Three world records smashed at World aquatics

Kazan, Aug 4: Chi pocketed a bronze at the World Aquatics Championships as three world records were smashed here.

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom defended her 100 metres butterfly title in 55.64 seconds on Monday when she broke the world record for the second time here. She improved the previous world record which was set by herself in Sunday’s heats by 0.1 second.

Danish veteran Jeanette Ottesen took silver in 57.05 while Chi’s Lu Ying finished third in 57.48.

“I swam slower than I did in the semis earlier,” said Lu, runner-up of the event at the London Olympics. “I expected a better time.”

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu rewrote the women’s 200m individual medley world record to 2:06.12, 0.03 second faster than the previous record set by American Aria Kukors at the 2009 Rome Worlds.

Japanese Kako Watabe came in second in 2:08.45 while British girl Siobhan Marie O’Connor finished third in 2:08.77. Chi’s Ye Shiwen, winner of the event at the London Games, finished eighth.

The women’s 1,500m freestyle world record was also renewed as American star Katie Ledecky timed 15 minutes and 27.71 seconds in the heats, shaving 0.65 seconds off the mark she set at the Pan Pacific Championships in Australia in 2014.

“I’m in quite a bit of shock right now. I was barely even focusing on this morning’s swim. I was so relaxed. I realised towards the end because I could see people waving,” Ledecky said. It’s the fourth time Ledecky has broken the record in 1,500m and she will have a chance to improve it again in Tuesday’s fil.

Britain won its first swimming gold here when the 20-year-old Adam Peaty touched first in the men’s 100m breaststroke with 58.52. South Africa’s Olympic champ Cameron Van Der Burgh trailed in 58.59 while Britain’s Ross Murdoch third in 59.09.

France’s Olympic champion Florent Maudou showed his domince of the men’s 50m butterfly with a winning mark of 22.97. Brazil’s Nicholas Santos came second in 23.09 while Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh took the bronze in 23.15.

Also, Chinese superstar Sun Yang, who led the 200m freestyle heats with a 1:46.00 finish, ranked fifth in the semifil with 1;46.17. American star Ryan Lochte won the semis in 1:45.36.

“I will do better in tomorrow’s fil. I expect a top-3 finish,” said Sun, who won the 400m freestyle on Sunday.

Chi’s Fu Yuanhui ranked fourth in women’s 100m backstroke semifil to reach the fil while Xu Jiayu qualified for the men’s 100m backstroke fil with a sixth place in the semifil. Chinese girl Shi Jinglin also made the fil of 100m breaststroke. IANS