Lochte bags two gold medals

Istanbul - Olympic star Ryan Lochte won two gold medals on Wednesday as the United States dominated the first day of the short-course world championships in Istanbul.

The American posted a time of 1 minute, 41.92 seconds in the 200m freestyle event at the Sinan Erdem Dome. Paul Biedermann of Germany, the world record holder, finished second in 1:42.07, while Conor Dwyer of the United States was third in 1:43.78.

Lochte got another gold in the 4x100 freestyle relay when he and team-mates Anthony Ervin, James Feigen and Matt Grevers finished in 3:06.40. The Italians, who were fastest in the heats, won silver in 3:07.07, followed by Australia in a time of 3:07.27.

Lochte won six gold medals and one silver when Dubai hosted the short-course championships in 2010. He won five medals at the London Olympics, including two golds.

In women's competition, the US team of Megan Romano, Chelsea Chenault, Shannon Vreeland and Allison Schmitt won the 4x200 freestyle relay in 7:39.25. Russia were second in 7:42.77. China, the defending champions, were third in 7:43.26.

Katinka Hosszu of Hungary won the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:02.20, a new championships record. Less than 15 minutes after receiving her medal, she was back in the pool for the 400 individual medley and won bronze in 4:25.95. Winner Hannah Miley of Britain set a championship record of 4:23.14 and China's Shiwen Ye won silver in 4:23.33.

The biennial championships end on Sunday. Julio Maglione, president of swimming's governing body FINA, said the Istanbul championships have the biggest participation ever, in terms of countries (162) as well as athletes (958).

Results from first day of world short course swimming championships here on Wednesday (finals only):

Men

200m freestyle

1. Ryan Lochte (USA) 1min 41.92sec
2. Paul Biedermann (GER) 1:42.07
3. Conor Dwyer (USA) 1:43.78

4x100m freestyle relay

1. United States 3:06.40
(Anthony Ervin, Ryan Lochte, James Feigen, Matthew Grevers)

2. Italy 3:07.07
(Luca Dotto, Marco Orsi, Michele Santucci, Filippo Magnini)

3. Australia 3:07.27
(Tommaso D'Orsogna, Kyle Richardson, Travis Mahoney, Kenneth To)

Women

200m butterfly

1. Katinka Hosszu (HUN) 2:02.20
2. Jiao Liuyang (CHN) 2:02.28
3. Jemma Lowe (GBR) 2:03.19

400m medley

1. Hannah Miley (GBR) 4:23.14 (European record)
2. Ye Shiwen (CHN) 4:23.33
3. Katinka Hosszu (HUN) 4:25.95

4x200m freestyle relay

1. United States 7:39.25
(Megan Romano, Chelsea Chenault, Shannon Vreeland, Allison Schmitt)

2. Russia 7:42.77
(Veronika Popova, Elena Sokolova, Daria Belyakina, Ksenia Yuskova)

3. China 7:43.26
(Qiu Yuhan, Pang Jiaying, Guo Junjun, Tang Yi)