World Aquatics Championships Barcelona: A Summary

              

               The 15th FINA World Championships held recently at the Catalonian city of Barcelona really upheld itself as a show of 'aquatic prowess', and saw many records smashed by splendid performances. The Championships which were originally meant to be held by Dubai, featured six disciplines namely; water polo, swimming, diving, high diving, open water and synchronized swimming starting from July 19, 2013.

               The swimming and synchronized swimming were held at the iconic Palau Sant Jordi arena. A total of 181 countries appeared for the Championships, but only 34 could manage to earn a medal. The medal standings at the end of the tourney were:

1. USA 34 (15 Gold)
2. China 26 (14 Gold)
3. Russia 19 (9 Gold)
4. France 9 (4 Gold)
5. Hungary 7 (4 Gold)
6. Australia 14 (3 Gold)
7. Germany 10 (3 Gold)
8. Brazil 10 (3 Gold)
9. South Africa 5 (3 Gold)
10. Spain 12 (1 Gold)

The swimming meet is always considered the most popular event in the Championships, and the USA again topped the Swimming medal standings, with Missy Franklin bagging the most number of medals (6). The 'female swimmer of the meet' was earned by Katie Ledecky, while Sun Yang was rewarded 'male swimmer of the meet'.

Men's Swimming:

• 50 m. freestyle: César Cielo (Brazil)
• 200 m. freestyle: Yannick Agnel (France)
• 400 m. freestyle: Sun Yang (China)
• 800 m. freestyle: Sun Yang (China)
• 1500 m. freestyle: Sun Yang (China)

• 100 m. backstroke: Matt Grevers (USA)
• 200 m. backstroke: Ryan Lochte (USA)

• 50 m. breaststroke: Cameron van der Burgh (RSA)
• 100 m. breaststroke: Christian Sprenger (AUS)
• 200 m. breaststroke:  Dániel Gyurta (HUN)

• 50 m. butterfly: César Cielo (Brazil)
• 100 m. butterfly: Chad le Clos (RSA)
• 200 m. butterfly: Chad le Clos (RSA)

• 4x100 m. freestyle relay: France
• 4x200 m. freestyle relay: USA

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Women's swimming:

• 200 m. freestyle: Missy Franklin (USA)
• 400 m. freestyle: Katie Ledecky (USA)
• 800 m. freestyle: Katie Ledecky (USA)
• 1500 m. freestyle: Katie Ledecky (USA)

• 100 m. backstroke: Missy Franklin (USA)
• 200 m. backstroke: Missy Franklin (USA)

• 50 m. breaststroke: Yuliya Yefimova (RUS)
• 100 m. breaststroke: Rūta Meilutytė (LIT)
• 200 m. breaststroke: Yuliya Yefimova (RUS)

• 50 m. butterfly: Jeanette Ottesen (DEN)
• 100 m. butterfly: Sarah Sjöström (SWE)
• 200 m. butterfly: Liu Zige (China)

• 4x100 m. freestyle relay: USA
• 4x200 m. freestyle relay: USA

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               The World Championships truly gave incentive to swimming stars, and record-breaking performances. About six world records were smashed in the women's swimming. American 17-year old swimming sensation Missy Franklin became the first person ever to bag six gold in the World Championships. She became level with Australian legend Libby Trickett with 9 gold medals overall. Earlier, Missy Franklin had also won four gold including sweeps of the 100 m. and 200 m. backstrokes in the 2012 London Olympics.
               Rūta Meilutytė, from Lithuania, broke the records for the 50 m. and 100 m. breaststrokes in the semi-finals. Furthermore, Katie Ledecky from the USA, also managed extraordinary, record-breaking feats in the 800 m. and 1500 m. freestyle events.