Swimming world erupts over 'insane' act amid Aussie's stunning takedown of American rivals

Elijah Winnington produced a stunning swim to take down American defending champion Kieran Smith at the short course world championships on Thursday night in Budapest. And the swimming world was blown away by epic performances from Summer McIntosh and Qin Haiyang.

Two years after winning 400m gold at the long course world championships at the same venue, Winnington roared through over the last six laps of the 25-metre pool on Thursday to take another gold in the 400m. It was Australia's second title of the championships after Lani Pallister won gold in the 800m freestyle earlier in the meet.

The 24-year-old Winnington won silver at the Olympics earlier this year, but grabbed the medal he really wanted on Thursday night. The Queenslander was still more than half a second behind Smith with 75 metres left, and only got level on the second-last lap.

From there he was never going to be stopped as he raced home in 3 minutes 35.89 seconds - some 0.42 seconds clear of another American Carson Foster in second, with Smith eventually third in 3:36.31. Smith won the event at the last short course world championships in Melbourne in 2022.

"This pool holds a special place in my heart. I won my first word title in this pool, and I'm glad to do it again," Winnington said. "I kind of didn't see him (Smith, on the inside lane) until about the 250-metre mark, and I thought, 'uh-oh!'

"But I knew he would be fast - he's the reigning world champ in that event from Melbourne - and my strategy is always to come home strong and just fight 'til the end. I'm probably not in my fittest state right now, so I just knew it'd be a race and I had to stick with him - and I know I'd have the biggest heart coming home."

Lizzie Dekkers gets bronze behind Summer McIntosh

Fellow Aussie Lizzie Dekkers had earlier won bronze in the 200m butterfly, but was blown out of the water by Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh. The 18-year-old Olympic and world champion took the title in 1:59.32, beating American Regan Smith (2:01.00) and Dekkers (2:02.91).

McIntosh beat Mireia Belmonte Garcia's 10-year-old record of 1:59.61, following up her landmark time of 3:50.25 in the women's 400 freestyle on Tuesday. For good measure, the teenager also set a new world junior record of 2:01.96 to win her morning heat.

In the day's final event, Dekkers medalled again and Pallister won her fourth of of the championships with a stirring anchor leg in the women's 4x200m relay. The Aussie quartet that also featured Leah Neale and Milla Jansen took bronze behind a world record-breaking US foursome.

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Qin Haiyang stuns with 'insane' swim in 100m breaststroke

And Qin Haiyang also left the swimming world gobsmacked with a stunning bounce-back from the Paris Olympics. The controversial Chinese swimmer set a new championship record of 55.47 in the men’s 100m breaststroke, producing a scintillating final 25 metres.

Qin was one of 23 Chinese swimmers under a massive cloud at the Paris Olympics after they tested positive to a banned substance before the Tokyo Games in 2021 but were still allowed to compete. World anti-doping authorities accepted China's excuse that the positive results came from swimmers eating contaminated food at a team hotel, and they were allowed to compete.

Aussie swimmer Zac Stubblety-Cook had suggested he'd refuse to stand on the same podium with Qin if they both medalled in Paris. However it never eventuated because the Chinese swimmer failed to make the 200m final.

with agencies