World Swimming Championships: McIntosh signs off with four golds; USA tops medal tally

Summer McIntosh capped a brilliant world championships with the 400 metres individual medley (IM) title and a fourth individual gold medal while Leon Marchand roared to victory in the men’s event in Singapore on Sunday.

The United States set a world record in the women’s 4×100 medley relay to win the final title and ensure it topped the medals table with nine golds, one ahead of Australia.

France finished third with Canada fourth, all four of their golds won by 18-year-old McIntosh, only the third swimmer to win five individual medals at a world championships, joining Michael Phelps (2007) and Sarah Sjostrom (2019).

McIntosh blitzed the field in the 400 IM with a time of 4:25.78, the world record holder coming home more than seven seconds ahead of joint silver medallists Jenna Forrester of Australia and Japan’s Mio Narita.

China’s 12-year-old prodigy Yu Zidi finished just off the podium again having also come fourth in the 200 IM and 200 butterfly.

Olympic champion McIntosh’s third 400 IM world title added to her 200 IM, 200 butterfly and 400 freestyle golds at the World Aquatics Championships Arena in Singapore, with only the 800 freestyle won by the great Katie Ledecky eluding her.

Marchand, dubbed the ‘French Phelps’, nearly missed the 400 IM final after a slow heat in the morning but was back to his best in the evening, clocking 4:04.73 to finish well clear of Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita, the Paris Olympics runnerup behind Marchand.

It was a stripped-back programme from Paris where Marchand won four individual titles but he made it count with the 200 IM world record on the way to the title earlier in the week.

Two years after Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui won the 800 and 1,500 freestyle at the Fukuoka championships, compatriot Ahmed Jaouadi completed the double by winning the 1,500 in 14:34.41 ahead of German Sven Schwarz and American Olympic champion Bobby Finke.

Jaouadi shaved nearly nine seconds off his personal best and said it was a struggle.

“I wasn’t the only one. My body was in a lot of pain,” he added. “But through my mind is that I want this medal and I want to win it.”

The big names may dominate the headlines but Australian relay stalwart Meg Harris grabbed the spotlight for herself as she won 50 freestyle gold in 24.02 ahead of Chinese duo Wu Qingfeng (24.26) and Cheng Yujie (24.28).

The 23-year-old Harris clinched her first individual title on the global stage after sharing two Olympic and five world relay golds in the last four years.

No Russian athletes competed at last year’s world championships in Doha but the nation’s swimmers have racked up medals in Singapore under a neutral flag.

Russians were allowed to compete on condition they have not publicly supported the invasion of Ukraine and have no affiliation to the Russian military.

Also read | United States sets world record in women’s 4x100m medley relay

Russian Kliment Kolesnikov stormed to the men’s 50 backstroke title in 23.68, just 0.13 off his world record, while compatriot Pavel Samusenko took a silver along with South African Pieter Coetze, each finishing in 24.17.

Russian swimmers then combined to win a shock gold in the men’s 4×100 medley, giving the world record (3:26.78) a huge shake with a time of 3:26.93, a second clear of France.

With the U.S. men taking bronze it was up to the nation’s women to secure top spot on the medal table in the final event of the night by beating Australia.

They did just that and in some style, Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske combining to set a world record of 3:49.34, improving on the U.S. mark of 3:49.63 set at the Paris Games.

World record holder Ruta Meilutyte earlier powered to the 50 breaststroke gold in 29.55, nearly half a second clear of China’s Tang Qianting.

It was the Lithuanian’s fourth successive world title in the event since returning from a two-year ban for anti-doping violations.

Retiring American Lilly King, who won the 100 breaststroke at the Rio 2016 Games, bowed out fifth in her last individual event.