The U.S. won three silver medals at the World Swimming Championships on Friday but saw its two longest gold-medal streaks in major international meets snapped in Kazan, Russia.
Great Britain’s James Guy overcame a 1.63-second deficit on Michael Weiss on the 4x200m freestyle relay anchor leg to win by .42. The U.S. had won the event at 11 straight major international meets dating to Ryan Lochte‘s first Olympic medal in the Athens 2004 relay.
Lochte led off the relay Friday and gave the U.S. a .54 lead. Conor Dwyer extended it to .85 and Reed Malone to 1.38 over Russia, but Weiss couldn’t hold off Guy, the individual 200m freestyle World champion. Had the U.S. had Michael Phelps, it might have been a different result.
“I know that we were missing some guys; I think everyone from each team is missing some guys,” Lochte told media in Kazan. “We came up short, but we’re going to definitely remember this and hopefully train our butts off all next year and hopefully not let that happen again.”
Australian Mitch Larkin ended a 20-year American run atop the men’s 200m backstroke, sweeping the 100m and 200m back golds in Kazan. Larkin clocked 1:53.58, followed by Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki (1:54.55) and Russia’s Yevgeny Rylov (1:54.60).
Americans Ryan Murphy and Olympic champion Tyler Clary were fifth and seventh, respectively. The U.S. had won the 200m back at 20 straight major international meets (Olympics/Worlds/Pan Pacific Championships), the last loss coming at the 1994 World Championships.
The U.S. owns 14 medals through six of eight days at the World Championships, leading the medal standings over Australia and China, which both have 11. The U.S.’ fewest medals won at a Worlds or Olympics in the last 50 years was 21 at the 1994 World Championships.
World Swimming Championships: Friday results | Broadcast schedule
In the 100m freestyle, Australian sisters Bronte and Cate Campbell took gold and bronze, respectively, to become the first siblings to share a Worlds individual podium.
Bronte, 21, clocked 52.52 for the victory. Swede Sarah Sjostrom took silver at 52.70. Cate, 23 and the 2013 World champion, touched in 52.82.
Americans Simone Manuel and Missy Franklin finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Franklin finished fifth in the 100m free at the 2012 Olympics and fourth at the 2013 Worlds, both in faster times than Friday. A U.S. woman has not won a Worlds 100m free medal since 2005 (Natalie Coughlin) and a gold medal since 1998 (Jenny Thompson).
Franklin came back 16 minutes later to win her 200m backstroke semifinal, qualifying third overall into Saturday’s final behind Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu and Australian 100m backstroke champion Emily Seebohm.
American Kevin Cordes earned silver in the 200m breaststroke, .29 behind German Marco Koch. Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta took bronze in a bid to become the third swimmer to earn four straight World titles in one event. Cordes, 21, won bronze in the non-Olympic 50m breast earlier at Worlds.
Cordes has rebounded well from a disastrous Worlds debut in 2013, when he disqualified the U.S. men’s medley relay team by taking off .01 too early in the final. Cordes also was disqualified from the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships 100m breast final after trying to take off his goggles during the race because they filled with water.
In the women’s 200m breast, Japan’s Kanako Watanabe overtook Danish world-record holder Rikke Moller Pedersen in the final 50 meters, winning in 2:21.15. American Micah Lawrence earned silver, 1.29 seconds behind. Lawrence was the bronze medalist in 2013.
Pedersen, China’s Shi Jinglin and Spain’s Jessica Vall tied for bronze Friday. It’s the first time five swimmers won medals in an individual swimming event at an Olympics or World Championships.
In semifinals Friday, Nathan Adrian broke Cullen Jones’ American 50m freestyle record to lead all qualifiers into Saturday’s eight-man final. Adrian, the Olympic 100m free champion, finished a disappointing seventh in the 100m free Thursday.
Tom Shields was the No. 2 qualifier into Saturday’s 100m butterfly final, behind Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh and in front of defending World champion Chad le Clos of South Africa.
Earlier Friday, Katie Ledecky clocked the fastest qualifying time into Saturday’s 800m freestyle final. If she wins gold, she will become the first swimmer to sweep the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m frees at a Worlds. She will also become the third swimmer to win four individual golds at a single Worlds, joining Lochte and Phelps.
10-year-old girl swims at World Championships
Women’s 100m Freestyle
Gold: Bronte Campbell (AUS) -- 52.52
Silver: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) -- 52.70
Bronze: Cate Campbell (AUS) -- 52.82
4. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) -- 53.17
5. Femke Heemskerk (NED) -- 53.58
6. Simone Manuel (USA) -- 53.93
7. Missy Franklin (USA) -- 54.00
8. Shen Duo (CHN) -- 54.76
Men’s 200m Backstroke
Gold: Mitch Larkin (AUS) -- 1:53.58
Silver: Radoslaw Kawecki (POL) -- 1:54.55
Bronze: Yevgeny Rylov (RUS) -- 1:54.60
4. Ryosuke Irie (JPN) -- 1:54.81
5. Ryan Murphy (USA) -- 1:55.00
6. Xu Jiayu (CHN) -- 1:55.20
7. Tyler Clary (USA) -- 1:56.26
8. Li Guangyuan (CHN) -- 1:56.79
Women’s 200m Breaststroke
Gold: Kanako Watanabe (JPN) -- 2:21.15
Silver: Micah Lawrence (USA) -- 2:22.44
Bronze: Rikke Moller Pedersen (DEN) -- 2:22.76
Bronze: Shi Jinglin (CHN) -- 2:22.76
Bronze: Jessica Vall (ESP) -- 2:22.76
6. Rie Kaneto (JPN) -- 2:23.19
7. Vitalina Simonova (RUS) -- 2:23.59
8. Kierra Smith (CAN) -- 2:23.61
Men’s 200m Breaststroke
Gold: Marco Koch (GER) -- 2:07.76
Silver: Kevin Cordes (USA) -- 2:08.05
Bronze: Daniel Gyurta (HUN) -- 2:08.10
4. Andrew Stephen Willis (GBR) -- 2:08.52
5. Yasuhiro Koseki (JPN) -- 2:09.12
6. Dmitriy Balandin (KAZ) -- 2:09.58
7. Anton Chupkov (RUS) -- 2:09.96
8. Mao Feilian (CHN) -- 2:10.02
Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Gold: Great Britain -- 7:04.33
Silver: U.S. -- 7:04.75
Bronze: Australia -- 7:05.34
4. Russia -- 7:06.89
5. Germany -- 7:09.01
6. Belgium -- 7:09.64
7. Netherlands -- 7:09.75
8. Poland -- 7:10.34