By Claire Wong on SwimSwam
2025 WORLD AQUATICS SWIMMING WORLD CUP – Toronto
- October 23-25, 2025
- Toronto, Canada
- SCM (25 meters)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Recaps
Men’s 100 Freestyle — Finals
- World Record: 44.84 — Kyle Chalmers, Australia (2021)
- World Junior Record: 45.64 — David Popovici, Romania (2022)
- World Cup Record: 44.84 — Kyle Chalmers, Australia (2021)
Triple Crown Contender: Jack Alexy (USA)
Top 8 Finishers:
- Josh Liendo (CAN) – 45.30
- Jack Alexy (USA) – 45.55
- Chris Guiliano (USA) – 45.71
- Matthew Richards (GBR) – 45.92
- Ruslan Gaziev (CAN) – 46.47
- Patrick Sebastian Dinu (ROU) – 46.48
- Lamar Taylor (BAH) – 46.81
- Luke Hobson (USA) – 46.92
Josh Liendo, who is fresh off of breaking the World Record in the 100 fly and Canadian Record in the 50 free last night, continued to put on a show for his hometown crowd. Tonight, he broke Brent Hayden‘s 15+ year old record in the 100 free, which stood at 45.56 from the World Cup Series in 2009. In doing so, Liendo prevents American Jack Alexy from taking home the triple crown, and collects another $2,500 for ‘crown busting.’ This is now the second time he has done so this meet, as he prevented Noe Ponti from a three-peat in the 100 fly en route to last night’s world record.
His time of 45.30 puts him at the #9 performer of all time and marks a 0.52 second PB. That previous best of 45.82 comes from 2021 Short Course Worlds, where he took bronze behind Alessandro Miressi and Ryan Held.
Top 10 Men’s SCM 100 Freestyle Performers All-Time:
- Kyle Chalmers (AUS) – 44.84, 2021
- Amaury Leveaux (FRA) – 44.94, 2008
- Vladimir Morozov (RUS) – 44.95, 2018 & Jordan Crooks (CAY) – 44.95, 2024
- —
- Florent Manaudou (FRA) – 45.04, 2013
- Jack Alexy (USA) – 45.05, 2024
- Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 45.08, 2020 & Nathan Adrian (USA) – 45.08, 2009
- —
- Josh Liendo (CAN) – 45.30, 2025
- Evgeny Lagunov (RUS) – 45.36, 2009
Liendo was out fast, turning in first at the halfway point with a split of 21.49 to the feet. Chris Giuliano, who was 2nd at the 50 mark, then took a slim lead at the 75, hitting the wall at 33.51 compared to Liendo’s 33.54. Once they pushed off however, it was all Liendo: he blasted home in 11.76, the fastest closing split of the field by nearly 2 tenths. Alexy’s closing 25 of 11.95 was quick enough to catch Guiliano, and the pair of Americans finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
In comparison to Hayden’s record, Liendo did all of the damage on the first 50—he was out exactly half a second quicker, and his closing 50 was slightly slower. The split comparison is below:
| Split | Josh Liendo, New Canadian Record – 2025 | Brent Hayden, Prev. Canadian Record – 2009 |
| 50 | 21.49 | 21.99 |
| 100 | 45.30 (23.81) | 45.56 (23.57) |
Liendo only has the 50 fly remaining on his schedule, and he looks primed to improve upon his 4th place finish from Westmont. He’ll also shoot for yet another ‘crown bust,’ though this time it would be an upset for his compatriot Ilya Kharun, who won the event the past two stops.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Josh Liendo Breaks 15 Year Old Canadian Record in the 100 Free, Moves To #9 Performer All Time
