Italy beats U.S. men for relay gold in worlds finale
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY » Canadian 15-year-old Summer McIntosh won another gold medal and Italy beat the United States for the men’s 4x100 medley relay title on the last night of racing at the world swimming championships.
The American women clinched the Unites States’ record 45th medal of the week by winning their 4x100 medley final on Saturday. Regan Smith, Lilly King, Torri Huske and Claire Curzan were 0.47 seconds ahead of Australia and 1.23 ahead of Canada.
“Yeah, I’m pretty tired,” Huske said after her sixth medal.
Canadian swimmers finished with 11 medals for their most successful worlds.
Veteran Gregorio Paltrinieri also won a thrilling men’s 1,500 freestyle, as Italy ended with five golds.
Paltrinieri was well under world record pace as he built a huge lead over his rivals before eventually finishing in a championship record 14 minutes, 32.80 seconds.
Only Sun Yang’s world record of 14:31.02 from the 2012 Olympics has been faster. The Chinese swimmer is suspended for a doping violation.
Bobby Finke, who has made an art of finishing strongly to overtake rivals, was unable to catch Paltrinieri as he finished 3.90 behind in an American record 14:36.70.
“In the beginning, I was just trying to keep up with him, but he just kept getting farther and farther ahead,” Finke said. “Hats off to Greg. I wasn’t able to run him down. He had a great race, and I’m really proud of him.”
Finke’s silver was America’s record-breaking 39th medal this week, eclipsing its tally from Budapest in 2017.
McIntosh wrapped up a highly successful week for Canadian swimming with her second world title after the 200 butterfly, clocking 4:32.04 in the women’s 400 individual medley. It was yet another world junior record for the teen, who is doing little to keep down expectations.