China tops medal table as Ye adds silver on final day of FINA Worlds

Team China topped the medal table as Ye Shiwen added a silver medal on the final day of the 18th FINA World Championships here on Sunday.

China ended the championships with 16 golds, 11 silvers and three bronzes, maintaining its dominance throughout the 17-day swimming competition.

Ye won the silver in the women's 400m individual medley (IM), touching home in four minutes and 32.07 seconds.

Silver medalist Ye Shiwen of China (L), Gold medalist Katinka Hosszu of Hungary (C) and Bronze medalist Yui Ohashi of Japan (R) pose for photographs during the award ceremony for the women's 400m Individual Medley final at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, 28 July 2019. [Photo: IC]

The world record holder Katinka Hosszu of Hungary finished first in 4:30.39 to grab the gold, and Japan's Yui Ohashi took the bronze in 4:32.33.

China's Xu Jiayu finished sixth with a time of 24.64 in the men's 50m backstroke final, failing to take a medal.

Zane Waddell of South Africa timed in 24.43 to win a gold medal, trailed by Evgeny Rylov of Russia in 24.49 and his teammate Kliment Kolesnikov in 24.51 for the silver and bronze medals.

The United States was the runner-up in the medal table, with 15 golds, 11 silvers and 10 bronzes, trailed by Russia that took 12 golds, 11 silvers and seven bronzes.

In the men's 4x100m medley relay, British swimmers beat the U.S. quartet, including Caeleb Dressel, to take a gold medal with a new European record of 3:28.10.

The United States came second in 3:28.45 to pocket the silver, and Russia took the bronze in 3:28.81.

Dressel failed to sweep seven gold medals at the back-to-back world championships. He took seven world titles in Budapest two years ago.

He had previously claimed six titles at these worlds in the 50m butterfly, the 100m butterfly, the 50m freestyle, the 100m freestyle, the 4x100m freestyle relay and the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay.

In the women's 4x100m medley relay final, the U.S. team set a new world record of 3:50.40 to break the prior record of 3:51.55 created by the United States itself in Budapest two years ago.

Australia took the silver in 3:53.42, and Canada came third in 3:53.58 to win the bronze.

Double Olympic champion Lilly King of the United States pocketed a gold medal in the women's 50m breaststroke, touching home in 29.84. Benedetta Pilato of Italy took the silver in 30.00, and Yuliya Efimova of Russia grabbed the bronze in 30.15.

In the women's 50m freestyle final, the U.S. swimmer Simone Manuel won a gold medal with a time of 24.05. Sarah Sjoestroem took the silver in 24.07, and Cate Campbell of Australia ended the race in 24.11 for the bronze medal.

Japan's Daiya Seto snatched a gold medal in the men's 400m IM, finishing in 4:08.95, followed by Jay Litherland of the United States in 4:09.22 and Lewis Douglas Clareburt of New Zealand in 4:12.07 to take the silver and bronze medals.

Florian Wellbrock of Germany finished first in 14:36.54, winning a gold medal in the men's 1,500m freestyle, followed by Mykhailo Romanchuk of Ukraine in 14:37.63 and Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy in 14:38.75 each to secure silver and bronze medals.

The Gwangju worlds, which opened on July 12, ended its 17-day journey under the slogan "Dive into Peace."

It was the largest ever, featuring more than 2,500 athletes from 194 countries and regions. It topped the previous biggest in Kazan, Russia in 2015 that brought together 2,146 athletes from 184 nations and regions.

The athletes competed for 76 gold medals in six disciplines: swimming, artistic swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming and water polo.

China sent a squad of 99 athletes to vie in all disciplines. Through the races, 43 percent of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualification spots were allocated.