BARCELONA — Missy Franklin has become the most successful female swimmer ever at the world championships. Franklin claimed her sixth gold medal Sunday night, swimming the lead-off leg for the Americans in the 400-meter medley relay. She gave the US a slight lead, and her teammates — Jessica Hardy, Dana Vollmer and Megan Romano — made it look easy from there. The winning time was 3 minutes, 53.23 seconds. The 18-year-old Franklin improved on her performance at the London Olympics, where she was one of the biggest stars with four golds and a bronze. She eclipsed the women's record for a world meet, which had been shared by Tracy Caulkins (1978) and Libby Trickett (2007).Franklin also joins Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and Kristin Otto as the only swimmers to capture as many as six golds at either worlds or an Olympics. Earlier, Sun Yang won his third gold medal and completed a sweep of the freestyle distance events with a victory in the 1,500 meters Sunday. Sun wrapped up a stellar meet with a title in the longest race on the program. After dueling with Canada's Ryan Cochrane most of the way, the Chinese star turned it on the last two laps and won going away in 14 minutes, 41.15 seconds. Cochrane took the silver in 14:42.48, while Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri earned bronze with a time of 14:45.37. Americans Connor Jaeger and Michael McBroom finished off the podium in fourth and fifth. Yang added to his Barcelona victories in the 400 and 800. Plus, he turned in the fastest leg by far on the 800 free relay to almost singlehandedly give China a bronze medal. Also on the final night of the championships at the Palau Sant Jordi, Japan's Daiya Seto held off American Chase Kalisz to end US domination of the 400 individual medley, Hungary's Katinka Hosszu won the 400 individual medley, and Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands took the women's 50 freestyle. Seto touched in 4:08.69 to take gold. The 19-year-old Kalisz, who trains at Phelps' club in Baltimore, was far back after the butterfly and backstroke legs. But he began to close on the breaststroke and nearly caught Seto on a freestyle dash to the finish. He settled for silver in 4:09.22, while the bronze went to Brazil's Thiago Pereira in 4:09.48. American Tyler Clary was fourth after taking the silver behind Lochte at the 2011 worlds. Hosszu was more than 2 seconds under world-record pace through the first three legs, giving her a big enough lead to hold on in the freestyle. She touched in 4:30.41, while Spain's Mireia Belmonte thrilled the home crowd by taking silver in 4:31.21. Elizabeth Beisel of the US earned the bronze in 4:31.69, about a second ahead of hard-charging teammate Madeline Dirado. Kromowidjojo's victory was a reversal of the 100 free, which was won by Australia's Cate Campbell with the Dutch sprinter taking the bronze. Campbell took silver this time, just 0.09 behind the winner's time of 24.05. Britain's Francesca Halsall grabbed the bronze in 24.30, her country's first medal of a hugely disappointing meet. Simone Manuel of the US finished seventh. There also were a pair of non-Olympic events. Yuliya Efimova won the 50 breaststroke, getting back at the swimmer who took her world record in the semifinals. The Russian claimed gold in 29.52, while record holder Ruta Meilutyte settled for the silver in 29.59. Jessica Hardy of the US took the bronze in 29.80. Camille Lacourt of France won the first race of the night, the men's 50 backstroke, with a time of 24.42. American Matt Grevers tied for the silver with another Frenchman, Jeremy Stravius, at 24.54. — AP
