David POPOVICI (ROU), Gold, Men’s 200m Freestyle

“I think even better than the Olympics, to be honest. You know why? I trained a lot for the Olympics, but this coming (in) a year, a more relaxed year, more easy-going after the Olympics… I’m very proud of myself.

“It’s a lot of ‘I have to do this’, a lot of self-talk. Even if not winning, I’m telling myself that I cannot let go. I cannot go easy, I have to give it my best. I owe myself at least that.” 

Luke HOBSON (USA), Silver, Men’s 200m Freestyle

“Obviously I always wanted to go for the win and I’ve been working towards it for a couple of years now, and I just gotta keep working towards it. Overall though, I was really happy with that swim. Great time. It’s great to have two people under 44 in the finals again, so hopefully many more great races to come.”

Tatsuya MURASA (JPN), Bronze, Men’s 200m Freestyle

“It’s amazing. I was aiming for it, but I honestly didn’t think I could actually get it. Having Popovici next to me helped a lot—those last moments were really tough, but I chased him down with everything I had, like my life depended on it. I think this is a medal I won through sheer grit. Even though I was surrounded by athletes I admire in the call room, I managed to stay composed in that environment.”

Katie LEDECKY (USA), Gold, Women’s 1500m Freestyle

“I love this race. This race is the race where I broke my first WR in 2013, lots of great races and memories over the years. Happy to do it (again) in Singapore. Thanks to the crowd for coming out to support us swimmers tonight.

“That was an awesome swim from Simona. Second fastest performer ever. Lani had a great one tonight and earlier this year. The distance races are really quick right now. Just good to see how much we can push the sport forward.”

Simona QUADARELLA (ITA), Silver, Women’s 1500m Freestyle

“I’m really happy and emotional about my race results, and I’m very proud that I managed to get so close to Katie.”

Kaylee MCKEOWN (AUS), Gold, Women’s 100m Backstroke

“I’m really really proud. It’s a little bit emotional, I’ve worked so hard just to get myself into a happy state and it’s just what I’ve been focusing on. I think it goes to show that a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer. I think I just have to take it one step at a time, and I will swim fast. I’m just thankful that today I was able to get my hand on the wall (first).”

Regan SMITH (USA), Silver, Women’s 100m Backstroke

“To come up with a silver, I can’t really control the place of the medal, but what I can control is how fast I swim and how well I can do my race, and I think I did an incredible job, especially under the circumstances.”

Pieter COETZE (RSA), Gold, Men’s 100m Backstroke

“I’m over the moon, I don’t even know what to say. To win in a field like that. KOLESNIKOV, CECCON, all those big names. And I knew it was going to be a big race.

“It’s amazing. To call myself a world champion in a field like that. I don’t even think about my career, it’s just the feeling right now, I’m trying to soak it all in and can’t really put it into words.”

Yohann NDOYE-BROUARD (FRA), Bronze, Men’s 100m Backstroke

“I knew that in Lane 1, nobody would see me, so it was a little bit easier. This medal means a lot. It’s been three championships where I finished not on the podium. Fourth, five, seventh at the Olympics, so I really wanted this medal so much.” 

Anna ELENDT (GER), Gold, Women’s 100m Breaststroke

“I am so speechless. When I knew I was going to start from Lane 1, I was only thinking about my coach, who always used to say, ‘If you have a lane, you have a chance’. I was following that. Just doing everything we worked on in practice, doing my underwaters. It worked out so well.”