Kromowidjojo joins elite group with 50m butterfly gold at world championships in Abu Dhabi

Benjamin Proud wins first medal for British team at Fina championships on Sunday

Ranomi Kromowidjojo from the Netherlands won the women's 50m butterfly competition at the Fina World Swimming Championships at the Etihad Arena on Sunday, December 19, 2021. All images Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Swimmers warm up at the World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi.

Canadian swimmer Joshua Liendo Edwards won the men's 50m freestyle gold.

Isabel Gose from Germany warms up before the women's 400m freestyle competition.

The men's 100m individual medley competition at the World Swimming Championships.

Joshua Liendo Edwards celebrates his win at the FINA World Swimming Championships.

Action from the WomenÕs 100m Individual Medley competition at the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships in Etihad Arena, Yas Island. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Ranomi Kromowidjojo joined a select group with her 50m butterfly gold.

Dutch triple Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo grabbed her second gold in the 15th Fina World Swimming Championships (25m) Abu Dhabi 2021 at the Etihad Arena on Sunday.

After helping her nation strike gold in the 4X50m mixed medley on Saturday, Kromowidjojo won women’s 50m butterfly gold in a new championship record time of 24.44 seconds.

Kromowidjojo, who won gold in 2018, now becomes the third woman to win 50m butterfly multiple times at the world short course championships, after American Jenny Thompson (3) and Swede Therese Alshammar (2).

Swede Sarah Sjoestroem (24.51), who also had the chance to become the third woman to win the race multiple times, had to settle for silver ahead of American pair Claire Curzan (24.55) and Torri Huske (24.88), third and fourth respectively.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Proud won the men’s 50m freestyle gold and the first medal for the British team in the championship. He clocked 20.45, with American Ryan Held (20.70) and Canadian Joshua Edwards (20.76) behind him.

“It was great competition and I’m really happy to execute the race I wanted when it mattered,” Proud said.

“I’m really pleased to add that title to my name. I’m happy to walk away with a medal around my neck."

Italy made a bright start by winning gold in the men’s 4X50m freestyle relay. They clocked 1:23.61 to finish ahead of the Russian Swimming Federation 1:23.75 and the Netherlands 1:23.78.

Kliment Kolesnikov of the Russian Swimming Federation then completed a double. He won the men’s 100m medley (51.09) and then grabbed the men’s 50m backstroke title in 22.66.

Anastasia Gorbenko (57.80) of Israel took the women’s 100m medley from Beryl Gastaldello of France and Maria Kameneva of the Russian Swimming Federation.

Bingjie Li completed a double in the championships by taking the women’s 400m freestyle in 3:55.83.

Having claimed gold in the 800m freestyle earlier, she led all the way to beat Canadian Summer McIntosh and Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong.

The United States of America rounded off the night by taking the men’s 4X200m freestyle relay (6:47.00) for their fifth gold at the championship. The Russian Swimming Federation and Brazil took silver and bronze.

Meanwhile, the excitement continued at the High Diving venue on Yas Bay, with the first half of the men’s high diving qualification for the Fina World Championships 2022 in Fukuoka, Japan.

Seven of the top eight from the Gwangju World Championships 2019 are competing, but if the results on the opening day are any indication, there may very well be new faces on the podium.

After the first two rounds, Romanian Constantin Popovici leads with 210.60 points. Popovici received 9’s across the board in round 1. He then stunned the audience in the second round by nailing the most difficult dive of the day.

“This event is a test for me for the new things I am doing,” Popovici said. “After the last Red Bull event, I decided I needed to step up my game. I went to Italy and Canada to train with the Canadian team. It was a lot of hard work, but it is paying off. It felt good and I am happy.”