Lewis Clareburt has swum his fastest time in the 200m IM. Photo: photosport
Lewis Clareburt's time has been corrected on 1 August after being supplied incorrectly by Swimming NZ in an initial media release.
New Zealand's Lewis Clareburt has swum his fastest 200m individual medley ever in finishing fifth at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
French sensation Leon Marchand won the gold medal though he failed to improve on a new world record in the heats just a night earlier.
It was always going to be tough for Clareburt swimming against the Olympic champion Marchand, but he built his race well in lane seven, before storming home over the final 50 metres, to touch the wall in one minute 57.06 seconds, his fastest time and a fresh New Zealand record.
Marchand won in 1:53.68s, the second fastest time ever. Shaine Casas from the United States was second and Hungary's Hubert Cos took bronze.
Marchand finished 0.62sec ahead of Casas and said the record may have taken a bit out of him but he was hardly complaining, Reuters reported.
"I felt so excited yesterday that I couldn't sleep," he said. "So I think I lost a lot of energy yesterday night, but it was my goal to break the record, so I was really happy with it."
Clareburt will swim in his specialist event, the 400m individual medley, on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Summer McIntosh came within a whisker of breaking a long-standing world record in the 200m butterfly.
The record of 2:01.81 set by China's Liu Zige in 2009 is the last surviving mark from the supersuit era in women's swimming - and McIntosh all but took it down.
She stormed to her third individual gold medal of the meet in 2:01.99, the second-fastest swim of all time and a yawning three seconds better than American silver medallist Regan Smith.
Summer McIntosh has won her third gold medal at the world champs in Singapore. Photo: FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT / AFP
Having made the last turn under world record pace the Canadian 18-year-old flagged slightly coming home and shouted an expletive when she spied the clock.
"I know that I messed up the last 15 metres of my race," she said. "Overall, happy with the time and a PB, but I didn't reach my goal tonight."
China's 12-year-old marvel Yu Zidi finished just off the podium again having also placed fourth in the 200 IM.
McIntosh might console herself in the knowledge that her bid for five individual titles remains intact, with the 400 IM and a hugely anticipated showdown with American great Katie Ledecky in the 800 freestyle still to come.
Only Michael Phelps has won five individual golds at a world championships.
Popovici gets a double
Romania's David Popovici also flirted with a record on day five, the 20-year-old claiming a thrilling 100 metres freestyle gold to go with his 200m crown on day three.
Popovici clocked 46.51 in the 100 to give Pan Zhanle's world record (46.40) a big scare.
American runner-up Jack Alexy also broke the 47-second barrier (46.92), while Paris Games silver medallist Kyle Chalmers took the bronze for Australia.
At 20, 200 Olympic champion Popovici has already completed the 100-200 sweep twice at world championships, having done the double at Budapest three years ago.
The relaxed Romanian said he had reached a higher plane; no longer worried about winning or losing.
"I just feel very relieved that this huge pressure of being afraid of winning or losing is off me," he said.
"I don't mean it in an arrogant way, I mean it in a self-maturing way."
In the finale of Thursday's programme, Australia's women clinched a second relay gold as Mollie O'Callaghan held off Ledecky in a thrilling final leg to guide her 4x200 freestyle relay team over the finish line.
Australia also won the men's and women's 4x100 freestyle golds on Sunday.
O'Callaghan, whose 11th gold tied her with Ian Thorpe as the most successful Australian at the world championships, will now look to add the 100 freestyle title to her 200 crown on Friday.
- RNZ Sport/Reuters
