BUDAPEST ( Associated Press) – American Katie Ledecky posted her personal best for a medal as Australia set a world record in the 4x100m freestyle mixed final at the World Swimming Championships on Friday.
Ledecky won the 800m freestyle final for the fifth time in the world and achieved his fourth consecutive 400/800/1,500 triple at the event.
The American star finished with a time of eight minutes, 8.04 seconds, more than 10 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. Australia’s Kia Melverton was second in 10.73 seconds and Italy’s Simona Quadrella was third in 10.96 seconds.
It is Ledecky’s 19th World Championship gold and his fourth this week, which includes gold in the 4×200 freestyle relay.
“Very good ending to a great week”, Ledecky said.
Her 22 medals are the most for a female swimmer in the history of the World Championships. Only Michael Phelps, who won 26, has more.
Australia’s mixed relay team of Jack Cartwright, Kyle Chalmers, Madison Wilson and Molly O’Callaghan clocked 3:19.38 in 4×100 to shave two hundredths of a second off the record set by the United States at the previous worlds in Gwangju. Posted. South Korea, July 2019.
“I don’t think there’s any mention or expectation or even thought of being able to break it,” Wilson said. “So doing that and seeing that in the end was amazing and a real surprise for us.”
The Canadian team of Joshua Leando, Javier Acevedo, Kayla Sanchez and Penny Oleksiak finished 1.23 behind the Aussies to take silver, and the American team of Ryan Held, Brooks Curry, Tori Huske and Claire Curzon was third, 1.71 behind.
Canada’s silver was the nation’s ninth medal this week, eclipsing the eight it won in Gwangju.
Ben Proud claimed Great Britain’s first gold at the championship, winning the men’s 50 m freestyle in a time of 21.32 seconds, 0.09 ahead of American Michael Andrew and 0.25 ahead of France’s Maxime Grouset.
“Today we are missing some key elements in the group,” said Proud, referring to the absences of Celeb Dressel, Florent Manoudou and Bruno Fratus. “The whole stage from last year’s Olympics was not in the finals.”
Dressel was scheduled to compete but withdrew from the world championships on Wednesday for unspecified reasons.
“It’s not the same without him,” Garvey said. “As it unfolded, it drastically changed the dynamics of the competition. A lot of people had a different kind of pressure.”
World record holder Dressel was also not in the 200 butterfly.
