Australia’s Lani Pallister, left, with 400m freestyle gold medalist Summer McIntosh and bronze medalist Mary-Sophie Harvey, both from Canada. (Getty Images: Dean Mouhtaropoulos)
In short:
Lani Pallister won the silver medal in the 400m freestyle with a new Australian record of 3.53:73.
Summer McIntosh of Canada won the gold medal with a new world record time of 3.50:25.
What’s next?
The Budapest World Aquatics Championships run until December 15.
Lani Pallister set an Australian record at the World Short Course Championships in Budapest, but it wasn’t enough to successfully defend her 400m freestyle title.
The Sydney native took silver after winning gold in Melbourne two years ago, but still finished more than a length behind Canadian teenage star Summer McIntosh.
pallister then won another silver medal in the women’s 4x100m freestyle, leading Australia to the title behind the United States.
The four players are Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Alexandria Perkins, the latter of whom moved up from fourth to second in an impressive third round.
McIntosh was part of the Canadian bronze medal-winning team in the event, but that was a footnote for her as she won the individual event in a world record time of 3.50:25 and took home $US25,000 ($39,000) in prize money.
The 18-year-old, who finished second to Australia’s Ariarne Titmus in the 400m freestyle at the Paris Olympics, led from the first bend and gradually pulled away, though Pallister set a world record pace in the 300m before her pace faded.
Pallister, 22, beat Canadian Mary Sophie Harvey to finish second in Tuesday’s final and set an Oceania record with a time of 3.53:73.
It was still a great result given McIntosh’s strong performance, especially considering Pallister’s preparations had been disrupted by concerns about the health of her godmother, swimming legend Dawn Fraser, who broke four ribs in a fall a few days earlier.
She and her coach and mother, Janelle, said it was “nervous and scary”.
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Leah Neale, who also made the Melbourne final, finished seventh with a time of 4.01:45.
McIntosh was one of three swimmers to break individual world records in the Duna Arena fast pool on the opening day of the competition.
Kate Douglas of the United States and Noé Ponty of Switzerland won the women’s 200m individual medley and men’s 50m butterfly, respectively, setting new world records.
The headline event, though, was Gretchen Walsh in the women’s 50m butterfly. The American swimmer broke a 15-year-old world record in the preliminaries and then broke it again in the semifinals. That earned her $US50,000 ($78,000) in prize money, with the finals yet to be played.
Two Australians made the final, with Perkins and Lily Price competing in the swim event.
Walsh and Douglas then teamed up to set another world record as the United States won the relay, and their teammates repeated the feat a few minutes later.
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