Britain win men's 4x200m freestyle world gold

KAZAN (Russia): Britain won the men's 4x200m freestyle relay gold at the world swimming championships on Friday thanks to a superb anchor leg from individual champion James Guy.

The 19-year-old, who won the 200m freestyle world title on Tuesday, took the British quartet from third to first on the final leg to win gold on the wall.

He touched at seven minutes, 04.33 seconds as the United States took silver at 0.42secs while Australia earned bronze at 1.01.

Guy admitted it was a surprise win which secured his country's fifth gold medal in Kazan to keep the British team on a roll as they look ahead to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"The guys set it up nicely and I knew that if I was top three, I had a chance of bringing it back, but I never thought we'd get the gold," said Guy.

"It's the best British team we've ever had and this relay is definitely something we're going to look out for next year.

"It was all about staying calm and not getting too tense in the first 100m. You've just got to enjoy it."

Britain's five golds is more than from any previous world championships.

It leaves them third behind leaders United States and Australia in the medal table for the swimming events with eight medals to match their previous best hauls from the 1975 and 2003 world championships.

This was Britain's second relay victory of the week after setting a new world record in the 4x100m mixed medley relay on Wednesday.

Ryan Lochte, who swam the United States' first leg to claim his 25th medal at a world championships in his illustrious career, said America's defeat gives them plenty of motivation to train hard for Rio. - AFP