[1]Ryan Lochte claimed his second gold medal in Barcelona with a victory in 200-metre backstroke, beating reigning Olympic champion and teammate Tyler Clary at the swimming world championships on Friday.
The winning time was 1 minute, 53.79 seconds. The silver went to Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki, while Clary settled for bronze.
Lochte pushed the early pace, leading at the first flip, and had enough to hold off his challengers. He won by 0.45 seconds.
The race was the first of three that Lochte had in about a 90-minute span. He also qualified for the semi-finals of the 100 butterfly and had a spot on the US team in the 4x200 freestyle relay.
In the women’s 100m freestyle, Australia’s Cate Campbell won the gold as US star Missy Franklin missed out on claiming a fifth medal.
The 21-year-old Campbell earned her first major title when she clocked 52.34sec with Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, the 100m butterfly world champion, at 0.55 back and Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo of Holland adrift at 1.08.
Having already collected four golds in Barcelona, Franklin missed out as she finished fourth at 1.13 back, while Germany’s Britta Steffen, whose 2009 world record was under threat from Campbell until the dying stages, finished sixth.
Redemption for Magnussen
Australia’s James Magnussen claimed revenge on Olympic champion Nathan Adrian while Franklin struck gold for the fourth time on Thursday.
Magnussen retained his 100m world freestyle title with American duo James Feigen and Adrian taking silver and bronze respectively.
The heavily-fancied Magnussen missed out on gold in London last year by just one hundredth of a second and his preparation was later questioned after he admitted to taking sleeping pills during the Games to help him relax.
“I’ve put a lot behind me in the past 6-12 months and this is probably one of my proudest moments given what I and my support team have overcome to get me here,” he said.
And the man known as ‘The Missile’ said the extra support of his teammates, in stark contrast to what he experienced in London, was an extra help.
“The Australian swim team, both swimmers and staff, really helped me through the past few days.
“Last year I struggled and I struggled alone with my coach. We felt a bit isolated whereas this year everyone was right behind us. I was representing a team I was proud to represent.”
Australia took silver in the 4x200m women’s freestyle behind a star-studded USA side.
The American line-up included Katie Ledecky and Franklin who collected their third and fourth golds of the championships so far and Franklin insisted that despite her frantic seven-event schedule she does have time to enjoy the moment every time she stands atop the podium to sing the national anthem.
“Being up there and singing your anthem completely out of key at the top of your lungs is when you know the hard work has paid off,” she joked after another successful evening that also saw her comfortably advance into the 100m freestyle final.
China secured two gold medals in the women’s 200m butterfly and 50m backstroke through Liu Zige and Zhao Jing respectively.
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[1] http://archive.asianage.com/s1jpg-731