Australia swimmers back on top
Mitchell Larkin won the men’s 100m back in 52.40 seconds.
Australia dominated the 100-meter backstroke events at the world swimming championships Tuesday, winning the men’s title and going 1-2 in the women’s final. Two more world records fell on the third night of swimming at Kazan Arena, where a cool breeze swept through the soccer stadium.
Mitchell Larkin won the men’s 100 back in 52.40 seconds.
He came into the championships with the top time in the world this year, having emerged at last year’s Commonwealth Games, where he earned silver in the 100 and gold in the 200 back. “The first thing that came into my head was, ‘Wow. This is the moment. This is what you’ve dreamt of for so many years,’” Larkin said. “You can just get caught up in the circus, the lights, the sounds, the atmosphere, and here I sort of just took it in and enjoyed it, rather than thinking, ‘Oh my god, this is a world championships.”
Camille Lacourt of France was second in 52.48 and current Olympic champion Matt Grevers of the United States finished third in 52.66. Grevers won the world title two years ago.
Emily Seebohm led a 1-2 finish for the Aussies in the women’s final, with all eight swimmers going under 1 minute. She won in 58.26 to earn her first individual gold at worlds, having finished second to American Missy Franklin in two years ago in Barcelona.
Seebohm’s teammate, Madison Wilson, was second in 58.75 and Mie Oe Nielsen of Denmark was third in 58.86.
Franklin finished fifth in 59.40. Fellow American Kathleen Baker was last in 59.99.
Britain enjoyed a banner night at the pool, too. James Guy defeated a strong field to win the 200 freestyle, outsprinting his idol Sun Yang of China to the finish. Guy, the youngest swimmer in the final at age 19, touched first in 1 minute, 45.14 seconds.
Sun settled for silver in 1:45.20 and world record holder Paul Biedermann of Germany earned bronze in 1:45.38.
“He’s one of my heroes, so to race him head-to-head was amazing,” Guy said. “To touch my hand on the wall first and be world champion, it hasn’t sunk in yet, but I’m so happy.”
It was Guy’s first career gold medal at worlds. He earned silver in the 400 freestyle on Sunday.
American Ryan Lochte, the 2011 world champion, finished fourth in the first of his two individual events.
Peaty breaks record
Another Brit, Adam Peaty, followed Guy’s glory with a feat of his own. Peaty set a world record in the 50 breaststroke, winning the first semifinal heat in 26.42 seconds. He bettered the mark of 26.62 set by Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa in the morning preliminaries.
It was the second men’s world record to fall at the worlds. Katie Ledecky of the United States made it five world records on the women’s side after taking down her own mark in winning the 1,500 freestyle final.
Peaty also swam 26.62 at the European Championships in Berlin last August but that mark was not approved by world governing body FINA because he wasn’t tested for the blood-booster EPO. “I’m not going to go into politics about it,” Peaty said. “Hopefully tomorrow it’s going to be a really great race. All I got to do is get my start right.”
Van der Burgh won the second semifinal in 26.74, setting up Peaty and the South African for a head-to-head duel in Wednesday’s final of the non-Olympic event.
American Kevin Cordes qualified third-quickest in 26.76.
Peaty already has gold from these championships, winning the 100 breast on Monday.
Ledecky lowered her own world record by 2.23 seconds in the 1,500 free. She touched in 15:25.48, improving her mark of 15:27.71 set in the preliminaries of the non-Olympic event on Monday.
Ledecky raised her right arm in celebration of her second consecutive world title in the event and smashed the water while her teammates cheered in the stands. She got out of the pool and immediately headed to warm down in preparation for the 200 free semifinals later. Lauren Boyle of New Zealand finished second in 15:40.14. Boglarka Kapas of Hungary took third in 15:47.09.
The loudest cheers of the night were reserved for Yulia Efimova, who gave the host country its first gold of these championships in the 100 breast. Efimova won in 1:05.66 to beat Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania in a reversal of their results two years ago, when Efimova finished second. Meilutyte was timed in 1:06.36. Alia Atkinson of Jamaica took third in 1:06.42.
