Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky claim golds; Kieran Smith and Trey Freeman earn spots in finals
BUDAPEST, Hungary – The Gators had a successful opening day of the FINA World Championships, claiming two gold medals.
Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky each grabbed their first gold medals of the event on Saturday, with Dressel’s coming from the 4x100m free relay and Ledecky earning her medal in the 400m free.
Men’s 400m Free
After finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, in the preliminary, Kieran Smith and Trey Freeman kicked off the finals round in the 400m freestyle. The Gator duo placed 7-8 in the final of the event, with Smith finishing with a time of 3:46.43 and Freeman touching the wall in 3:46.53.
Men’s 50m Fly
Caeleb Dressel advanced to Sunday’s 50m butterfly final, earning the No. 2 seed with his time of 22.79 during the semifinal.
Women’s 400m Free
Katie Ledecky took home gold in the women’s 400m free – her 16th world champion title – finishing the final with a championship record time of 3:58.15.
Men’s 4x100m Free Relay
Dressel led off the men’s 4x100m free relay, earning his first gold medal of the Championships. The quartet finished with a time of 3:09.34 and Dressel leadoff leg was 47.67.
Women’s 4x100m Free Relay Prelim
Natalie Hinds anchored the women’s 4x100m free relay team during the preliminary session on Saturday morning, splitting a 53.89 to secure the second overall seed in the finals. The finals relay team of Torri Huske, Erika Brown, Kate Douglass and Claire Curzan went on to win bronze during the evening session.
Men’s 100m Breaststroke Prelim
In the preliminary round on Saturday morning, Amro Al-Wir placed 29th in the 100m breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:01.87.
Sunday’s prelims are set to begin at 3 a.m. ET, followed by finals at 12 p.m. ET. The finals can be viewed on NBCSports.
