Medals flow as China shows pool prowess

Yang Junxuan's freestyle gold, artistic swimming team title lift nation up the standings at Budapest world championships

China had a big day at the FINA World Championships on Tuesday, scooping three medals and witnessing the rise of several young talents on the international stage.

With some of the country's established names coming up short in their gold hunt at the worlds, youngster Yang Junxuan stole the show on Tuesday by winning the women's 200m freestyle final in 1 min 54.92 sec to deliver China's first swimming gold at the Budapest worlds.

The 20-year-old Yang, who swam the opening leg of China's gold-winning 4x200m freestyle relay at last year's Tokyo Olympics, jumped out in front early and took command of the race to hold off Australian teenager Mollie O'Callaghan and bag her first individual title at the long-course worlds.

O'Callaghan pushed hard in the final 50m to win silver in 1:55.22, while another young Chinese, Tang Muhan, who was also a member of the triumphant 4x200m free relay squad in Tokyo, fought back from the bottom of the field after the first 100m to finish third in 1:56.61 and claim bronze.

Despite thrilling fans back home in the early hours of Wednesday, the level-headed Yang was keen to keep her victory in perspective.

"Some of the world's best in this event did not come to compete here, giving me the chance to go for it," said Yang, who was the only swimmer in Tuesday's final to crack the 1:55 mark.

"I wasn't expecting to win before the race because I wasn't at my best physically. I just focused on executing all the details as best I could, like my turns and each stroke. This is where I feel the gap between me and the world's best is."

The women's 200m free field had a long list of high-profile absentees, including Australia's Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus, who decided to skip the meet to focus on the Commonwealth Games, short-course world-record holder Siobhan Haughey of Chinese Hong Kong, who was sidelined by an ankle injury, and American great Katie Ledecky, who has opted to only swim the longer free events.