To tears alive, with the sole objective of “having fun and emptying in the pool” due to an injury shortly before the Fukuoka Swimming World Championships, Mollie O’Callaghan, 19, He celebrated his victory against all odds in the 200 freestyle and his incredible world record, which has erased another of the queens of swimming for the last two decades, in front of a swimming pool. If on Sunday it was Marchand who eliminated the name of Michael Phelps from the record table, this Wednesday it was the turn of the Italian Federica Pellegrini. Another record from 2009, with a magical swimsuit, which is buried in the trunk of oblivion.
O ‘Callaghan slipped into the fight between Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh, who had already experienced a battle with Katie Ledecky in the 400 free, the race of the century between the three fastest women in history, also crossing generations. And, as if it were a heads-up, both began commanding the test. The Australian, Titmus, the favourite, was determined not only to win the gold but to destroy, finally and after many attempts, Pellegrini’s record, but in that attempt he did not calculate the final gasoline correctly and his compatriot surpassed it.
Titmus passed 62 hundredths short of the world record in the 50 and 37 in the 100 (55.23). She did not stop the Olympic champion, who continued to maintain the partials in search of the record and was four tenths better than Pellegrini before the last turn. But the last 50 of hers was uphill. “In the last 50 I went for it,” said O’Callaghan, and that put her first in 1:52.85. The winner completed that last section in 28.11 by 29.01 for Titmus, who failed to finish strong and cost him the gold. Titmus was silver with 1:53.01, three hundredths off Pellegrini’s record. She not only did not achieve the gold, but she was left without lowering that mark that she was looking for. The bronze went to the very young McIntosh with a time of 1: 53.65, her personal best and junior world record.
In Australia, at the moment the best country in these World Cups, huge swimmers who catch records like flies and hang medals continue to flourish. The versatility of O’Callaghan also made her one of the favorites in the 50 backbut she prioritized these 200 freestyles that have led her to the record table and place her among the favorites for the 2024 Paris Games.