GWANGJU, South Korea (AP) — Simone Manuel won her second straight title in the 100-meter freestyle at the world swimming championships on Friday.
The American led all the way from Lane 1 and touched first in 52.04 seconds, beating Cate Campbell of Australia by 0.39 seconds.
Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden, the world-record holder, took bronze.
Manuel was the only woman under 25 seconds on the opening lap. She knocked 1.27 seconds off her time from the morning semifinals. She had the slowest qualifying time of anyone in the eight-woman final.
Manuel became the second woman to win multiple titles in the 100 free, joining Kornelia Ender of the former East Germany, who won in 1973 and ’75.
In 2016, Manuel became the first African-American woman to win an individual swimming gold at the Olympics when she tied Canada’s Penny Oleksiak for gold in Rio de Janeiro.
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