"Is this the wake up call?"- Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte raise urgent concerns over USA Swimming's performance amid World Championships

Former American swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte expressed their disappointment with Team USA's campaign at the World Aquatics Championships 2025 in Singapore. Notably, Phelps and Lochte are two of the most decorated swimmers in the US and hold the first and third place, respectively, for having the most medals.

So far in the tournament in Singapore, Team USA has bagged 23 medals, behind China's 31. However, the team has managed to win just six gold medals so far, which is behind both China's 14 and Australia's nine.

Disappointed by the campaign, Lochte shared a post on his Instagram stories, which featured a picture of Team USA Swimming with RIP on it. He further remarked that it can be a funeral or a fresh start before the next Olympics in 2028. He wrote:

"Call it a funeral, or call it a fresh start. We've got 3 years"

Phelps added the screenshot of the post on his stories and questioned whether this disappointing campaign so far in Singapore is a major wake-up call for US Swimming. He wrote:

"Is this the wake up call USA Swimming needed? Let's find out"

Screenshot of Phelps and Lochte's take on Team USA's performance in Singapore (Image via: @m_phelps00 on IG)

Notably, several of the swimmers, such as Katie Ledecky, Kate Douglass, and Gretchen Walsh, have registered impressive performances for Team USA at the Championships in Singapore.

However, other than that, the USA hasn't been dominant across the board. The team's performance in the relays has also been quite disappointing with no gold medals so far.

Michael Phelps responds to Summer McIntosh's reaction after winning 200m Butterfly gold medal

Michael Phelps (Image via: Getty)

Michael Phelps expressed his reaction to the Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh expressing her agony even after winning the 200m fly gold at the World Aquatics Championships 2025. It was because McIntosh had missed the world record in the event.

Phelps shared a post of McIntosh's moments after the race on his stories and asked his former coach, Bob Bowman, whether he was reminded about something from McIntosh's expression even after winning the race. He wrote:

"Final reaction Remind you of anyone @coach_bowman?"

Screenshot of Phelps' story feat McIntosh's 200m butterfly gold reaction (Image via: @m_phelps00 on IG)

Michael Phelps had also lauded McIntosh after she defeated Katie Ledecky to win the 400m freestyle gold medal in Singapore.

Edited by Tushar Bahl