Ledecky wins historic 12th gold
Peaty breaks own 50m breaststroke world record
Katie Ledecky of the United States made history on Tuesday by becoming the first woman to win 12 world swimming championship gold medals with victory in the 1500m freestyle at the FINA World Championships on Tuesday.
Ledecky clocked 15 minutes, 31.82 seconds with Spain's Mireia Belmonte taking silver at a huge 19.07secs back, while Italy's Simona Quadarella earned bronze at 22.04.
The 20-year-old is now the most decorated woman in world swimming championships history as she passed compatriot Missy Franklin, who has 11 world titles.
But despite her achievement, Ledecky said winning is not as easy as she makes it look.
"It's hard the other 364 days of the year, it's about putting the work in during practice, so that then I can step up," she said.
"I then know that I have the work in the bank and can post those good times."
This was Ledecky's third gold of these championships -- from a possible six she could finish with -- and she led from the start.
"I was a good position, holding a good pace and held steady there, I probably could have raced a bit harder in the last 50 metres, but I'm still happy with the swim and the time," she said.
The freestyle expert then showed her versatility by being the fastest qualifier from the women's 200m freestyle semifinals.
She will target her fourth gold of these championships in Wednesday's final as her rivals are left in awe.
Lilly King of the United States broke the world record for the women's 100m breaststroke in winning the gold.
King clocked one minute 04.13 seconds in the final, beating Ruta Meilutyte's 2013 record, with compatriot Katie Meili taking silver, 0.90sec back, and Russia's Yuliya Efimova earning bronze at 0.92.
Kylie Masse of Canada stormed to women's 100m backstroke gold in a new world-record time.
The 21-year-old clocked 58.10 seconds, breaking Gemma Spofforth's previous mark of 58.12sec from the 2009 championships in the era of the now-banned neoprene suits.
Kathleen Baker of the United States took silver, at 0.48sec back, while Emily Seebohm of Australia brushed off a cold to claim bronze, 0.49 behind.
China's Xu Jiayu won men's 100m backstroke gold.
The 21-year-old Olympic silver medallist clocked 52.44 seconds with American duo Matt Grevers earning silver, at 0.04sec back, and Olympic champion Ryan Murphy taking bronze at 0.15.
Chinese superstar Sun Yang won the men's 200m freestyle gold to add to his Olympic title in the same event.
Sun touched the wall first in one minute 44.39 seconds with Townley Haas of the United States taking silver, at 0.65sec back, while Russia's Aleksandr Krasnykh earned bronze at 0.84.
"I paid attention to detail and followed the instructions of my coach," said Sun, who punched the water in triumph after his victory.
This was Sun's second gold of these championships after his victory in the 400m freestyle final on Sunday.
He will bid for the treble in Wednesday's 800m freestyle final -- the event he has dominated for the last three world championships since 2011 in Shanghai.
Britain's Adam Peaty broke the men's 50m breaststroke world record for the second time in just a few hours on Tuesday by clocking 25.95 seconds in the semifinals.
The 22-year-old had broken his own record, set at the 2015 world championships in Kazan, when he swam 26.10secs in the morning's heats, with the final to come on Wednesday.