US smash women's 4x100m medley relay world record
SINGAPORE: The United States smashed their own world record in winning the women's 4x100m medley relay world title in Singapore on Sunday. The Americans were victorious in 3min 49.34sec, beating their previous record of 3:49.63 from the Paris Olympics a year ago. Australia finished second in 3:52.67, with China third in 3:54.77. The American team of Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske looked dominant from the off and it was little surprise when Huske touched the wall to seal the win.
'This is the best way to end the meet and I felt we had such a good opportunity with this stacked group of women closing it out in a relay like this,' said Walsh. 'We're going to put it all in the pool and we're going to leave Singapore with a smile on our face.' The American mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team also set a new world record on the way to gold the previous night. Huske said that she knew her team also had a chance of cracking the 4x100m medley mark. 'This is my favorite relay and there's no better way to end a meet, so I'm really happy,' said Huske.
400m medley title
Summer McIntosh led from start to finish to win her fourth gold at the Singapore world championships on Sunday with a dominant victory in the 400m individual medley. The 18-year-old Canadian phenomenon romped to victory in a championships-record 4min 25.78sec, with Australia's Jenna Forrester and Japan's Mio Narita sharing silver (4:33.26). China's 12-year-old Yu Zidi was narrowly out of the medals in fourth in 4:33.76. World record-holder McIntosh was red-hot favorite beforehand and she was never in trouble as she added to her Singapore triumphs in the 200m medley, 200m butterfly and 400m freestyle.
McIntosh's only defeat of the championships came on Saturday when she finished third in the 800m freestyle, with Katie Ledecky dominating that event once more. McIntosh won three golds, including in both individual medley events, at the Paris Olympics a year ago. She came to Singapore in superb form, having broken three world records in a matter of days in the Canadian trials, including in the 400 medley (4:23.65). Along with McIntosh, Yu has been one of the names of the competition.
Huge cheers went up for her from the large number of Chinese fans as she entered the arena for the final on Sunday, the last day of competition. Yu this week became the youngest swimmer in history to win a world championships medal with bronze in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay. She came fourth in all three of her individual races. But not everyone thinks Yu should be competing in Singapore. Some in the sport have raised questions about the mental and physical impacts of high-level training and competing at an age when she is still developing as a person. Under current World Aquatics rules, the minimum age is 14 but younger swimmers can compete at the championships if - like Yu - they are fast enough.
Marchand wins
Meanwhile, France's Leon Marchand cruised to a dominant world 400m individual medley world title on Sunday to claim his second gold of the competition in Singapore. Marchand touched the wall in 4min 04.73sec, more than three seconds ahead of Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita (4:08.32), with Russian Ilia Borodin (4:09.16) third. The French superstar put his rivals on notice by smashing the 200m IM world record and winning gold in the event earlier this week in Singapore.
He started the 400m IM final in lane one after a below-par performance in the morning heats, which saw him qualify seventh fastest. But business was back to normal in the final as the 23-year-old took an early lead before moving further and further away from his rivals as the race progressed. Marchand broke Michael Phelps's 400m IM world record two years ago in Japan but his time in Singapore was more than two seconds outside his best mark. — AFP
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