Mollie O’Callaghan Claims Four Gold Medals
Mollie O’Callaghan won gold in the 100m freestyle and silver in the 200m at last years world championships.
Now 19, the young phenom has established herself as an all-time great thanks to her accomplishments in Fukuoka over the past week.
She swam the lead leg for the Australian 4X100m relay team that won gold in spectacular fashion by smashing their own world record last Sunday.
She then ousted fellow Australian and Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus in the 200m freestyle on Wednesday. O’Callaghan narrowly trailed Titmus for most of the race before turning it on over the last 50m to claim gold.
With the performance she not only won the event but also broke Federica Pellegrini’s 14-year-old world record in the process. One of swimming’s oldest world records, Pellegrini’s 1:52.98 was ousted by O’Callaghan’s 1:52.85 in a result which left the crowd in awe.
Her third gold medal came as part of the women’s 4X200m freestyle relay team who surpassed their own previous world record by nearly two full seconds with a time of 7:37.50.
Then, just yesterday, O’Callaghan won the 100m freestyle and in turn, made history as the first woman to ever claim both 100m and 200m freestyle gold at a single world championship.
O’Callaghan herself appeared to be caught off guard by this news post-race saying “I didn’t even know that no woman has done that. And to be the first, it’s just incredible.”
In summary, the 19-year-old has claimed four gold medals, three world records, and accomplished a feat never done before. Oh, and she may not be done quite yet with the 4x100 medley and mixed freestyle still to come.
Kaylee McKeown Continues to Make History
After winning the 100m backstroke early in the week, McKeown became the first person to simultaneously hold the 100m backstroke titles from the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, and the world long and short course championships. This led many to believe she is the greatest backstroke swimmer we have ever seen.
Well, McKeown has only solidified those thoughts, writing her name in the history books once again with her 50m backstroke swim.
Her gold medal winning time of 27.08 was not quite enough for a new world record but it did make her the first swimmer to ever complete the 50m/100m backstroke double at a world championship.
She now turns her attention to the 200m backstroke final taking place tonight as she looks to take the triple crown.
Kyle Chambers Rounds Out Trophy Cabinet
Coming into these world championships 25-year-old Kyle Chalmers had won 100m freestyle Olympic gold, Commonwealth Games gold, and world short course gold. The long course world championship victory had eluded him to this point.
As of Thursday, this is no longer the truth. Chalmers turned in seventh place but surged over the last lap to take the gold with a time of 47.15.
Now having won everything there is to win in the world of professional swimming, Kyle Chalmers has taken the monkey of his back.
He acknowledged this post-race stating “I feel Awesome. That was the last medal I had to complete the set in my swimming career…. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have doubt in my mind at times that I would be able to achieve that.”
With his trophy cabinet now full, there is no doubt in any of our minds that Chambers is an all-time great.
