TEAM USA FINISHES SHORT COURSE WORLDS ATOP THE MEDAL COUNT

Ryan Lochte collected three more gold medals, bringing his meet total to six, and the U.S. men’s 4x100m medley relay team won gold in American record-time on the final night of competition at the FINA Short Course World Championships in Dubai, UAE.

Team USA finished atop the medal count with 25 medals. American swimmers took home 12 gold, six silver and seven bronze throughout the five-day competition.  China was behind Team USA in the medal count with a total of 14 medals (three gold, five silver and six bronze).

Lochte picked up his first gold medal of the night in the men’s 200m back. Lochte and Tyler Clary were in first and second at the 100 meter mark and held on for first and second, respectively. Lochte broke the championship and American record with his time of 1:46.68, while Clary finished in 1:49.09. Austria’s Markus Rogan won bronze in 1:49.96.

Lochte’s second gold of the night and fifth of the meet came in the final of the men’s100m IM. Lochte finished the race in 50.86, just one-tenth off the world record. The silver medal went to Germany’s Markus Deibler in 51.69 while the bronze went to Russia’s Sergey Fesikov in 51.81.

The 4x100m medley relay team of Nick Thoman, Mike Alexandrov, Lochte and Garrett Weber-Gale posted a time of 3:20.99 on its way to gold. Team USA battled Russia in a close race and was in second after the first 200 meters. A strong butterfly leg from Lochte and a standout swim by Weber-Gale in the freestyle secured the U.S. Team its first relay gold of the meet. Russia earned the silver in 3:21.61 and Brazil won the bronze in 3:23.12.

Rebecca Soni picked up her third gold medal of the meet with a win in the women’s 200m breast. Soni led the field from the start and set both the championship and American record with her time of 2:16.39. China’s Ye Sun placed second in 2:18.09 and Denmark’s Rikke Moeller Pedersen was third in 2:18.82.

Katie Hoff earned a silver medal in the women’s 200m free. Hoff was in the lead after the first 100 meters but a she was unable to hold off France’s Camille Muffat. Hoff earned the American record with her time of 1:52.91. Muffat won the gold in 1:52.29 and Kylie Palmer of Australia was third in 1:52.96.

Dana Vollmer also had a strong showing Sunday, earning the bronze medal in the 100m fly. Vollmer set the American record with her time of 56.25. The gold went to Australia’s Felicity Galvez, who won in a championship-record time of 55.43. Sweden’s Therese Alshammar won the silver in 55.73. Christine Magnuson (Tinley Park, Ill.) finished seventh with a time of 56.98.

Nathan Adrian placed sixth in the men’s 100m free with a time of 46.44. Adrian was third at the halfway point but was unable to hold off the fast field. Brazil’s Cesar Cielo won the event and set a championship record in 45.74. France’s Fabien Gilot was second in 45.97 and Russia’s Nikita Lobinstev was third in 46.35.

The men’s 50m breast was won by Brazil’s Felipe Silva in a championship-record time of 25.95. South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh won the silver in 26.03 and the bronze went to Norway’s Aleksander Hetland in 26.71. Mike Alexandrov finished fifth with a time of 26.44, a personal-best time.

Jessica Hardy placed fourth in the women’s 50m free just missing the medal stand with a time of 24.09. Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands won the gold with a time of 23.37 and Hinkelien Schreuder, also of the Netherlands, was second in 23.81. Third place went to Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace of the Bahamas with a time of 24.04.

In the final of the men’s 200m fly, Bobby Bollier tied for seventh with a time of 1:53.61. Bollier, who was competing in his first World Championship final, swam a personal best of 1:53.26 in the morning preliminary heats. The top three finishers in the race were separated by only .11 with the gold going to South Africa’s Chad Le Clos in 1:51.56. Silver went to Brazil’s Kaio Almeida in 1:51.61 and Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh picked up the bronze in 1:51.67.

Tunisia’s Ous Mellouli won the gold medal in men’s 1500m free with a time of 14:24.16. The silver medal went to Mads Glaesner of Denmark in 14:29.52. Gergely Gyurta of Hungary won the bronze in 14:31.47. Both Peter Vanderkaay and Sean Ryan competed in the morning heats as the event was a timed final. Vanderkaay finished fifth in 14:35.25 and Ryan was ninth in 14:46.36.

The final of the women’s 50m back did not feature an American swimmer. The gold medal went to China’s Jing Zhao, who set the championship record in 26.27. Australia’s Rachel Goh won the silver in 26.54 and Spain’s Mercedes Peris earned the bronze in 26.80.