Published : Aug. 2, 2013 - 19:26
Australia’s James Magnussen celebrates after winning the men’s 100-meter freestyle in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on Thursday. (AFP-Yonhap News)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ―James Magnussen and Ryan Lochte are back on top at the world swimming championships.
Missy Franklin and Katie Ledekcy just keep on winning.
Magnussen, who was viewed as a flop despite a silver medal at the London Olympics, rallied to win the 100 freestyle with a furious finishing kick, edging Americans Jimmy Feigen and Nathan Adrian.
After a disappointing start to the meet, Lochte looked more like himself Thursday night, pulling away to win the 200-meter individual medley and claim the 13th world championship gold of his career and 21st medal overall.
But the Americans came through in the final event of the night, with Franklin and Ledecky leading the U.S. team to victory in the 4x200 free relay. Ledecky put the Americans ahead at the start, and Franklin zipped away with a dominant anchor leg to win in 7 minutes, 45.14 seconds.
The 18-year-old Franklin now has four golds from as many races in Barcelona, with three events to go.
Ledecky, only 16 and getting ready for her junior year of high school, has three golds from three events with one race left.
No matter what, they will go down as two of the biggest stars of this meet.
Lochte barely celebrated after his race, letting out a deep breath as he squinted to see his winning time ― 1 minute, 54.98 seconds.
Japan’s Kosuke Hagino claimed the silver, more than a second behind, and Brazil’s Thiago Pereira took bronze.
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