Watanabe strikes gold

Japanese teenager Kanako Watanabe won the women's 200M breaststroke gold at the world swimming championships on Friday to claim her second medal in Kazan.

Watanabe, 18, clocked two minutes, 21.15 seconds with Micah Lawrence of the United States taking silver at 1.29 back.

In a bizarre twist, bronze was split three ways as Spain's Jessica Vall, Denmark's world record-holder Rikke Moller Pedersen and China's Shi Jinglin all swam exactly the same time of 2:22.76.

It was the second gold for Japanese women in the Kazan pool in as many days after Natsumi Hoshi claimed a surprise victory in the 200M butterfly on Thursday.
"I am really happy, this victory is a great surprise to me," said Watanabe.
No stopping Larkin

Meanwhile, Australia's Mitchell Larkin won the men's 200M backstroke gold to complete a sensational double here.

Larkin, who had also won the 100M title on Tuesday, clocked 1:53.58 after a strong surge over the final 50M while Poland's Radoslow Kawecki took silver, 0.97 seconds back, as Russia's Evgeny Rylov earned bronze at 1.02.

In another race, Germany's Marco Koch won men's 200M breaststroke gold to deny Hungary's Daniel Gyurta an historic fourth straight title in the event. Koch touched the wall at two minutes, 07.76 seconds as Kevin Cordes of the USA took silver at 0.29 seconds while Gyurta had to settle for bronze at 0.34.

Had Gyurta won gold, the Olympic champion would have joined Ryan Lochte, in the 200M individual medley, and Grant Hackett, in the 1500M, as the only swimmers to have won a world championship event four times in a row.

Sisters on top
Australia’s Bronte Campbell kept it in the family by winning 100M freestyle gold to succeed her sister Cate Campbell as champion.
Campbell clocked 52.52 seconds to win the title with Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom taking silver 0.18 seconds back while sibling Cate had to settle for bronze at 0.30 in the blue riband sprint.

Britain claims relay gold
Britain won the men's 4x200M freestyle relay gold thanks to a superb anchor leg from individual champion James Guy.

The 19-year-old, who won the 200M freestyle world title on Tuesday, took the British quartet from third to first on the final leg to clock 7:04.33 as the United States took silver at 0.42 seconds while Australia earned bronze at 1.01.
AFP

Results: Men: 200M Backstroke: Mitch Larkin (Aus) 1:53.58, 1; Radoslaw Kawecki (Pol) 1:54.55, 2; Evgeny Rylov (Rus) 1:54.60, 3.
200M Breaststroke: Marco Koch (Ger) 2:07.76, 1; Kevin Cordes (US) 2:08.05, 2; Daniel Gyurta (Hun) 2:08.10, 3.

4 x 200M Freestyle Relay: Britain 7:04.33, 1;  US 7:04.75, 2; Australia 7:05.34, 3.
Women: 100M Freestyle: Bronte Campbell (Aus) 52.52, 1; Sarah Sjoestroem (Swe) 52.70, 2; Cate Campbell (Aus) 52.82, 3.
200M Breaststroke: Kanako Watanabe (Jap) 2:21.15, 1; Micah Lawrence (US) 2:22.44, 2; Jessica Vall (Spa) 2:22.76, 3; Rikke Moller Pedersen (Den) 2:22.76, 3; Shi Jinglin (Chi) 2:22.76, 3.