Chalmers and Marchand on fire, McIntosh defends world title

FUKUOKA, Japan :Australia's Kyle Chalmers set a blistering pace towards the end to win gold in the blue riband men's 100 metres freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships while Frenchman Leon Marchand and Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh also excelled on Thursday.

Chalmers won in 47.15 seconds and Jack Alexy of the United States surprised a stacked field to take silver, 0.16 seconds behind the winner. Frenchman Maxime Grousset grabbed bronze ahead of China's Pan Zhanle.

The heavily tattooed Chalmers appeared well off the pace and was seventh out of eight swimmers at the turn, but the 25-year-old recovered to reel off his rivals and secure the victory in superb style.

"I feel awesome. That was the last medal that I had to have to complete the set in my career," said Chalmers, who has bagged the Olympic, Commonwealth and short course world titles in the event during his glittering career.

Romania's David Popovici, who boasts the world record of 46.86 seconds, was sixth in another disappointing run after his fourth-place finish in the 200m freestyle this week at the Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall.

Matthew Richards' hopes of a second gold after stunning 2022 champion Popovici in that event were also dashed, as the Briton could only manage fifth.

Frenchman Marchand captured his third individual title at the championships after his world record showing in the 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly gold, as the 21-year-old dominated the field to defend his 200m medley crown.

American Ryan Lochte's world record of 1:54.00 set at the 2011 worlds in Shanghai appeared to be in danger after a good start, but Marchand dropped his pace slightly to finish with 1:54.82 for the third-fastest time in history.

Duncan Scott was more than a second