Records tumble as Australia strike double gold

AFP, KAZAN (RUSSIA): Katie Ledecky of the USA wrote swimming history again at the world championships on Tuesday as three records fell while Australia won backstroke double gold.
Ledecky underlined her status as the star of the Kazan pool by demolishing her own 1500m freestyle record in Tuesday’s final, then qualified for Wednesday’s 200m freestyle final less than 30 minutes later.
She may have only just graduated from High School in Maryland, but Ledecky broke a world record for the ninth time in two years when she shaved 2.23 seconds off her 1500m personal best to clock 15 minutes, 25.48secs.
Ledecky’s exploits came after South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh had broken the men’s 50m breaststroke record in the morning’s heats, only to see Britain’s Adam Peaty swim a new record of 26.42secs in the evening’s semi.
It promises to be another breaststroke battle royal between the pair in Wednesday’s 50m final as Van der Burgh swam 26.74secs in his semi.
The biggest surprise of the night was James Guy’s stunning win in the 200m freestyle final as the Briton beat China’s Sun Yang at the wall as the 19-year-old left some big names in his wake.
He was just 0.06secs ahead of China’s long-distance expert Sun who had to settle for silver while Germany’s world record-holder Paul Biedermann took bronze at 0.24secs.
Ryan Lochte of the USA, who had led early on, was fourth at 0.69secs back.
The teenager adds gold to the silver he won on Sunday in the men’s 400m freestyle final when Sun retained his world title from Barcelona two years ago.
Sun can claim his second gold in Kazan when he looks to retain his 800m freestyle title in Wednesday’s final.
Australia struck double gold as Mitchell Larkin and Emily Seebohm won the men’s and women’s 100m backstroke finals within minutes of each other.
Larkin, 22, claimed his first world title while Seebohm bounced back from dislocating her knee in a riding accident in May to win her first individual world title.
Larkin touched the wall at 52.40secs with France’s Camille Lacourt taking silver at 0.08secs back and Olympic champion Matt Grevers earned bronze at 0.26secs.
Seebohm, who also won a relay gold on Sunday, timed 58.26secs with team-mate Madison Wilson taking silver at 0.49secs and the 23-year-old was in tears during the medal ceremony when the Australian anthem was played.

Records tumble as Australia strike double gold

AFP, KAZAN (RUSSIA): Katie Ledecky of the USA wrote swimming history again at the world championships on Tuesday as three records fell while Australia won backstroke double gold. Ledecky underlined her status as the star of the Kazan pool by demolishing her own 1500m freestyle record in Tuesdays final, then qualified for Wednesdays 200m freestyle final less than 30 minutes later. She may have only just graduated from High School in Maryland, but Ledecky broke a world record for the ninth time in two years when she shaved 2.23 seconds off her 1500m personal best to clock 15 minutes, 25.48secs. Ledeckys exploits came after South Africas Cameron van der Burgh had broken the mens 50m breaststroke record in the mornings heats, only to see Britains Adam Peaty swim a new record of 26.42secs in the evenings semi. It promises to be another breaststroke battle royal between the pair in Wednesdays 50m final as Van der Burgh swam 26.74secs in his semi. The biggest surprise of the night was James Guys stunning win in the 200m freestyle final as the Briton beat Chinas Sun Yang at the wall as the 19-year-old left some big names in his wake. He was just 0.06secs ahead of Chinas long-distance expert Sun who had to settle for silver while Germanys world record-holder Paul Biedermann took bronze at 0.24secs. Ryan Lochte of the USA, who had led early on, was fourth at 0.69secs back. The teenager adds gold to the silver he won on Sunday in the mens 400m freestyle final when Sun retained his world title from Barcelona two years ago. Sun can claim his second gold in Kazan when he looks to retain his 800m freestyle title in Wednesdays final. Australia struck double gold as Mitchell Larkin and Emily Seebohm won the mens and womens 100m backstroke finals within minutes of each other. Larkin, 22, claimed his first world title while Seebohm bounced back from dislocating her knee in a riding accident in May to win her first individual world title. Larkin touched the wall at 52.40secs with Frances Camille Lacourt taking silver at 0.08secs back and Olympic champion Matt Grevers earned bronze at 0.26secs. Seebohm, who also won a relay gold on Sunday, timed 58.26secs with team-mate Madison Wilson taking silver at 0.49secs and the 23-year-old was in tears during the medal ceremony when the Australian anthem was played.