Three cheers for Lochte
American Ryan Lochte won a third consecutive world title in the men’s 200 metres individual medley in Barcelona on Thursday.
Lochte touched in a time of one minute 54.98 seconds, almost a second slower than the world record of 1:54.00 he set to win the gold in 2011. Kosuke Hagino of Japan was second in 1:56.29 and Thiago Pereira of Brazil third in 1:56.30.
Lochte is the second man only after compatriot Michael Phelps to win a treble of 200 medley world titles.
Phelps took gold in the event in 2003, 2005 and 2007 and beat Lochte into second place to win the Olympic title in London last year.
Pedersen sets 200m breaststroke world record
Rikke Pedersen of Denmark set a world record in the women’s 200 metres breaststroke in her semi-final.
Pedersen, 24, clocked two minutes 19.11 seconds to beat the previous mark of 2:19.59 set by American Rebecca Soni at the Olympic Games in London last year.
Meanwhile, world champion James Magnussen of Australia and American Olympic gold medallist Nathan Adrian square off again in the men’s 100m freestyle final.
Having been beaten on the wall by Adrian in the 2012 Olympic final, Magnussen was fourth fastest into the final after his American rival threw down a marker as the quickest from Wednesday’s semis.
Adrian, 24, has insisted Magnussen is the favourite, a tag the 22-year-old Australian was quick to shake off with just half a second separating the eight finalists.
“I’d say Nathan is still the favourite, he’s the Olympic champion and the fastest guy into the final. I like it that way,” said Magnussen, who won the 2011 world title in Shanghai.
US star Missy Franklin can pick up her fourth of a possible seven golds in Barcelona in the women’s 4x200m freestyle final on Thursday after the USA team qualified third behind China and Australia.
China’s 17-year-old star Ye Shiwen led off as the Chinese clocked 7mins 52.20secs with Australia, anchored by Alicia Coutts, just 0.19 behind and the USA at 0.53 adrift in the morning’s heats.
“It was good to get racing again after a couple of days off,” said Coutts, who has three silvers in Barcelona from the freestyle relay, 100m fly and 200m individual medley.
“I’m not really a specialist at the 200m free, I just dive in and go for it so we’ll see who the coaches pick for the final team.”
Hosts Spain could pick up their first gold of the championships with Mereia Belmonte the fastest into Thursday’s 200m butterfly final with China’s world-record holder Liu Zige fourth.
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