Florian Wellbrock made history by becoming the first man to win gold in the open water and the pool at the same World Championships as arena swimmers enjoyed a golden sunset to the programme in Gwangju, South Korea.
Katinka Hosszu and Daiya Seto both won gold in the 400m individual medley while Gregorio Paltrinieri, Sarah Sjostrom and Cate Campbell were all among the medals.
Wellbrock was locked in a battle in the 1500m and he took over the lead with 100m to go which he never relinquished to win in 14mins 36.54secs.
The German also won the 10km open water race to write a new line in the history books.
He said: “Of course, for me it’s a big thing. I’m now the first swimmer ever who became world champion in open water and in the pool”
“I expected a medal, but not gold. My strategy was to follow Paltrinieri as long as I can. During the last 50 I only thought: keep your head down, keep fast.
“It was mentally not easy for me after the 800 (he was 17th) – but we found the reason with my coach Bernd Berkhahn.
“I felt well the last days in the pool, that’s why i was quite confident for the race.”
Defending champion Paltrinieri was third in 14:38.75.
Hosszu also made history when she became the first woman to win five world titles in one…
