Summer McIntosh came within a whisker of breaking a long-standing world record and Léon Marchand failed to improve on a new mark he set just a night earlier, but both young guns won gold medals at the world championships in Singapore on Thursday.
Romania’s David Popovici also flirted with a record on day five at the World Aquatics Championships Arena, the 20-year-old claiming a thrilling 100 metres freestyle gold to go with his 200 crown on day three.
The 200 butterfly world record of 2:01.81 set by China’s Liu Zige in 2009 is the last surviving mark from the supersuit era in women’s swimming – and McIntosh all but took it