LOCHTE SMASHES SECOND WORLD RECORD IN DUBAI

DUBAI, UAE– Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) and Ariana Kukors (Auburn, Wash.) led the Team USA gold medal haul Friday at the FINA Short Course World Championships in Dubai.  Lochte also broke his second world record of the meet with his win in the men’s 200m IM.

Lochte smashed the 200m IM world record with a time of 1:50.08. He led the field from start to finish and took more than a second off the previous world record. Austria’s Markus Rogan was second in 1:52.90 and Team USA’s Tyler Clary was third in 1:53.56.

Hoff won gold in the women’s 400m free with a time of 3:57.07. She took the lead after the first 200 meters to finish in a time that broke both the championship and American record. This is Hoff’s first International individual gold since 2007. Australia’s Kylie Palmer was second in 3:58.9 and Italy’s Federica Pellegrini was third in 3:59.52.

Kukors also picked up a gold medal with her performance in the 100m IM. Kukors was in second after the first 50 meters but a strong breaststroke and freestyle leg put her ahead of the field for the win in 58.95. Australia’s Kutuku Ngawati was second in 59.27 and the Netherland’s Hinkelien Schreuder was third in 59.53. Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.) placed seventh in 1:00.75.

Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.) earned a bronze in the women’s 100m free. The Olympic gold medalist finished the race in 52.25, a new American record.  The Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo earned gold and set a new championship record with her time of 51.45, while Frederike Heemskerk, also from the Netherlands, won the silver in 52.18. Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) was seventh in 52.95.

The women’s 4x100m medley relay picked up a silver medal with a time of 3:48.36, a new American record. The team of Coughlin, Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.), Vollmer and Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) had a strong start but were unable to hold off the Chinese, who won gold in 3:48.29. The bronze went to Australia in 3:48.88.

Missy Franklin earned her first World Championship medal with her second-place performance in the 200m back. Franklin won the silver with an American-record time of 2:02.01. France’s Alexianne Castel won the gold in 2:01.67 and China’s Yanxin Zhoe earned the bronze in 2:03.22. Madison White (Walnut Creek, Calif.) placed seventh in 2:06.23 which was her first World Championship final.

Josh Schneider (Cincinnati, Ohio) also added to Team USA’s medal count Friday, winning the bronze medal in the 50m free. He swam a 20.88 to break the American record. Schneider finished behind Brazil’s Cesar Cielo Filho, who won gold in a championship-record time of 20.51, and France’s Fred Bousquet, who won the silver in 20.81.

Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) just missed the medal stand in the 400m free, placing fourth in 3:38.44. Vanderkaay had a strong swim but couldn’t hold off a late surge in the race from Paul Biedermann of Germany and Nikita Lobintsev of Russia. Biedermann picked up the gold with a time of 3:37.06 while Lobinstev earned the silver in 3:37.84. Tunisia’s Ous Mellouli, who led for the first 300 meters of the race, finished third in 3:38.17.

Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) placed eighth in the final of the 200m breast with a time of 2:05.86. Japan’s Naoya Tomita picked up the gold with a championship record time of 2:03.12, Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta won silver in 2:03.47 and Brenton Rickard of Australia earned the bronze in 2:04.33. Adam Klein (New Orleans, La.) competed in the morning’s preliminary heats but did not advance to the final.

In the women’s 50m fly final, Christine Magnuson (Tinley Park, Ill.) placed seventh in 25.74. Therese Alshammar of Sweden won the event and set a championship record with a time of 24.87. Australia’s Felicity Galvez took home the silver in 24.90 and Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark won bronze in 25.24.

In semifinals action, Soni had a strong performance in the 100m breast. The Olympic gold medalist earned a championship record with her time of 1:04.64 and is the top seed for Saturday’s final. Micah Lawrence (Pflugerville, Texas) finished 15th in 1:06.53 and did not qualify for the final. Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio) advanced to the final in the men’s 50m back. He swam a 23.51 to qualify as the fifth seed in Saturday’s final. David Plummer (Oklahoma City, Okla.) finished 9th in 23.86 just missing the final. In the men’s 50m fly, Tyler McGill (Champaign, Ill.) finished 15th with a time of 23.21 and did not advance to the final. Tim Phillips (Vienna, West Va.) swam in the morning preliminary heats but did not advance to the semifinals.

Team USA leads the medal count with 15 total medals (7 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze). Competition continues Saturday and runs through Sunday. Preliminary heats begin at 10 a.m. local time and finals start at 7 p.m. local time. For full results and more information on the 10th FINA Short Course World Championships, click here.  You can also follow the action LIVE on USA Swimming’s Twitter page (@USA_Swimming).