In seventh heaven: Dressel ties Phelps’ record with 7th gold

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
US gold medalists for the 4x100-meter medley relay Matt Grevers, Kevin Cordes, Caeleb Remel Dressel and Nathan Adrian celebrate on the podium Sunday. (Reuters)

BUDAPEST: Michael Phelps, you’ve got company.
Caeleb Dressel won his seventh gold medal of the world championships Sunday, putting the US team ahead to stay with another dominating swim in the 4x100-meter medley relay.
One night after becoming the first swimmer to win three golds in one night at a major international meet, Dressel joined Phelps in another elite club with seven golds at the second-biggest meet after the Olympics.
Phelps had seven victories at the 2007 worlds in Melbourne, Australia — a prelude to his record eight golds the following year at the Beijing Olympics.
Dressel matched the feat along the banks of the Danube, emerging as America’s next great swimming star.
The 20-year-old University of Florida student won three individual golds and was part of four winning relay teams.
Olympic champion Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy won the men’s 1500m freestyle final to retain the title he won two years ago in Kazan.
Paltrinieri clocked 14 minutes, 52.07 seconds with Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk taking silver at 1.29 back and Mack Horton of Australia earning bronze at 11.85 behind.
Romanchuk gave Paltrinieri a hard race, but the Italian held on to add the world title to the Olympic gold he won in Rio de Janeiro.
“I did everything I could to beat the Olympic winner, but he is the champion,” said the Ukrainian.
“Next time I will win — it’s a fantastic motivation, I will do everything to make it happen.”
Lilly King took the breaststroke rubber match with Yulia Efimova — and set another world record for good measure.
Chase Kalisz kept the US firmly on top of the world in the men’s individual medley.
The brash King knocked off her second record of the world championships in Budapest, touching first in the 50-meter breaststroke Sunday.
King eclipsed the mark of 29.48 set by Lithuania’s Ruta Mielutyte at the 2013 worlds in Barcelona.
King added the 50 mark to her record-setting performance in the 100 breast. This was essentially the deciding match of her duel with Efimova, who won the 200 breast while King finished fourth.