Key Links

• Results

HANGZHOU, China – Olympians Caeleb Dressel (Green Cove Springs, Fla./Bolles School Sharks) and Kelsi Dahlia (Westampton, N.J./Cardinal Aquatics) won multiple gold medals on the final night of competition to lead the American contingent on Sunday at the 2018 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m).

Team USA finished atop the medal table with 36 medals (17 gold, 15 silver and four bronze), 22 more than any other country in Hangzhou. The 36 podium appearances rank second all-time for Team USA at the FINA World Championships (25m), trailing only the 41 medals amassed in 2004.  

Dressel and Dahlia each finished with a team-best nine medals this week.

On Sunday, Dressel raced to gold in the men’s 100-meter freestyle in an American record 45.62 seconds. He followed by putting Team USA in front in the men’s 400m medley relay on the butterfly leg, as the Americans touched in 3:19.98 for gold and another American record.

Dahlia earned three gold medals on Sunday, placing first in the women’s 100m butterfly in 55.01 and aiding the Americans to victories in the women’s 200m free relay in an American record 1:34.03 and the 400m medley relay in a meet record 3:45.58.

Adding gold Sunday was Annie Lazor (Beverly Hills, Mich./Mission Viejo Nadadores) in the women’s 200m breaststroke in 2:18.32, with Bethany Galat (Mishawaka, Ind./Texas A&M University) taking silver in 2:18.62.

Team USA also touched one-two in the women’s 100m fly with Kendyl Stewart (Carlsbad, Calif./Team Elite) taking silver in 56.22 behind Dahlia.

Ryan Murphy (Jacksonville, Fla./California Aquatics) earned the silver in the men’s 200m back in 1:47.34 for his third individual medal of the meet.

2018 FINA World Championships (25m) By the Numbers for Team USA:

• 36 total medals, second most all-time for Team USA
• 17 gold medals, second most all-time for Team USA
• 11 relay medals, most all-time for Team USA
• Nine relay gold medals, most all-time for Team USA
• Team USA tallied 1,099 points to win the FINA Championships Trophy
• Caeleb Dressel and Kelsi Dahlia won a meet-best nine medals
• Olivia Smoliga won a meet-best eight gold medals
• 24 American record swims
• Five world records set

A complete look at Sunday’s action: 

Women’s 200m Freestyle Relay – Final

Gold – United States (Madison Kennedy, Mallory Comerford, Kelsi Dahlia, Erika Brown), 1:34.03 (American Record, Meet Record)
Silver – Netherlands, 1:34.55
Bronze – Australia, 1:36.54

Notes
Team USA broke the American record of 1:34.61 set in 2014.
Lia Neal, Olivia Smoliga, Veronica Burchill and Brown qualified second in the prelims.

Quotes
Brown (on swimming the anchor on a championship relay): “It feels great. It’s such a great group of girls, and I’m just really thankful to be part of Team USA here.”

Men’s 1500m Freestyle Relay – Final

Gold – Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR), 14:09.14 (Meet Record)
Silver – Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 14:09.87
Bronze – Henrik Christiansen (NOR), 14:19.39
8. Zane Grothe (Boulder City, Nev./Unattached), 14:51.22

Notes
Grothe also placed sixth in the 400m free.

Men’s 100m Freestyle – Final

Gold – Caeleb Dressel (Green Cove Springs, Fla./Bolles School Sharks), 45.62 (American Record)
Silver – Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 45.64
Bronze – Chad le Clos (RSA), 45.89
7-tie. Blake Pieroni (Valparaiso, Ind./Unattached), 46.57

Notes
Dressel won his first individual gold medal in Hangzhou after taking silver in the 50m free and 100m fly.
Dressel broke his own American record set earlier this week.  

Quotes
Dressel (on how much energy he has after such a busy week): “I actually feel alright right now. It was a long meet, but I’ve had meets where I was a lot more tired. This went smoothly. I’m happy to be done, don’t get me wrong … but it was a great performance all around from everyone on the team and it was really exciting to be a part of that.”

Dressel (on takeaways from his week in Hangzhou): “I feel like I’m in really good shape. They were pretty sloppy to be honest, a lot of them. I feel like I got better as the meet went on because that was faster than the first day of the meet tonight, so I think I was getting better every day. The speed was not quite there, but like I said I think I’m in really good shape. My last 50 was really good in the fly and the free, so I’m not worried about anything and it will be fun year next year at Worlds.”

Women’s 200m Breaststroke – Final

Gold – Annie Lazor (Beverly Hills, Mich./Mission Viejo Nadadores), 2:18.32
Silver – Bethany Galat (Mishawaka, Ind./Texas A&M University), 2:18.62
Bronze – Fanny Lecluyse (BEL), 2:18.85

Notes
Lazor and Galat both posted personal-best times en route to gold and silver.

Quotes
Galat (on her race): “I’m very happy. This morning was my very first short-course meters swim ever. I think I was a lot more comfortable tonight and it showed. There’s a lot of reasons why my time dropped. There’s no better feeling than to get one-two with your teammate. I can’t be more happy.”

Men’s 200m Backstroke – Final

Gold – Evegny Rylov (RUS), 1:47.02
Silver – Ryan Murphy (Jacksonville, Fla./California Aquatics), 1:47.34
Bronze – Radoslaw Kawecki (POL), 1:48.25
5. Jacob Pebley (Corvallis, Ore./Team Elite), 1:49.72

Notes
Murphy medaled in all three backstroke events this week, taking gold in the 100m back, silver in the 50m back and 200m back.

Women’s 100m Butterfly – Final

Gold – Kelsi Dahlia (Westampton, N.J./Cardinal Aquatics), 55.01
Silver – Kendyl Stewart (Carlsbad, Calif./Team Elite), 56.22
Bronze – Daiene Dias (BRA), 56.31

Notes
Dahlia medaled in all three butterfly events in Hangzhou – gold in the 100m fly, silver in the 200m fly and bronze in the 50m fly. 
Stewart wins her first individual medal of the FINA World Championships (25m). 

Quotes
Stewart (on her race and winning silver): “I was pretty confident coming into tonight that I could swim a better race than I did last night. I just wanted to have run and race the girls really on the second 50. I’m very proud. It was an awesome way to finish the meet for me.”

Men’s 50m Breaststroke – Final

Gold – Cameron van der Burgh (RSA), 25.41 (Meet Record)
Silver – Ilya Shymanovich (BLR), 25.77
Bronze – Felipe Lima (BRA), 25.80

Notes
No Americans competed in the final of the men’s 50m breast. 

Women’s 50m Freestyle – Final

Gold – Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 23.19 (Meet Record)
Silver – Femke Heemskerk (NED), 23.67
Bronze – Etiene Medeiros (BRA), 23.76
4. Mallory Comerford (Kalamazoo, Mich./University of Louisville), 23.86
8. Madison Kennedy (Avon, Conn./SwimMAC Carolina), 24.11

Notes
Comerford also won silver in the 200m free and bronze in the 100m free this week. 

Men’s 400m Medley Relay – Final

Gold – United States (Ryan Murphy, Andrew Wilson, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held), 3:19.98 (American Record, Meet Record)
Silver – Russia, 3:20.61
Bronze – Japan, 3:21.07

Notes
Team USA broke the American record of 3:20.91 set at the 2015 Duel in the Pool.
Dressel led the Team USA men with nine medals this week in Hangzhou – six gold and three silver. 
Murphy won six medals at the FINA World Championships (25m) – three gold and three silver.  
Matt Grevers, Michael Andrew, Jack Conger and Blake Pieroni qualified first in the prelims. 

Quotes
Dressel (on winning gold in the 400 after taking silver in the 200): “It’s a good night. It’s always nice to come out on top. More importantly in the relay, staying on top. We weren’t happy with the outcome in the 200 [medley] … We did what we could tonight with a tired backstroker and we did very well as a collective group.”

Murphy (on his double tonight): “It’s easy to get up and race for Team USA. There were a couple of backstrokers that had to do that double and it’s a brutal double. We’re all very patriotic and love our countries and want to try to help them win gold.”
 

Women’s 400m Medley Relay – Final

Gold – United States (Olivia Smoliga, Katie Meili, Kelsi Dahlia, Mallory Comerford), 3:45.58 (Meet Record)
Silver – China, 3:48.80
Bronze – Italy, 3:51.38

Notes
Team USA broke the meet record of 3:47.89 set at the 2016 FINA World Championships (25m). 
Dahlia totaled a women’s-best nine medals at the FINA World Championships (25m) – seven gold, one silver, one bronze. 
Comerford total medals won eight medals this week – five gold, two silver, one bronze. 
Smoliga won eight medals – all gold – this week in Hangzhou.  
Kathleen Baker, Melanie Margalis, Kendyl Stewart and Lia Neal qualified first in the prelims. 

Quotes
Comerford (on wrapping up her meet): “It’s been an awesome week and being able to share it with these girls is just amazing. They push me to be better and push me just to finish the race. It’s really hard but they make it easier.

Dahlia (reflecting on her week): “I’m really pleased with the whole meet. This was a great experience. I learned a lot. My body’s exhausted, but these girls really pushed me to finish well tonight.” 

Smoliga (on Team USA finishing strong): “I think this last day is indicative of how tough Team USA is. We’ve had so many one-two finishes tonight on the last night when we’re so dead. Our coaches yesterday said, ‘at the end of a hard practice, hard set we try to put up a best time even when we’re really tired,’ and I think that shows when we come to meets like these to finish as strong as we can.”