McEvoy and McKeown win gold but Pallister steals the show by beating McIntosh and nearly Ledecky

Singapore: New dad Cam McEvoy and backstroke star Kaylee McKeown underlined their class with gold medals on a night of high drama at the world swimming championships, capped by Lani Pallister’s stunning 800m freestyle upset of Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh and a near miss against American legend Katie Ledecky in one of the greatest races the sport has seen.

In a thrilling 10-minute window on night seven of competition, Australia snatched two golds to briefly overtake the USA on the medal tally.

Alex Perkins added a silver in the 50m butterfly, while Pallister’s silver in an all-time classic 800m final was arguably as good as gold. But the Americans had the final say, reclaiming top spot with a win in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay in world record time, to edge ahead eight golds to Australia’s seven with one day of action left.

McEvoy, competing in the 50m freestyle final, became the oldest Australian to win a world title, eclipsing Matt Welsh’s mark from 2007.

With world championship gold in 2023 and Olympic gold in Paris already in the bag, the pressure was off the 31-year-old, who is coached by Tim Lane.

But he still delivered, stopping the clock at 21.14 – his third-fastest ever swim, the 10th quickest in history, and an improvement on his Olympic-winning time of 21.25 but outside his personal best of 21.06.

Cameron McEvoy reacts after winning the men’s 50m freestyle final at the world championships.

Great Britain’s Ben Proud (21.26) and American Jack Alexy (21.46) were close, but McEvoy looked in control from start to finish, continuing his remarkable resurgence since nearly quitting the sport after Tokyo.

“Super happy with that,” McEvoy said. “In the grand scheme of things I wanted to PB but given the prep … I can’t be unhappy with that.”

There was some doubt whether McEvoy would even race at these world championships given the impending birth of his son.

With Hartley born on July 10, McEvoy said a quick goodbye and boarded a plane to Singapore. He joked this week he couldn’t fathom how anyone copes with being away from a newborn without FaceTime.

He later shared a photo of Hartley, well past his bedtime, wearing a ‘Go Dad’ shirt.

“That was so cool to see,” McEvoy said. “It’s special finishing a race like that and seeing those photos. Hopefully next time they’ll be in the stands.

“I’m going straight to the newborn trenches [when I get back].”

Then came McKeown, fresh off her win in the 100m backstroke and a dislocated shoulder a month ago, as revealed by this masthead.

Few swimmers in history have been as dominant as McKeown (2:03.33), who came within 0.19 seconds of her world record to once again get the better of her American rival Regan Smith (2:04.29).

200m backstroke gold medallist Kaylee McKeown.

It was McKeown’s sixth individual world title, equalling Ian Thorpe’s Australian record. No Australian – male or female – has more combined individual Olympic and world championship gold medals.

“I dug really deep, and I’m really happy with the time that I posted,” McKeown said. “Everyone always asks if I’m going for a world record anytime I get into the water. It’s the last thing that comes to my mind.”

The night’s most jaw-dropping performance, however, may have belonged to Pallister.

Katie Ledecky of the United States, left, celebrates with Lani Pallister of Australia.

Her silver in the 800m freestyle – behind only Ledecky – was the sixth-fastest time in history (8:05.98) and a staggering five-second personal best.

It wasn’t just a breakthrough; it was a warning shot to the world ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Under world record pace at the 550-metre mark, the 22-year-old trailed Ledecky and McIntosh for much of the race but surged home in the final 100 metres to almost steal the win. McIntosh was left with bronze and could not hide her disappointment.

The Canadian’s quest to win five individual gold medals is over.

“I didn’t think I’d be an 8:05. I thought under 8:10 was definitely realistic,” Pallister said. “I feel like I was kind of just watching them to go about their business and I was kind of just on the side thinking, ‘Oh, who’s going to win?’”

Australia bomb out in heats of mixed 4x100m freestyle relay

Singapore: Australia bombed out in the heats of the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay at the world swimming championships as the USA took their first relay gold of the meet.

In a major shock, Australia, the 2023 world champions finished 11th overall in the heats – missing the final and leaving coaches stunned poolside.

The Dolphins were widely tipped to make the podium, if not win the event, having claimed gold in both the men’s and women’s 4x100m freestyle relays on night one of competition.

It also means Mollie O’Callaghan remains stuck on 11 career world championship gold medals – tied with Ian Thorpe for the most by an Australian – and will have to wait for another chance to surpass him.

Australia’s heat team of Kai Taylor, Max Giuliani, Hannah Casey and Milla Jansen, with plans to bring in O’Callaghan and Kyle Chalmers for tonight’s final.

But the quartet couldn’t generate enough momentum in their morning swim, clocking 3:25.15 to finish outside the top eight.

Australia prepares to race in the heats of the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay.

Canada claimed the last spot in the final in a time of 3:24.94.

It was a sobering result for the Dolphins, who are the world record holders in the event after winning gold at the 2023 world championships in Fukuoka in a time of 3:18.83. Australia also won a world title in 2022.

The race is not on the schedule at the Olympics.

Australia, like other nations, opted to rest its stars for the heats to conserve energy for the final. But this time, those selected didn’t come close to their personal bests.

Taylor and Giuliani produced outstanding swims as part of the gold medal-winning men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team earlier in the meet and have carried heavy workloads all week.

Giuliani went 47.63 on Sunday in the Sunday’s men’s final but faded to clock 49.00 in the mixed event.

Casey posted a split of 53.86 in the heats of the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay but swam 54.23 as the third leg on Saturday.

Jansen clocked a 52.89 Australia’s victorious women’s team but touched the wall in 53.55 in her latest swim.

The USA won gold in a world record time of 3:18.48.