Missy Franklin celebrates after winning gold in the women's 200-meter freestyle. (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, Spain — Missy Franklin gave up her bid for eight gold medals — and it sure paid off.
She’s now 3 for 3 at the world swimming championships.
Photo gallery of day 4
Franklin held off hard-charging Federica Pelligrini to win the 200-meter freestyle on Wednesday night, claiming a title the recent high school graduate really wanted and justifying her decision to cut back on the program in Barcelona.
Missy Franklin poses with her medal on the podium after winning gold in the women's 200 freestyle. (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
The 18-year-old American entered eight events, giving her a chance to match Michael Phelps as the only swimmers to win that many events at a major championship.
But, after a tough double on Tuesday and a lackluster showing in the morning preliminaries, Franklin and her coach, Todd Schmitz, decided to scratch the 50 backstroke — a non-Olympic event that she swims mainly for fun, though she did take bronze at the 2011 worlds in Shanghai.
There was only a 20-minute break between the semifinals of the 50 back and the final of the 200 free, and the latter was much more important to Franklin. She just missed a medal in that event at the London Olympics, losing out for third by a hundredth of a second.
“We decided that maybe the risk kind of outdid the rewards,” Franklin said. “So we decided not to do it. It was fun to swim it this morning but I’m really happy with the decision to scratch and just do this.”
France’s Camille Muffat went out hard, leading after the first lap and 0.75 under the world-record pace. But Franklin edged ahead at the midway point and held off Pelligrini of the Italy, the world-record holder, to win in 1 minute, 54.81 seconds.
Pelligrini claimed silver, 0.33 behind the winner, while Muffat settled for the bronze.
Midway through the swimming portion of the championships, Franklin still has four events to go. She’ll be a big favorite in the 200 back, and she’ll be on two more relay teams that have a good shot at gold. The 100 free presents her biggest challenge, though it would be foolish to put anything past Franklin.
She was fifth in that event at the Olympics, but has spent the past year working diligently to improve her freestyle stroke.
That was obvious in the 200 free.
“We’re coming down the mountain now,” Franklin said. “This is what we prepared for, this kind of event through eight days. I’m really, really happy with my swim there. You kind of use each swim to motivate you for the next swim.”
It was a good night for South Africa, which claimed two gold medals.
Chad Le Clos of South Africa celebrates after winning the men's 200-meter butterfly final. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
Chad le Clos, best known for his upset win over Phelps at the Olympics, showed he’s still the man to beat in the 200 butterfly. He went back and forth with Poland’s Pawel Korzeniowski before turning it on the final lap to win in 1:54.32.
After conceding it was a bit nerve-racking to now be looked at as the favorite, Le Clos hopped up on a lane rope, splashed water and pumped his fist. Korzeniowski held on for the silver in 1:55.01, while China’s Wu Peng took the bronze at 1:55.09.
“I definitely think that this year I had more pressure. I remember feeling really relaxed last year,” Le Clos said. “Just before they announced my name I started feeling the butterflies, shaking a little bit. I just wanted to get out here and control the race. It was definitely different from last year’s race.”
Maybe it helped having his parents in the stands at the Palau Sant Jordi.
“I actually heard my dad just before I jumped in,” Le Clos said. “I heard him say, ‘Go boy!’”
With Phelps retired, the Americans were shut out of the medals. Tom Luchsinger was fifth and Tyler Clary seventh.
Cameron van der Burgh claimed gold in the 50 breaststroke, a non-Olympic event. He beat out Australia’s Christian Sprenger, a reversal of their finish in the 100 breast. Giulio Zorzi gave South Africa another medal by taking bronze.
China’s Sun Yang claimed his second gold of the meet, turning on the speed over the final three laps to win the 800 freestyle going away. His winning time was 7:41.36, adding to his dominating victory in the 400 free. Sun was even more animated than Le Clos, straddling the rope, pounding his chest and pointing toward a group of fans waving the Chinese flag.
Michael McBroom of the U.S. took the silver, 2.24 seconds behind Sun. Canada’s Ryan Cochrane rallied for the bronze, edging out American Connor Jaeger by 0.56 seconds.
Nathan Adrian behind the blocks before the start of the men's 100-meter freestyle. (Albert Gea/Reuters)
Americans went 1-2 in the semifinals of the 100 freestyle, with Olympic champion Nathan Adrian putting up the top time (47.95), followed by Jimmy Feigen (48.07). Australia’s James Magnussen, who went fastest in the morning prelims, tied for fourth in the evening at 48.20 — good enough to earn a lane in swimming’s signature event.
Ryan Lochte bounced back from a fourth-place showing in his first individual event, the 200 free, moving into the final of the 200 individual medley as the fastest qualifier (1:57.07). He was followed by Japan’s Kosuke Hagino and Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh.
“I felt like myself again,” Lochte said. “The first couple of days, I was worried about winning, worried about the times I went. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t Ryan Lochte. I woke up this morning without a care. I’m just going out there and having fun.”
The other American, Conor Dwyer, failed to advance to the final.
Spain’s Mireia Belmonte led the semifinals of the 200 butterfly, trailed by American Cammile Adams and Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu. The other American, Madeline Dirado, failed to qualify for the final.
China’s Fu Yuanhui paced the semifinals of the 50 back, the event Franklin dropped.
Related Links
1. Katie Ledecky, 16, smashes world record in women’s 1,500 meter
2. Katie Ledecky breaks 1,500 free world record [complete race footage]
3. Katie Ledecky shatters world record to lead Team USA to three golds on day 3
4. Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte sets year’s first world record in 100 breast