Germany’s Florian Wellbrock became the latest swimmer to set a new world record in Abu Dhabi, triumphing in the Men’s 1,500m Freestyle as the Fina World Swimming Championships came to an historic end on Tuesday night.
On the final day of the global competition at Yas Island’s Etihad Arena, spectators were treated to a fascinating day of action, with long-distance athlete Wellbrock was among the elite stars to impress.
Following the completion of the 57 medal events, USA topped the tally with 30 medals overall, 9 Gold, 9 Silver and 12 Bronze.
In a thrilling race, Wellbrock proved to be too good for his opponents as he clocked 14:06.88 minutes, almost five seconds ahead of Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui (14:10.94) and Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk (14:11.47).
He joined Hong Kong, China’s Siobhan Haughey, Canada’s Margaret MacNeil and Sweden, who equalled the 4x50m Medley Relay world record, to register new global milestones in the UAE capital.
It was Wellbrock’s second gold this week, having clinched gold in the 10km FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series Grand Finale. He also becomes the fifth male swimmer to win this event at both the long and short course World Championships.
Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom collected another gold medal when she set a new championship record in the Women’s 50m Freestyle (23.08 secs) and later repeated the feat in the 4x100m Medley Relay.
The day also saw Italy record a new event mark when they stormed to victory in the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay (3:19.76). Just 24 hours after her world-record 50m backstroke victory, MacNeil added another gold in the 100m Butterfly final, winning in 55.04, before helping her country seal silver in the 4x100m Medley Relay.
Italy’s Alessandro Miressi became world champion in the Men’s 100m Freestyle while Emily Escobedo added to USA’s medal tally with gold in the Women’s 200m Breaststroke.
Other winners included Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki, who triumphed in the Men’s 200m Backstroke, becoming the first swimmer in history to win a backstroke event at least four times at the World Short Course, while USA’s Nik Fink won the 50m Breaststroke.
