China's Qin takes bronze, 3 world records shattered at FINA short-course c'ships

MELBOURNE, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's Qin Haiyang on Friday claimed a bronze medal by clocking 2:02.22 in the men's 200m breaststroke, while three new world records fell on day four of the 16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m).

"The bronze is not an unexpected result for me, as I came here racing for the gold," Qin told Xinhua, noting that the race helped him identify his deficiencies in physical strength and sprint finish.

The 2:01.15 Asian record, previously set by Qin, was lowered by Japan's Daiya Seto, who won in 2:00.35. Nic Fink of the United States grabbed the silver in 2:01.60.

Finishing the mixed 4x50 freestyle relay in 1:27.33, France lifted the world record of this event to a new high and snatched the gold medal. Australia was in second place, with the Netherlands ranked third.

Margaret MacNeil, Canada's Olympic champion who had taken the women's 50m butterfly gold on Wednesday, lowered her own world record in the women's 50m backstroke and won the title in 25.25 seconds.

A third world record was smashed in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay, where the United States completed the race in 6:44.12 to eclipse the 6:46.81 set by Brazil in 2018. Australia and Italy rounded out the podium in 6:46.54 and 6:49.63, respectively.

In the women's 200m breaststroke, Kate Douglass of the United States posted a gold-winning 2:15.77, setting a new championship record. China's Tang Qianting was fifth to touch the wall, with a time of 2:19.28.

Zhang Ke missed the podium in the women's 1,500m freestyle, finishing two seconds behind bronze medalist Kensey McMahon of the United States.

Australia's Lani Pallister took gold with a time of 15:21.43, and Japan's Miyu Namba finished runner-up with an Asian-record time of 15:46.76.

Due to a technical error at the start confirmed by World Aquatics, the men's 50m backstroke final was re-swum.

Ryan Murphy of the United States stopped the clock in 22.64 to pick up the gold, with silver for Australia's Isaac Alan Cooper and bronze for Kacper Stokowski of Poland.

Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands won the women's 100m individual medley, while Italy's Thomas Ceccon finished first in the men's event.