The United States’ Caeleb Dressel took his gold medal tally to six at the International Swimming Federation (FINA) World Championships in Budapest after claiming victories in the men’s 50 meter freestyle, 100m butterfly and mixed 4x100m freestyle events on Saturday.
The 20-year-old has become the first swimmer to win three gold medals on a single night at the World Championships.
Prior to today, Dressel had already triumphed in the men’s 100m freestyle, men’s 4x100m freestyle and mixed 4x100m medley at the Duna Arena.
He added to that by firstly winning the 50m freestyle in a time of 21.15sec before topping the 100m butterfly podium in 49.86 and helping the US to victory in the mixed 4x100m freestyle with a world record time of 3min 19.60sec.
Dressel’s win in the 100m butterfly means he also becomes the first swimmer in history to have won both that event and the 100m freestyle at the same edition of the World Championships.
The silver medallist in the men’s 50m freestyle was Brazil’s Bruno Fratus, who improved on his bronze from the 2015 World Championships in Russian city Kazan with a time of 21.27.
Great Britain’s Ben Proud secured bronze in 21.43.
The runner-up in the men’s 100m butterfly was Hungary’s Kristof Milak in 50.62.
Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist Joseph Schooling of Singapore shared the bronze with Britain’s James Guy after both athletes touched home in 50.83.
In the mixed 4x100m freestyle final, Dressel swam the first 100m in an excellent time of 47.22 and was then followed by Nathan Adrian, Mallory Commerford and Simone Manuel.
The world record time set in the race bettered America’s previous best mark of 3:23.05 from Kazan 2015.
The Netherlands had to settle for the silver medal in 3:21.81, while Canada clinched the bronze in 3:23.55.
There was further success for the US today as Katie Ledecky won the women’s 800m freestyle event to claim her 14th World Championship gold medal.
The 20-year-old touched home for the win in 8:12.68, which was 7.89 slower than the world record she set en route to victory at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
It secures her a third consecutive world crown in the event having also triumphed at Barcelona 2013 and Kazan 2015.
China’s Li Bingjie was the silver medalist in 8:15.46, while Ledecky’s fellow American Leah Smith claimed bronze in 8:17.22.
In the first final of the day, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom secured the women’s 50m butterfly title with a Championship record time of 24.60.
Sjostrom’s time bettered the previous best mark she set two years ago in Kazan by 0.36.
It was 0.17 shy of the world record she registered at the 2014 Swedish Championships in Boras.
Sjostrom, the winner of the 100m butterfly event in Hungary’s capital, was the only swimmer to dip under 25sec.
The Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo finished second in 25.38, while Egypt’s Farida Osman came third in 25.39 to win her country’s first-ever World Championship medal.
Also tasting victory today was Australia’s Emily Seebohm, who defended her women’s 200m backstroke crown in 2:05.68.
Seebohm held off home favorite Katinka Hosszú, the silver medalist in 2:05.85.
The US’ Kathleen Baker completed the podium in 2:06.48.
Another stand-out performance today came in the semi-finals of the women’s 50m freestyle as Sjostrom clocked a world record time of 23.67.
It bettered the previous mark of 23.73 set by Germany’s Britta Steffen at Rome 2009.
The women’s high diving competition was also held today with Australia’s Rhiannan Iffland taking the gold medal at Batthyány Square.
Second after yesterday’s first round of dives, Iffland was rewarded for her consistency throughout the last three rounds to register an unrivaled total of 320.70 points.
Mexico’s Adriana Jimenez was the silver medalist with 308.90, while Belarus’ Yana Nestsiarava came away with the bronze with 303.95.
“It was definitely an amazing couple of days,” Iffland said.
“The venue is great and the view from the top of the platform is outstanding.
“We have the best view of all aquatic sports.”
Another event in which the allocation of medals was decided today was men’s water polo as 2015 runners-up Croatia denied hosts Hungary a fourth world title with an 8-6 victory in the final at the Alfred Hajos Pool.
The bronze medal match went the way of 2015 winners Serbia thanks to an 11-8 win over Greece.
By Daniel Etchells
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.