Magnificent seven as Americans complete Pan Pacific rout
Simona Halep held her nerve in - - Both players traded early breaks
American swimmers completed a brutal Pan Pacific demolition job on their rivals on Sunday night by winning seven out of 10 gold medals on the final day of the pool competition.
Cate Campbell led the resistance as the Aussie darling won the women’s 50m freestyle before producing an astonishing anchor leg in the 4x100m medley relay to finish with five gold medals and exorcise her Olympic demons in style.
“It’s definitely been a near-perfect meet,” said Campbell, who famously choked in the 2016 Rio final of the 100m freestyle as the hot favorite.
“All the clichés have been put to bed, the nightmares have gone,” she added after putting down a marker for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “I’m having sweet dreams from now on.”
Katie Ledecky scooped her third gold medal of the competition by pulverizing the field in the women’s 1,500m free, an event that has been added to the schedule for 2020.
The American world record holder, who won the 400m and 800m freestyle titles earlier in the meet, touched the wall in 15:38.97 with three swimmers still to turn for their final lap.
Ledecky welcomed the extra workload at the 2020 Olympics as the United States finished the pool competition with 18 gold medals, 10 more than Australia with hosts Japan third on six.
“I’m not planning on dropping anything,” insisted the five-time Olympic champion, who was stunned by Canada’s teen sensation Taylor Ruck in the 200m free.
“I’m very experienced at swimming those events and it’s a challenge I enjoy. I still have a lot in me.”
American Kathleen Baker captured gold in the women’s 200m backstroke in 2:06.14, tipping out Ruck, who took silver for her fifth medal of the week.
Zane Grothe beat fellow American Jordan Wilimovsky to win the men’s 800m free in a championship best 7:43.74.