The world championships came alive yesterday as Lilly King of the United States won the women’s 100 metres breaststroke title in one of three world-record swims at the end of a breath-taking evening session.
Adam Peaty of Britain continued his breaststroke trail-blazing with his second world mark of the day to reach the 50m final and Canada’s Kylie Masse produced a world-best time to win the women’s 100m backstroke gold medal.
If the day belonged to Peaty, the evening will be long remembered by Olympic champion King, who posted one minute 4.13 seconds to overhaul the world-record mark set by Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte in 2013.
King held off the threat of Russian rival Yuliya Efimova, in a race billed as a grudge rematch of their acrimonious Olympic final, and the US secured a memorable one-two as Katie Meili touched for silver in one minute 5.03 seconds.
King, 20, has voiced her disapproval at Efimova being allowed to compete at global level after the Russian had twice been caught using banned substances.
The spiky relationship continued in Budapest with King celebrating her world record wildly and failing to make eye contact with Efimova who had to settle for bronze.
A disbelieving Peaty, the stand-out male swimmer of these championships, became the first man to dip below 26 seconds in the 50m breaststroke.
By touching in 25.95 seconds, he lowered his record mark from the morning’s heats by a massive 0.15 seconds.
“I was on such a massive high from this morning and it was so hard to ignore the fact that I did a world record in the morning and try to get myself emotionally ready,” Peaty told reporters.
Masse produced an outstanding world-record swim of 58.10 seconds as Australia’s quiet world championships continued with Emily Seebohm failing to defend her title.
Briton Gemma Spofforth’s mark of 58.12 seconds had been set at the 2009 world championships in the era of buoyancy-enhancing body suits, which made Masse’s time all the more remarkable.
Kathleen Baker of the United States, the Olympic silver medallist, had to settle for the same prize as she beat Seebohm by 0.01 seconds.
Ledecky wins historic 12th
world champs gold
Katie Ledecky of the United States made history yesterday by becoming the first woman to win 12 world swimming championship gold medals with victory in the 1500m freestyle.
Ledecky clocked 15 minutes, 31.82 seconds with Spain’s Mireia Belmonte taking silver at a huge 19.07secs back, while Italy’s Simona Quadarella earned bronze at 22.04.
The 20-year-old is now the most decorated woman in world swimming championships history as she passed compatriot Missy Franklin, who has 11 world titles.
But despite her achievement, Ledecky said winning is not as easy as she makes it look.
“It’s hard the other 364 days of the year, it’s about putting the work in during practice, so that then I can step up,” she said.
“I then know that I have the work in the bank and can post those good times.”
This was Ledecky’s third gold of these championships — from a possible six she could finish with — and she led from the start.
“I was a good position, holding a good pace and held steady there, I probably could have raced a bit harder in the last 50 metres, but I’m still happy with the swim and the time,” she said.
The freestyle expert then showed her versatility by being the fastest qualifier from the women’s 200m freestyle semi-finals.
She will target her fourth gold of these championships in today’s final as her rivals are left in awe.
“Katie Ledecky is on another planet, so the goal of the race was to win the silver medal. For me, it is gold,” said Belmonte.
Peaty again breaks men’s 50m breaststroke world record
Peaty broke the men’s 50m breaststroke world record for the second time in just a few hours yesterday by clocking 25.95 seconds in the semi-finals.
The 22-year-old had broken his own record, set at the 2015 world championships in Kazan, when he swam 26.10secs in the morning’s heats, with the final to come today.
“This morning prepared me to do a world record again, it was just me easing through the stroke, touching the wall, progressing to the semi-final,” said Peaty.
“It was the same tonight, I was on such a massive high from this morning.
“I’ve learned from the experience that I’ve had the last two years.
“I came in tonight, I actually thought I’d go slower as I was a little less energetic, but tomorrow’s the day to do it.”
Having won the 100m breaststroke gold on Monday, Peaty showed his blistering form over the shorter distance by breaking the 26-second barrier.
The scorching time left his rivals in his wake as Brazil’s Felipe Lima was 0.73secs back, while South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh was third fastest into the final at 0.79.
“It’s impressive eh, he’s the first one in history (to go under 26 seconds),” said Van der Burgh. “He’s a legend, it’s a privilege to watch such amazing swimming in my lifetime.”
Related Story