China collected its first gold medal of the World Aquatics Championships on Monday in Singapore, as Qin Haiyang powered to victory in the men’s 100-metre breaststroke. The Chinese team’s momentum was underscored by 12-year-old prodigy Yu Zidi, who advanced to the women’s 200-metre individual medley final and finished fourth, only 0.06 seconds short of the podium after entering the race as the 15th-fastest qualifier. France also made headlines when Maxime Grousset edged Switzerland’s Noe Ponti and Italy’s Thomas Ceccon to claim the men’s 50-metre butterfly title—the nation’s first medal of the meet. Further French hopes were boosted as 19-year-old Mary-Ambre Moluh, joined by Pauline Mahieu after a successful swim-off, booked lanes in the women’s 100-metre backstroke final.