fukuoka and bronze at 2024 Doha.)
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The Women’s Duet Technical final will be held later Monday at 18:30 Singapore time.