China added two silver and two bronze medals to its overall tally at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Wednesday, while France's Leon Marchand set a new world record in the men's 200m individual medley.
In the mixed 4×100m medley relay final, China fielded a squad of Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei, and Wu Qingfeng. The quartet finished in 3:39.99 to earn silver, while Neutral Athletes B (NAB) claimed gold in a World Championships record time of 3:37.97. Canada bagged bronze. Defending champions the USA failed to qualify for the final.
In the women's 200m freestyle final, China's Li Bingjie, competing in her third individual event following the 400m and 1,500m freestyle, executed a strong comeback in the last 50 meters to grab silver in 1:54.52. Australia's Mollie O'Callaghan secured gold, while the USA's Claire Weinstein ended up with bronze.
"I'm quite satisfied with today's performance. I improved my personal best by more than a second," said Li, who also took silver in the 400m freestyle earlier in the week. She will next compete in the 800m freestyle.
In the men's 50m breaststroke final, Qin Haiyang, who had won gold at the 100m distance, picked up bronze in 26.67 seconds. Italy's Simone Cerasuolo collected gold, while silver went to neutral athlete Kirill Prigoda.
In the men's 100m freestyle semifinals, China's Pan Zhanle clocked 47.81 seconds in the first heat, ranking third in his group. But faster times in the second heat, including 46.84 from Romania's David Popovici and 46.81 from the USA's Jack Alexy, pushed Pan to 10th overall, leaving him out of the final.
"I just wasn't in good form today," Pan lamented.
"Sometimes the semifinals end up being faster than the finals," Popovici noted.
In the men's 200m butterfly final, China's Chen Juner placed seventh. The USA's Luca Urlando topped the podium, followed by Poland's Krzysztof Chmielewski and Australia's Harrison Turner.
In the men's 800m freestyle final, Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi captured gold in 7:36.88. Germany's Sven Schwarz and Lukas Martens garnered silver and bronze, respectively.
Day 20 also saw the first world record fall in Singapore. France's Marchand touched the wall in 1:52.69 in the men's 200m individual medley semifinals, breaking the previous mark of 1:54.00 set by the USA's Ryan Lochte in 2011. China's Wang Shun qualified for the final with the seventh-best time.
In other semifinal events, Wan Letian ranked fourth to advance to the women's 50m backstroke final, while 12-year-old Yu Zidi finished eighth in the women's 200m butterfly semifinals, narrowly clinching a spot in the final.
Yu advanced to her second final at the World Championships after clocking 2:07.95 in the women's 200m butterfly semifinals.
After narrowly missing the podium with a fourth-place finish in Monday's 200-meter individual medley final, Yu placed sixth in her 200m butterfly semifinal heat. The race was paced by Olympic champion Summer McIntosh of Canada, who posted a time of 2:06.22.
Competing in her first international meet, Yu qualified for the final as the eighth-fastest swimmer overall. The final will take place on Thursday.
Italy's Chiara Pellacani and Matteo Santoro, silver medalists in Doha last year, delivered a consistent series of dives to take the top spot in the mixed 3m synchronized springboard with 308.13 points. Australia's Cassiel Rousseau and Maddison Keeney finished just behind with 307.26 to snag silver. China's Li Yajie and Cheng Zilong settled for bronze.
Earlier in the day, Chen Yuxi and Xie Peiling advanced to the women's 10m platform final after placing first and second, respectively, in the preliminary round. The final is set for Thursday.
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