Roundup: Ledecky wins 7th 800m freestyle title, U.S. relay team sets world record at Singapore Worlds
SINGAPORE, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United States emerged as the biggest winner on the penultimate day of the swimming competition at the World Aquatics Championships here on Saturday, as Katie Ledecky captured her seventh world title in the women's 800m freestyle, before the U.S. mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team struck gold with a new world record.
In the women's 800m freestyle final, Ledecky, Canada's Summer McIntosh and Australia's Lani Pallister quickly distanced themselves from the field. The trio remained neck to neck until the final stretch, where Ledecky pulled ahead to touch in 8 minutes and 5.62 seconds, setting a new championship record. Pallister finished 0.36 seconds behind to take silver, while McIntosh earned bronze. China's Li Bingjie placed fifth in 8:15.59.
"That's pretty incredible, three of us going under 8:10," said Ledecky. "They pushed me all the way. I'm just really happy I could put that together."
"I don't think I have anything to lose at this point of my career. Just enjoying the crowd, swimming against the best in the world. Everyone in that heat is the next generation of swimmers coming up; just proud to be a part of it," Ledecky added.
"I saw Katie swim an 8:05.62 - my goodness, that's scary fast," said Li. "I still have a long way to go to catch up with them."
Later in the evening, the United States quartet of Jack Alexy, Patrick Sammon, Kate Douglass and Torri Huske stormed to victory in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay, setting a new world record of 3:18.48. Neutral Athletes B (NAB) took silver, while France claimed bronze. China did not qualify for the final.
In the women's 200m backstroke final, Australia's Kaylee McKeown won gold in 2:03.33, setting a new championship record. China's Peng Xuwei and Liu Yaxin finished fourth and sixth, respectively.
Peng, who entered the final as the top seed and swam in lane four, admitted to feeling nervous at the start. "I'm not really satisfied with my splits, especially the second 50-meter and the final stretch. I was trying to chase back a bit at the end, but overall, it was a slow swim," she said.
Liu, the only Chinese swimmer at the Singapore Worlds to compete in both open water and indoor events, had competed in the women's 10km open water race on July 16. The extended competition schedule appeared to impact her performance.
"This was a long competition for me, and it definitely affected my performance in the pool," said Liu. "For the 200 backstroke, I just gave it my all in every race. Sixth place was expected, but I'm not satisfied with the time."
In other finals, Gretchen Walsh of the United States won the women's 50m butterfly, Australia's Cameron McEvoy took gold in the men's 50m freestyle, and France's Maxime Grousset triumphed in the men's 100m butterfly.
In the semifinal action involving Chinese swimmers, Tang Qianting ranked second to advance to the women's 50m breaststroke final, while Yang Chang placed 16th and failed to qualify. Wu Qingfeng and Cheng Yujie both advanced to the women's 50m freestyle final after tying for fifth.
The diving competition saw China's Chen Yiwen clinch her third gold of the tournament, leading a one-two finish with teammate Chen Jia in the women's 3-meter springboard final. Italy's Chiara Pellacani took the bronze.
Earlier in the day, China's 14-year-old Zhao Renjie topped the men's 10m platform preliminaries, with teammate Zhu Zifeng also advancing to the semifinals in fourth.
The 2025 World Aquatics Championships will conclude on Sunday. ■