King completes breaststroke sweep at US world trials

WASHINGTON: World record-holder Lilly King clocked 1min 05.67sec to win the 100m breaststroke on Friday and complete a sweep at USA Swimming’s World Championship trials in North Carolina.

King claimed a third individual berth for the World Championships in Budapest on June 18-July 3. Annie Lazor was second in 1:06.12 while Lydia Jacoby, who stunned King to claim Olympic gold in Tokyo last year, finished fourth to miss out on a Worlds berth.

“In every breaststroke race, it seems like the top three in the world are the top three in the US,” said King, who took bronze in Tokyo and ranks second in the world this year behind Reona Aoki of Japan.

“It’s prety crazy and geting a lot more competitive than it used to be,” added the 2016 Olympic champion and world-record holder.

The worlds field will be without Olympic silver medalist Tatjana Schoenmaker of South Africa, who is prioritizing the Commonwealth Games later this summer. The fourth- and fith-place finishers from the Olympics are both from Russia, so they’ll be absent, too, due to the nation’s ban.

Freestyle superstar Katie Ledecky nabbed her third individual victory of the week, winning the 400m freestyle in 3:59.52.

Ledecky, who won the 800m and 200m freestyles earlier in the meet, will be aiming to reclaim the 400m free world title she surrendered to Ariarne Titmus in 2019, a task that looks easier since the Australian star — who also beat Ledecky to Olympic 400m gold in Tokyo last year — indicated she will not compete in Budapest. In other events on Friday, Hunter Armstrong followed up his world record-seting win in the 50m backstroke with a 100m backstroke win in a world-leading 52.20sec.

World record-holder Ryan Murphy was second in 52.46 — second-fastest in the world this season.

Regan Smith won the women’s 100m back in 57.75 with teenager Claire Curzan second in 58.39.

Veteran Nic Fink won the men’s 100m breaststroke in 58.37 with Michael Andrew second in 58.51 — the top two times in the world this year.

Armstrong set a 50m backstroke world record of 23.71sec to qualify for the 2022 Swimming World Championships at the US trials in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Thursday. Armstrong, 21, broke the previous world record of 23.80 set by Russian Kliment Kolesnikov at the European championships in Budapest on May 18, 2021.