Australia's Mollie O'Callaghan marks comeback with world 200m freestyle crown
O'Callaghan collected gold in the women's 200m freestyle on a Wednesday night when Australia's fortunes fluctuated.
Kyle Chalmers laid down an ominous marker for the men's 100m freestyle final and rookie Harrison Turner won bronze in the men's 200m butterfly – Australia's first medal in the event at a world championships.
But compatriot Sam Short's torrid run at major tournaments continued when the gold medal hopeful was forced to withdraw from the men's 800m freestyle final because of gastro illness.
He suspects food poisoning from lunch at the team hotel, but Swimming Australia said the source had yet to be established.
Short's Olympics last year were upset by illness and injury and the 21-year-old was hoping his fortunes had changed in Singapore when winning silver in in the 400m freestyle on the opening night.
His disappointment at not making the blocks was in stark contrast to O'Callaghan's joy at her 200m freestyle gold.
O'Callaghan triumphed in one minute 53.48 seconds with teammate Jamie Perkins (1:56.55) finishing seventh.
'Heading into this week has been a whirlwind,' O'Callaghan said.
'Having a big long break after the Olympics was well needed and then coming back from injury myself, I am so thankful to have an amazing coach [Dean Boxall] to guide me through this difficult time.
'I know it has been hard for a lot of people to come back after the Olympics but I am very grateful to have a good support from the team to get me through this mentally and physically.'
Chalmers was fourth fastest into Thursday night's 100m freestyle medal race.
The 27-year-old clocked 47.36 seconds in his semi-final – quicker than his 2016 Olympic gold medal swim and also faster than his silver medal effort at last year's Olympics. American Jack Alexy (46.81) topped the semi-final times.
And the Dolphins medal tally received an unexpected boost when 21-year-old Turner snared bronze in the men's 200m fly.
The 21-year-old former cross-country athlete snuck into the final in lane eight and then produced an Australian record of 1:54.17 in a race won by American Luca Urlando (1:51.87).
'I looked up on the board and I had to look there for a bit, I was like: 'Does it say third?',' Turner said. 'It's just unreal.'
Australia's mixed 4x100m medley team of Kaylee McKeown, Nash Wilkes, Matt Temple and Milla Jansen finished fifth.
Also on Wednesday night, French star Leon Marchand broke the men's 200m medley world record.
Marchand clocked 1:52.69 in a semi-final, well inside American Ryan Lochte's previous benchmark of 1:54.00 set in 2011.
Meanwhile at the diving world titles held concurrently in Singapore, Australian duo Cassiel Rousseau and Maddison Keeney won silver in the mixed 3m springboard synchro on Wednesday night.
The silver was Keeney's second medal of the championships after winning 1m springboard gold last Saturday.
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