Maertens makes golden start at swimming worlds
Singapore
Germany's Lukas Maertens added a world title to his 2024 Olympic gold when he triumphed in the 400-metres freestyle in Singapore on Sunday.
It was the 23-year-old's first world championship gold. He touched the wall in 3 minutes 42.35 seconds, securing victory ahead of second-placed Samuel Short from Australia. Bronze went to South Korea's Kim Woo Min.
'I am very proud, very happy. It was not a given that I would pull this off. Sam Short is also in excellent form,' Maertens told reporters.
'This was the one title I was still missing. Now I have it. A lot of pressure has been lifted.'
The swimming events in the pool at the World Aquatics Championships began on Sunday and run until next Sunday.
Germany previously found success in the open water swimming events in Singapore, with Florian Wellbrock sealing three individual golds and helping Germany to mixed relay success.
Maertens' impressive form this year was already evident in April when he broke Paul Biedermann's 16-year-old world record in the 400m freestyle with 3:39.96.
He had previously only managed bronze and silver in the 400m at world championships.
Maertens is also considered a top contender for gold in the 800m freestyle despite health problems in the run-up to Singapore.
In the women's 400m freestyle, Canadian Summer McIntosh reigned supreme, putting China's Li Bingjie and US great Katie Ledecky in her wake.
A time of 3:56.26 brought her a fifth world championship gold but first in this event, where she took silver at last year's Paris Olympics.
In the 4x100m freestyle relays, Australia were unbeatable. The men set a world championship record of 3:08.97 with Flynn Southam, Kai James Taylor, Maximillian Guiliani and Kyle Chambers leaving Italy to settle for second and the US third.
The Australian quartet of Mollie O'Callaghan, Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Olivia Wunsch also won women's gold. The US took silver and the Netherlands bronze.
There were reports of sickness in some camps earlier this week including the US team.
Monday's highlights include men's 100m breaststroke, women's 100m butterfly, men's 50m fly and women's 200m medley.
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