France’s Charlotte Bonnet never gave anyone else a chance in the women’s 200 free final, taking a half-second lead after the first 50 meters and extending it from there. Bonnet ended up winning by 1.77 seconds with a time of 1:54.95.
Bonnet broke Sarah Sjostrom’s championship record of 1:55.30 from 2016, and she moved into fourth in the world this year behind the trio of Katie Ledecky, Taylor Ruck and Ariarne Titmus.
The Netherlands’ Femke Heemskerk took the silver medal in 1:56.72. Heemskerk was clearly in second for most of the race, only to have to work hard down the stretch to hold off Russia’s Anastasia Guzhenkova. Guzhenkova ended up with bronze in 1:56.77.
Finishing well back in third was Great Britain’s Eleanor Faulkner in 1:58.26, followed by Germany’s Isabel Marie Gose (1:58.42), Russia’s Valeriia Salamatina (1:58.42), Great Britain’s Holly Hibbott (1:58.64) and Spain’s Melanie Costa Schmid (1:58.84).
