World Aquatics celebrates the achievements of its Scholarship holders at the World Aquatics Championships.
The World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 served as an outstanding showcase of the global strength of aquatic sports, and among the star performers were World Aquatics Scholarship holders and student-athletes on the Stipendium Hungaricum Sport Scholarship Programme.
A total of 40 swimmers on the World Aquatics Scholarship Programme and seven on the Stipendium Hungaricum Sport Scholarship Programme competed in the pool at the World Aquatics Championships Arena. They set a whole host of records, including 30 Personal Bests and 16 National Records.
Three of these swimmers also contributed to National Records for their countries in the Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay.
Among the World Aquatics Scholarship holders, Ronan Wantenaar (Namibia), who is based at the World Aquatics Training Centre in Antibes, France, was the athlete in the heats in the Men’s 50m Breaststroke, clocking a National Record of 26.85sec and qualifying for the semi-finals.
“The World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 was an amazing experience. I am proud and grateful for the support I have received as part of the World Aquatics Scholarship Programme, and setting the National Record in the Men’s 50m Breaststroke gives me tremendous pride,” Wantenaar said.
Mohamed Aan (Maldives), based at the World Aquatics Training Centre in Budapest, Hungary, set National Records in both the Men’s 50m and 100m Freestyle with times of 23.81 and 53.80 respectively, and contributed to a National Record 4:40.23 in the Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay as well.
“The coaching I have received while in Budapest has helped my performances to go strength to strength, and I am delighted to have achieved National Records in Singapore. I am going to take this experience to build on my performances even more and hopefully break more records!” Aan said.
"I am going to take this experience to build on my performances even more and hopefully break more records!"
Fellow World Aquatics Scholarship holder Mary Lanihei Connolly (Cook Islands), who is based at Bond University World Aquatics Training Centre, set three National Records in Singapore. She achieved times of 1:07.40 in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke and 2:29.87 in the 200m Breaststroke, while her 50m split of 31.41 in the 100m event was also a National Record.
“I am delighted with my results at the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025. Training at Bond University as part of the programme been an incredible learning experience, and I am grateful for the friendships I have built with other scholarship holders. There are so many positive things I will take away from the experience, both in and out of the pool,” Connolly said.
World Aquatics Scholarship holders excelled across Open Water Swimming, Diving and Artistic Swimming as well.
Among the top performers from the Open Water Swimming athletes was Lev Cherepanov (Kazakhstan), who reached the semi-finals of the Men’s 3km Sprint Knockout on its debut at the World Aquatics Championships, and placed 27th in the Men’s 5km and 30th in the Men’s 10km. He is training at Azura in Florida, United States of America.
Anisley Garcia Navarro (Cuba) placed 16th in the Women’s 3m Springboard and 20th in the Women’s 10m Platform in Diving, and helped Cuba to finish 11th in the Mixed 3m & 10m Team event.
In Artistic Swimming, Gustavo Sanchez (Colombia) placed seventh in the Men’s Solo Technical and Solo Free events.
Stipendium Hungaricum Sport Scholarship holders also excelled at the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025.
Yousif Ibrahim (Sudan) set a National Record of 57.35 in the Men’s 100m Freestyle, and a Personal Best of 25.87 in the Men’s 50m Freestyle.
He studies at Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and reflected on his experience as part of the Stipendium Hungaricum Sport Scholarship Programme.
“Joining the Stipendium Hungaricum Sport Scholarship Programme has helped me to develop across my academic and my sport side as well. Being away from home can bring challenges but the support I got from my family and my people back home, and the coaching here and training facilities I have received have been amazing, and have helped me to achieve fantastic results at the World Aquatics Championships,” Ibrahim said.
"I am super proud and hope to continue this success in future competitions"
The World Aquatics Scholarship Programme was launched in 2014, and provides essential financial and technical support to athletes who face challenges in accessing high-performance training locally. The Scholarship Programme is available for Swimming, Open Water Swimming, Diving, Open Water, Water Polo and Artistic Swimming.
For Swimming, Open Water Swimming, Diving and Open Water Swimming, athletes train at one of World Aquatics’ Training Centres, based countries including France, USA, Hungary, Thailand, Australia, and Canada. For Water Polo, athletes are training in Water Polo clubs selected by World Aquatics.
More details on the World Aquatics Scholarship Programme can be found here.
The Stipendium Hungaricum Sport Scholarship Programme is a joint initiative between World Aquatics and the Hungarian Government launched in 2021. It offers emerging elite athletes the chance to advance their swimming careers with expert coaching, and pursue their academic aspirations at a distinguished Hungarian university.
Further information can be found here.