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BARCELONA, Spain, August 2. SUPERSTAR Ryan Lochte continues to pile up accolades with an astonishing record when it comes to world championship competition. He captured his 14th world long course title tonight with a win in the men’s 200-meter back to begin a difficult triple at the FINA World Championships.
Lochte clocked a 1:53.79 for the win this evening, winning wire-to-wire. That’s the ninth-fastest time ever in the event, and gave Lochte his third victory in the 200 back at Worlds. He’s now just one behind Aaron Peirsol for the most distance dorsal triumphs ever. Lochte’s record at long course worlds is remarkable as he now has 22 medals combined (14 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze) with two golds in Barcelona so far.
Ryan Lochte at Worlds
2005 Montreal:
G 800 free relay
B 200 back
B 200 medley
2007 Melbourne:
G 200 back
G 800 free relay
S 100 back
S 200 IM
S 400 IM
2009 Rome:
G 200 IM
G 400 IM
G 400 free relay
G 800 free relay
B 200 back
2011 Shanghai:
G 200 free
G 200 back
G 200 IM
G 400 IM
G 800 free relay
B 400 free relay
2013 Barcelona:
G 200 back
G 200 IM
S 400 free relay
Lochte still has more medal opportunities this week. Tonight, he will compete in the 100 fly semis and the 800 free relay finale.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki turned in a European record of 1:54.24 for second. That bettered Arkady Vyatchanin’s previous mark of 1:54.75 from the 2009 FINA World Championships. Tyler Clary, the reigning Olympic champion, cruised into third with a 1:54.64.
Japan’s Ryosuke Irie (1:55.07), Japan’s Kosuke Hagino (1:55.43), Great Britain’s Craig McNally (1:55.67), China’s Xu Jiayu (1:57.13) and Hungary’s Peter Bernek (1:58.26) comprised the rest of the championship heat.
