US finish top at short-course world swimming c’ships

Melbourne, Dec 18: Canada’s Margaret MacNeil stormed out of the blocks to smash a world record in the women’s 100m butterfly with a time of 54.05 seconds. Torri Huske from the US won silver and Sweden’s Louise Hansson came third on Sunday, as the United States topped the medal table at the 16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m). The United States won 36 medals, including 17 gold medals, at the six-day short-course event held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Center. Hosts Australia finished second with 26 medals. In the final race of the championships, Australia and the US had a dead heat of 3:18.98 to set a world record in a thrilling men’s 4x100m medley relay. (IANS)