Australia’s women’s 4×200 freestyle relay broke its own world record at the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka. Mollie O’Callaghan, Sayna Jack, Brianna Throssell and Ariarne Titmus swam 7:37.50 on Thursday, 1.79 seconds faster than their previous best time. The Australian quartet thus clearly relegated the USA and China to the other medal places. The German season had missed the final participation.
France’s new swimming star Leon Marchand, meanwhile, continued his winning streak in Japan. The 21-year-old, who studies and trains in the USA, achieved his third victory in the third final in the Marine Messe over 200 meters individual medley. The defending champion won in 1:54.82 minutes in the third-best time ever – only world record holder Ryan Lochte and record Olympic champion Michael Phelps were faster.
Marchand had already taken the last individual world record from the American swimming legend over 400 meters individual medley in 4:02.50 minutes on Sunday, which came from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He had also won gold in the 200m butterfly – albeit in the absence of the Hungarian Olympic champion, defending champion and world record holder Kristof Milak, who felt “physically and mentally” not ready for the World Championships.
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On the other hand, the Romanian young star David Popovici suffered another defeat. The 18-year-old, who arrived as a double world champion, only came sixth on his world record distance over 100 meters freestyle when the Australian Rio Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers (Australia) triumphed. Previously, he had already missed a medal over double the distance in fourth place.