Marchand, McIntosh dominate at WAC
Leon Marchand and Summer McIntosh sealed their golden swimming world championships with dominant victories on Sunday's final day as the United States signed off with a relay record.
Eight days of competition in Singapore wrapped up with French superstar Marchand and 18-year-old Canadian sensation McIntosh underlining their supremacy.
Marchand, who won four individual golds and was the face of his home Paris Olympics a year ago, added the 400m individual medley crown to his 200m medley title this week.
The 23-year-old arrived in Singapore with a lighter programme in an effort to smash Ryan Lochte's 200m IM world record from 2011 — and he did just that.
Marchand on Sunday cruised to victory in the 400IM, powering to the wall in 4min 04.73sec, more than three seconds ahead of Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita (4:08.32), with Russian Ilia Borodin (4:09.16) third.
"It's not perfect because it's never perfect, but it's more than I expected, especially the world record in the 200m medley," said Marchand.
"It shows that I still have a passion for swimming, that I love it."
Not to be outdone, McIntosh was similarly emphatic in winning the women's 400IM for her fourth gold in Singapore, to go with triumphs in the 200m medley, 200m butterfly and 400m freestyle.
The world record holder led from start to finish to romp to victory in a championships-record 4:25.78, with Australia's Jenna Forrester and Japan's Mio Narita sharing silver (4:33.26).
McIntosh's only defeat of the championships came on Saturday when she finished third in the 800m freestyle, with the American Katie Ledecky reigning over that event once more to underline her enduring quality aged 28.
"Overall happy with my meet but always wanting more," said McIntosh.
"Even if I were to get five golds, I would still want more, that's just my mentality."
The US team were battling acute gastroenteritis all week and faced flak from Olympic greats Michael Phelps and Lochte.
But they silenced the doubters by breaking their own world record in winning the women's 4x100m medley relay.
The Americans were victorious in 3:49.34, beating their previous record of 3:49.63 from Paris a year ago. They also set a mixed 4x100m freestyle world record on Saturday.
The US ended a turbulent week top of the pile with nine golds, ahead of Australia with eight and France and Canada on four — all by McIntosh.
American three-time Olympic gold medallist Bobby Finke called the criticism "weak" and "stupid".
"Someone wants to say our swimmers are entitled, that's just the dumbest thing I've personally ever heard," world record holder Finke said after winning bronze in the 1,500m freestyle.
China's 12-year-old schoolgirl Yu Zidi — whose presence at the championships at such a young age has ignited debate — was just out of the medals in fourth in the 400m medley.
Yu was fourth in all three of her individual events and looks set to become a superstar of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
She goes home with a relay bronze from earlier in the week, and with it a slice of history as the youngest medallist ever.
Australia's Meg Harris beamed from ear to ear after joining compatriot Cam McEvoy as a 50m freestyle champion.
A day after McEvoy won the men's sprint, Paris Olympics silver medallist Harris powered home in 24.02sec to beat Chinese pair Wu Qingfeng (24.26) and Cheng Yujie (24.28).
Harris, 23, said becoming an individual world champion was "the dream I have been dreaming of the whole time".
Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi added the 1,500m freestyle world title to his 800m crown.
Jaouadi grabbed gold in 14min 34.41sec, ahead of Germany's Sven Schwarz (14:35.69) and American Finke (14:36.60).
There was a Russian victory in the men's 50m backstroke, with world record holder Kliment Kolesnikov dominating for gold in a championships-record 23.68sec.
Russian swimmers are competing as neutrals because of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The Russians won the men's 4x100m medley relay from France and the United States. Lithuania's Ruta Meilutyte sealed a career fourth women's 50m breaststroke world crown.
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