DUBAI: Ryan Lochte doubled his gold medal haul to six and took his overall medal tally to a record 21 on the final session at the short course world championships here Sunday.
The American set a new championship best time of 1:46.68 in the 200m backstroke, followed by an all-out effort in the 100m individual medley in a time of 50.86, meaning that Lochte achieved a gold medal in every individual event he contested.
He was also part of the victorious 4×100 medley relay team that signed off the championships with a final gold, bringing the US medal tally to 25 overall, with 12 golds.
Lochte smashed two world records earlier in the meet in imperious fashion, but his punishing schedule eventually took its toll and the swimmer admitted to feeling tired.
“I think I could have gone a lot faster (in the 200m backstroke). I gave it my best shot,” he said.
“In the 100m individual medley I just went for it. I felt it a lot in my legs after the 200m backstroke, but it’s around the same time I went in the semi, so I’ll take it.
“I messed up with a couple of my turns so I could have done it faster.”
He broke the all-time record for medals won at a short course world championship, with a total of 21, four more than Therese Alshammar’s former record of 17.
Rebecca Soni took home another three golds for the US after claiming the breaststroke treble and three championship records to boot.
She won the 200m breaststroke on Saturday to add to her 50m and 100m titles in the same event.
The US world record holder was chased all the way to the line by Chinese swimmer, Ye Sun, but Soni’s 2:16.39 was too fast. Sun finished in 2:18.09 while Rikke Moller Pedersen of Denmark won bronze in 2:18.82.
“I came here looking to get some good racing and I’ve had a great time,” said Soni.
“I really enjoyed having the 50m first and the distance getting longer and longer, at the same time I got used to the sprint so the 200m felt really long.”
Australian supporters were finally treated to a winning performance from one of their athletes when Felicity Galvez turned the tables on Sweden’s Therese Alshammar in the 100m butterfly.
Alshammar had claimed the 50m version of the event by .01sec, but in the longer distance Galvez, a former world record holder in the 100m butterfly, finished too strongly for her.
“I came here to win gold, it’s been a tough race between Therese and I,” said Galvez of her championship record 55.43 swim. “I felt I deserved to win this one.”
