China's Olympic champion Sun Yang qualified for semifinals in the men's 200m freestyle in quest of an additional gold medal for team China at the 18th World Championships here on Monday.
Sun finished in one minute and 46.22 seconds in the men's 200m free heats, just 0.04 seconds behind the frontrunner James Guy of Britain. Martin Malyutin of Russia came third in 1:46.29.
Sun's teammate Ji Xinjie placed 10th in the preliminaries, advancing into the semifinals scheduled later in the day.
The Chinese triple Olympic champion sought to add one more gold at the worlds, after winning his fourth straight world title in the men's 400m freestyle on Sunday.
"I got to bed just early this morning because of the race last night. That may have somehow influenced me today," said Sun, who tied second with Ryan Lochte of the United States with 10 individual gold medals in the worlds.
"I am satisfied with today's result. There are a lot of uncertainties in the 200m freestyle, so what I can do is just give maximum effort," the 27-year-old Chinese swimmer said.
China's Xu Jiayu led the pool in the men's 100m backstroke preliminaries, clocking 52.85 seconds to punch the first ticket to the semifinals in the evening.
Xu, the defending champion, was followed by Guilherme Guido of Brazil and Mitchell Larkin of Australia in the heats among 64 competitors.
"I will take (these worlds) as preparation for the Tokyo Olympics... Just one year is left to go for the Olympics. It is a dream. I'm a world champion, but not an Olympic champion yet," said Xu, Rio 2016 silver medalist and world record holder in the 100m backstroke.
In the women's 100m backstroke trials, China's Fu Yuanhui got shockingly knocked out of the heats as the 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medalist placed 22nd in 1:01.19.
"I was in good condition, and my training was good. But I have no idea why I swam slowly. My feeling was good, but I was surprised when I reached the touch pad and saw the result," said Fu.
"Maybe, my mental state was not that good for a big competition, but it already went by... I'll take a rest this evening and prepare for the 50m backstroke the day after tomorrow," said Fu.
In the women's 100m breaststroke, the double Olympic champion Lilly King of the United States finished first in the heats with a time of 1:06.31.
China's Yu Jingyao ended the 100m breaststroke trials in sixth place, clocking 1:06.91, but her teammate Shi Jinglin fell by the wayside with a time of 1:09.88.
U.S. swimming star Katie Ledecky sealed first in the women's 1,500m freestyle heats with a time of 15:48.90. Ledecky failed to claim her fourth consecutive world title in the women's 400m freestyle on Sunday as she was unexpectedly defeated by Australia's rising star Ariarne Titmus.
Ledecky had taken gold medals in the 400m, 800m and 1,500m free at the past three straight world championships from 2013 to 2017.
China's Wang Jianjiahe finished seventh in 16:00.17, advancing into the women's 1,500m free finals slated for Tuesday.
