Swimming

Lilly King won a gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday.

The 25-year-old American is now a 10-time medalist at the world championships during her career, as well as a five-time Olympic medalist.

With a time of 2:22.41, King beat out Australia's Jenna Strauch, who settled for silver. King's USA Swimming teammate Kate Douglass took the bronze.

What a moment! @TeamUSA claims two medals in the women's 200m breaststroke with Lilly King winning gold and Kate Douglas winning bronze. @USASwimming x #FINABudapest2022
📺: @peacockTV and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA
💻: https://t.co/OTRz2BEuHE pic.twitter.com/SMEu2Vir1R

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 23, 2022

Here is a full rundown of the results for the 200m breaststroke final:

1. Lilly King - 2:22.41

2. Jenna Strauch - 2:23.04

3. Kate Douglass - 2:23.20

4. Kelsey Lauren Wog - 2:23.86

5. Kotryna Teterevkova - 2:23.90

6. Molly Renshaw - 2:23.92

7. Francesca Fangio - 2:25.08

8. Abbie Wood - 2:26.19

---

While King won silver in the 200m breaststroke less than a year ago at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Thursday marked the first time that she has ever medaled in the event at the world championships.

King has now won a pair of medals at this year's world championships after previously taking gold as part of Team USA in the 4x100-meter mixed medley relay.

By virtue of Thursday's win, nine of the Indiana University alum's 10 career world championship medals are of the golden variety.

Winning the 200m breaststroke was especially huge for King given what she endured in the 100-meter breaststroke earlier at the world championships.

King narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place finish, which was a bitter disappointment given that she won gold in the event at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2017 world championships and 2019 world championships, as well as bronze at the 2022 Olympics.

While the 100m breaststroke was once King's best race, she has evolved into arguably the world's best swimmer in the 200m breaststroke, having won silver at the 2020 Olympics and gold at the 2022 world championships.

King lost to South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker in the event at the 2020 Olympics when Schoenmaker set a new Olympic record, but with Schoenmaker skipping the world championships, it became King's race to win.

Making King's win even more impressive is the fact that she recently recovered from COVID-19, according to Braden Keith of SwimSwam.com.

King stole most of the headlines Thursday, but it was a significant race for the other top finishers as well.

After falling short of the finals in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 2020 Olympics, Strauch won her first-ever medal in the event at either the Olympics or world championships on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the 20-year-old Douglass won her second medal of the 2022 world championships after previously taking bronze in the 4x100-meter freestyle. She also won bronze at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 200-meter medley.

King still has a chance to leave Budapest with one more medal in tow, as she will compete in the 50-meter breaststroke heats and semifinals on Friday, followed by the final on Saturday.

Team USA artistic swimming coach Andrea Fuentes saved American swimmer Anita Alvarez from drowning Wednesday at the FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, after Alvarez fainted in the pool at the conclusion of her solo free final routine.

According to Reuters, it marked the second time Fuentes had saved Alvarez from the pool after fainting, as it previously occurred last year during Olympic qualifying.

Rapid rescue.@AFP photographers Oli Scarff and Peter Kohalmi capture the dramatic rescue of USA's Anita Alvarez from the bottom of the pool when she fainted during the women's solo free artistic swimming finals at the Budapest 2022 World Aquatics Championships pic.twitter.com/8Y0wo6lSUn

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 23, 2022

Fuentes, who is from Spain, said the following about the scary moment and Alvarez's status in an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca: "Anita is much better, she is already at her best. It was a good scare, to be honest. I jumped into the water again because I saw that no one, no lifeguard, was jumping in. I got a little scared because she wasn't breathing, but now she's fine. She has to rest."

The United States artistic swimming team subsequently released a statement on Instagram, with Fuentes saying that Alvarez will rest all day Thursday before deciding if she can swim in the team finals.

Alvarez, a 25-year-old from Buffalo, New York, competed in the women's duet at both the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics.

While she has yet to medal at the Olympics or the world championships, she does have a pair of bronze medals to her credit in the women's duet and women's team events at the 2019 Pan American Games.

The 39-year-old Fuentes was a highly decorated synchronized swimmer in her own right, competing at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics for Spain.

She won four Olympic medals during her career, with two silvers in 2008 and a silver and a bronze in 2012.

Fuentes also has 16 world championship medals to her credit, including gold in the free routine combination at the 2009 world championships in Rome.

On Wednesday, Alvarez finished seventh in the solo free final as the only American in the field, while Japan's Yukiko Inui won gold.

Katie Ledecky and Team USA won gold in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday.

Ledecky teamed with Leah Smith, Claire Weinstein and Bella Sims as the United States won a medal at the event for a 10th consecutive world championships and gold for the fifth time in the past six world championships.

A championship record for @TeamUSA!

The women's 4x200m freestyle relay team set a championship record to win gold!@USASwimming x #FINABudapest2022 pic.twitter.com/7weRsYnRft

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 22, 2022

Australia took silver after winning gold at the last world championships in 2019, while Canada repeated as bronze medalists.

Here is how all eight nations fared in the final:

1. United States - 7:41.45

2. Australia - 7:43.86

3. Canada - 7:44.76

4. China - 7:45.72

5. Hungary - 7:57.90

6. Brazil - 7:58.38

7. New Zealand - 7:59.08

8. Japan - 8:00.03

While the United States fell short of a world record, its time was good for a world championships record, and Ledecky's 200-meter split of 1:53.6 seconds was the second-fastest in the history of the event.

Ledecky has won gold in each of the three events she has competed in at the 2022 world championships. She won individual gold medals in the 400-meter freestyle and 1,500-meter freestyle.

Wednesday's gold marks the 18th world championships gold medal of the 25-year-old phenom's career and her 21st world championships medal overall, both of which are records for a female swimmer.

Additionally, Ledecky is a seven-time gold medalist and three-time silver medalist across three Olympic Games.

While Ledecky won gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the 2013, 2015 and 2017 world championships, as well as the 2016 Summer Olympics, the event had become a frustration for her.

Australia beat out Ledecky and the Americans for 4x200m gold at the 2019 world championships, and China defeated them at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Team USA employed a unique strategy Wednesday as veterans Smith and Ledecky swam the second and third legs, respectively, while Weinstein led off and Sims closed.

The United States trailed Canada when Ledecky entered the water thanks to a blistering pace set by 15-year-old Summer McIntosh, but Ledecky closed the gap and handed the lead to Sims.

Despite hot pursuit from the Aussies, Canadians and Chinese, Sims maintained the lead and closed out a golden moment for Team USA.

Ledecky has won four or more gold medals at the world championships three times and has a chance to accomplish that feat again.

Her opportunity will come Friday if, as expected, she makes it to the 800-meter freestyle final.

Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Caeleb Dressel will miss the rest of the 2022 World Championships.

Per Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde, Dressel withdrew from his remaining events with a non-COVID-19 medical issue after he was scratched from the men's 100-meter freestyle on Tuesday.

Lindsay Mintenko, USA Swimming National Team Managing Director, issued a statement (h/t Swim Swam's James Sutherland after Dressel was scratched from yesterday's semifinal heat.

"A decision has been made by Team USA in consultation with Caeleb, his coach, and the team’s medical staff for him to withdraw from the 100-meter freestyle event on medical grounds," Mintenko said. "The team will determine his participation in the events later in the week."

Dressel had already won gold in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay and the 50-meter butterfly at the World Championships over the weekend. The 25-year-old was still scheduled to compete in the 100-meter freestyle, 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly.

The World Championships was Dressel's first major event since his historic showing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. He won five gold medals, making him the sixth American male to accomplish the feat at the Summer Games (Mark Spitz, Michael Phelps, Eric Heiden, Anton Heida and Matt Biondi).

Dressel also became the first swimmer in Olympics history to win gold in the 50-meter freestyle, the 100-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly at the same event. He set two world records in the 100-meter butterfly (49.45 seconds) and 4x100-meter medley (3:26.78).

Sunday's win in the 50-meter butterfly gave Dressel 15 career wins and 17 medals at the World Championships. Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Katie Ledecky are the only swimmers in history with more wins and medals at this event.

Katie Ledecky returned to her throne as the world champion in the 1,500-meter women's freestyle.

The 25-year-old captured gold Monday at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. With a final time of 15:30.15, she finished nearly 15 seconds ahead of silver medalist Katie Grimes.

DOMINANCE.

Katie Ledecky wins her 17th World Championship gold in the women's 1500 freestyle at #FINABudapest2022. pic.twitter.com/UZxJZNOXkH

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 20, 2022

Ledecky cruised in qualifying for the final. She completed her heat in 15:47.02, the fastest overall time by 9.17 seconds.

The rest of the field didn't stand much of a chance when she held nothing back in the final. Grimes didn't even enter the frame on the broadcast until around five seconds after Ledecky touched the wall.

KATIE SQUARED!@katieledecky wins her 17th World Championships gold in the women's 1500m freestyle as 16-year-old Katie Grimes wins silver.@USASwimming x #FINABudapest2022

📺 @peacockTV and Olympic Channel: Home of @TeamUSA

💻 https://t.co/OTRz2BEuHE pic.twitter.com/UxrAeI1uRE

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 20, 2022

Ledecky's dominance in the 1,500-meter free is unparalleled. Not only does she hold the world record (15:20.48) in the event, but OlympicTalk noted she also has the 13 fastest times recorded.

With Monday's triumph, Ledecky is 2-for-2 in Budapest. She also won gold in the 400-meter freestyle Saturday. She was unable to avenge her runner-up finish to Australia's Ariarne Titmus in the 2021 Summer Olympics, though, as Titmus declined to make the trip to Budapest.

Ledecky is swimming in one more event: the 800-meter freestyle. She's the reigning world champion and will get her gold-medal defense underway during Thursday's qualifying heats. The final is scheduled for Friday.

The governing body of world swimming competitions, FINA, voted to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in women's events, via ESPN.

A vote by members of 152 national federations passed the resolution with about 71 percent majority, ruling that athletes must complete transitions by the age of 12 in order to participate in women's competitions.

FINA also created a working group to establish an "open" category in some events that would include transgender athletes.

The new ruling comes after Lia Thomas became the first transgender woman to win an NCAA championship in March, finishing in first place in the 500-meter freestyle.

Thomas previously said she plans to compete for a spot at the 2024 Summer Olympics, with USA Swimming telling Robert Sanchez of Sports Illustrated it would have "no issue" with the University of Penn swimmer representing the country.

The only potential holdup was the lowered testosterone level required to compete in the women's division. The new ruling by the international governing body will seemingly now prevent Thomas from competing in major events.

The inclusion of transgender athletes has been a major talking point both inside and outside the swimming community.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead-Makar argued against Thomas' eligibility in the women's division.

"As an Olympic champion and as a civil rights lawyer, I can assure you that there is nothing fair about transgender woman Lia Thomas competing for the University of Pennsylvania in NCAA swimming," Hogshead-Makar wrote for Swimming World Magazine.

"Worse, her domination of the 'women's sports' category is doing nothing to engender greater empathy for inclusive practices throughout society for the trans community."

Current Team USA competitor Brooke Forde, who won an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo, defended Thomas.

"I believe that treating people with respect and dignity is more important than any trophy or record will ever be, which is why I will not have a problem racing against Lia at NCAAs this year," Forde said in a statement in January.

Thomas failed to medal in either the 200-meter freestyle or the 100-meter freestyle at the NCAA championships.

Ten-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky added another accolade to her resume Saturday, winning the 400-meter freestyle swim at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Ledecky finished the race in 3:58.15, giving her a fourth career gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle at the world championships, and a fifth medal overall in the event.

Summer McIntosh, a 15-year-old Canadian, took silver just over a second behind Ledecky, while Ledecky's American teammate Leah Smith won bronze.

Here is a full rundown of the finishers in Saturday's race, along with their times:

1. Katie Ledecky - 3:58.15

2. Summer McIntosh - 3:59.39

3. Leah Smith - 4:02.08

4. Lani Pallister - 4:02.16

5. Isabel Gose - 4:03.47

6. Erika Fairweather - 4:04.73

7. Kiah Melverton - 4:05.62

8. Muhan Tang - 4:10.70

Remarkably, Ledecky has now won 19 medals across five different world championships, 16 of which were gold.

The 25-year-old superstar also has seven gold medals out of 10 total medals at the Olympics, including gold in the 400-meter freestyle at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

While Ledecky was once the unquestioned dominant force in the 400m, that has changed in recent years following the emergence of Australia's Ariarne Titmus, who won gold in the event at both the 2019 world championships and 2020 Summer Olympics with Ledecky finishing second each time.

Ledecky lost by less than a second at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, setting her on a path to attempt to reclaim her place atop the 400m mountain.

The path to world championship gold was made much clearer and easier for Ledecky when the 21-year-old Titmus decided against competing at the world championships.

Earlier Saturday, Ledecky established herself as the clear favorite for gold by posting a time of 3:59.79 in heats, which was over three seconds better than McIntosh, who posted the second-best time at 4:03.19.

With a gold medal already in her back pocket after just one day of action in the books, Ledecky will set her sights on the 800-meter freestyle, 1,500-meter freestyle and 4x200-meter freestyle relay.

Ledecky is the heavy favorite for gold in the 800m and 1,500m, and she has a legitimate shot at gold in the relay as well after taking silver in the event at the 2019 world championships and 2020 Olympics.

Lia Thomas will compete in the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA women's swimming and diving championships. 

Per ESPN's Katie Barnes, the Penn University star qualified for the final by posting a time of 4 minutes, 33.82 seconds during the prelims on Thursday morning. 

Thomas has been at the center of the college swimming world all season as a transgender athlete. 

Barnes noted a "cacophony of (mostly) criticism" around Thomas began in December when she put together a historic performance at the Zippy Invitational, including the fastest times in the nation in the women's 200- and 500-meter events and won the women's 1,650 freestyle by nearly 40 seconds. 

In the wake of her performance, several competitors said they had issues with racing against a transgender swimmer. 

An anonymous female swimmer from Niagara University told Adriana Diaz of the Daily Mail that swimming against Thomas was "intimidating" because "it was hard going into a race knowing there was no way I was going to get first."

Michael Phelps, 13-time Olympic gold medalist, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in January he felt the debate around Thomas was "very complicated" but also suggested she had an advantage over her competitors:

Reacting to ongoing debate over trans college athlete Lia Thomas competing on the women’s swimming team, “it’s very complicated,” says @MichaelPhelps. “We all should feel comfortable with who we are in our own skin. But I think sports should be played on an even playing field.” pic.twitter.com/brsq7t2vJW

— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) January 13, 2022

There have occasionally been protesters at events that Thomas has competed at, including on Thursday. 

According to Barnes, nine people from the Save Women's Sports organization were outside of the McAuley Aquatic Center at Georgia Tech to protest Thomas' participation in the NCAA championships. 

In February, the NCAA announced it would not change its eligibility policies for transgender athletes for the swimming championships. The decision cleared the way for Thomas to compete at the NCAA championships. 

"I just want to show trans kids and younger trans athletes that they’re not alone," Thomas told Sports Illustrated's Robert Sanchez. "They don’t have to choose between who they are and the sport they love."

According to Barnes, Thomas will be the first known transgender person to claim a Division I national title if she wins this week. 

The women's 500-meter freestyle final will be held at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday.      

Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky is giving back to the next generation of swimmers.

Ledecky will join the Florida Gators swimming and diving staff as a volunteer swim coach, per an announcement Wednesday.

Introducing our new Volunteer Swim Coach, Katie Ledecky! Welcome to Gator Nation! @katieledecky #GoGators 🐊🐊 pic.twitter.com/x0WgvX77Gq

— Gators Swimming & Diving (@GatorsSwimDv) September 22, 2021

Widely regarded as one of the greatest female swimmers of all-time, Ledecky holds 15 world championships and is a 14-time world-record breaker in the 400-, 800- and 1500-meter freestyles. She also has three Olympic silver medals, making her one of seven female swimmers to earn 10 Olympic medals in her career.

Ledecky's six individual gold medals are the most of any female Olympic swimmer and American female Olympian. Michael Phelps is the only swimmer with more individual gold medals with 13.

Ledecky, who completed her college degree this year, announced that she will be moving her training from Stanford to the University of Florida to be closer to her family. She also has her eyes on future competitions.

"I've decided to train at the University of Florida with Coach Anthony Nesty and the outstanding mid-distance and distance training group there," Ledecky wrote in her statement. "I'm looking forward to the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in the next phase of my swimming career."

Bobby Finke, who won two gold medals in the Tokyo Olympics, also trains with Nesty and his team.

At 24 years old, Ledecky does not plan on retiring anytime soon. She indicated that she intends on participating in the 2024 Olympics in Paris and possibly also the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

"That was not my last swim," Ledecky said after winning the 800-meter freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics. "I'm at least going to '24, maybe '28. ... You never take anything for granted. You never know if you're going to be at the next Olympics."     

Caeleb Dressel continued to prove he's the class of USA men's swimming Friday, winning a gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly finals and setting a world record of 49.45 seconds in the process.

Dressel led the race from start to finish, flying off the blocks with one of his best reaction times of the Games (0.6 seconds) and making up for a long turn by swimming at a rate of 1.71 meters per second down the stretch.

CAELEB DRESSEL SETS A WORLD RECORD AND WINS GOLD IN THE MEN’S 100M FLY 😤

(via @NBCOlympics)

pic.twitter.com/wjFKOFJ6Yy

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 31, 2021

Here's how the competition did behind him:

Men's 100M Butterfly Finals

1. Caeleb Dressel, USA: 49.45 (WR)

2. Kristof Milak, Hungary: 49.68 (ER)

3. Noe Ponti, Switzerland: 50.74

4. Andrei Minakov, Russian Olympic Committee: 50.88

T-5. Jakub Majerski, Poland: 50.92

T-5. Matthew Temple, Australia: 50.92

7. Luis Carlos Martinez, Guatemala: 51.09 

8. Josif Miladinov, Bulgaria: 51.49

Results via Olympics.com 

Worth noting that Dressel nailed neither the turn nor the finish. And still broke the world record. The dude is locked in.

— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 31, 2021

It's Dressel's third gold medal during the Tokyo Games. He also won the 100-meter freestyle and 4x100-meter freestyle relay.

The 24-year-old from Green Cove Springs, Florida, now has five Olympic gold medals for his career. He won the 4x100-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter medley in the 2016 Rio Games.