South African sets world swim record; Aussies add 6th gold

Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_10197 Tatjana Schoenmaker of South Africa swims in a women's 200-meter breaststroke semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_73927 Tatjana Schoenmaker of South Africa swims in a women's 200-meter breaststroke semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_74082 Tatjana Schoenmaker, right, of South Africa, celebrates after her women's 200-meter breaststroke semifinal as Annie Lazor, of the United States, watches at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_57816 Tatjana Schoenmaker, right, of South Africa, celebrates after her women's 200-meter breaststroke semifinal with Annie Lazor, of the United States, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_32415 Caeleb Dressel, of United States, after winning a men's 100-meter butterfly semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_40952 Caeleb Dressel, of the United States, after swimming to victory in a men's 100m butterfly semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_69344 Caeleb Dressel, of the United States, swims to victory in a men's 100m butterfly semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_82312 Shun Wang, of China, swims to win the gold medal in the men's 200-meter individual medley final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
CORRECTION_Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_40280 CORRECTS NAME AND RACE - Emma Mckeon, of Australia, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's 100-meter freestyle final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_40280 Tatjana Schoenmaker, of South Africa, celebrates after wining the gold medal in the women's 200-meter breaststroke final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_86509 Michael Andrew, of United States, comes off the pool after swimming in the men's 200-meter individual medley final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_83202 Michael Andrew of the United States swims in a men's 200-meter individual medley semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_77064 Tatjana Schoenmaker, of South Africa, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's 200-meter breaststroke final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_45678 Emma McKeon of Australia starts in a women's 100-meter freestyle semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_05059 Evgeny Rylov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, swims to victory in the men's 200m backstroke final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_47343 Evgeny Rylov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, swims in a men's 200-meter backstroke semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_70871 Emma McKeon, of Australia, swims in a women's 100-meter freestyle semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_23208 From left, Lilly King, of United States, Tatjana Schoenmaker, of South Africa, and Annie Lazor, of United States, pose at the podium after the women's 200-meter breaststroke final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Tokyo_Olympics_Swimming_29324 From left, Annie Lazor, of United States, Tatjana Schoenmaker, of South Africa, and Lilly King, of United States, pose with their medals after the women's 200-meter breaststroke final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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TOKYO (AP) — South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker was the star of the day, setting the first individual swimming world record at the Tokyo Olympics.

Others shined, too.

Evgeny Rylov completed a backstroke double for Russia, Emma McKeon gave the Aussie women another gold, and China earned a return trip to the top of the medal podium.

The mighty Americans? For the first time in the meet, they spent the entire session Friday watching others win gold.

Schoenmaker, a 24-year-old South African, won the women’s 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2 minutes, 18.95 seconds, breaking the mark of 2:19.11 set by Denmark’s Rikke Moller Pedersen at the 2013 world championships in Barcelona.

It was the third world record at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, with the first two coming in women’s relays.

“I wasn’t expecting that at all,” said Schoenmaker, who added to her silver in the 100 breast. ”It couldn’t have been a better race. It still just doesn’t sink in, maybe one day.”

Rylov thoroughly snuffed out America’s dominance in the backstroke, adding the 200 title to his victory in the 100 back.

Rylov won with an Olympic-record time of 1:53.29, while American Ryan Murphy wound up with the silver (1:54.15).

Murphy was a double-gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he extended an American winning streak that began at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

The U.S. won 12 straight men’s backstroke events over six Olympics, but that streak ended with Rylov’s victory in the 100. He made it 2-for-2 in the longer race, while Murphy settled for bronze and silver in the two events.

Britain’s Luke Greenbank grabbed the 200 bronze in 1:54.72.

McKeon touched first in the 100 freestyle with an Olympic-record time of 51.96, becoming only the second woman to break 52 seconds in the sprint.

Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey earned the silver in 52.27, while another Aussie, Cate Campbell, took the bronze in 52.52. American Abbey Weitzeil was last in the eight-woman field.

The Australians have won four individual women’s events at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, in addition to setting a world record in a 4×100 free relay that included both McKeon and Campbell.

The team from Down Under has six golds overall, tied with the Americans, though the U.S. has the lead in the overall medal count.

The Americans won three medals Friday, also claiming the other two spots on the podium behind Schoenmaker.

But it was the first time the U.S. team went through an entire sessions of finals in Tokyo without winning at least one gold.

Lilly King set a blistering pace early in the 200 breast and held on for a silver in 2:19.92, adding to her bronze in the 100 event. Annie Lazor nabbed the bronze in 2:20.84.

“I don’t come from behind, that’s for sure, so I just wanted to put it out there and see where it goes,” King said. “I thought I did great.”

A day after winning its first two golds at the pool, China picked up another victory when Wang Shun touched first in the men’s 200 individual medley.

Wang edged Britain’s Duncan Scott with a time of 1:55.00. Scott took the silver in 1:55.28, while the bronze went to Switzerland’s Jeremy Desplanches in 1:56.17.

It was another disappointment for hometown star Daiya Seto, who didn’t even qualify for the final of his first two events. He got through in the 200 IM, but just missed out on a medal with a fourth-place finish — a mere five-hundredths of a second behind the Swiss bronze medalist.

American Michael Andrew led after the third leg, powering to the top spot on the breaststroke. But he faded badly on the freestyle to wind up in fifth, more than 2 seconds behind the winner.

“I think it hurt worse than it looked, and it looked pretty bad,” Andrew said. “I knew I had to be fast at the 150 and I was praying for some Holy Spirit power to get me home in that (final) 50, but it wasn’t all there.”

But the U.S. has several good chances to claim gold over the last two days of the swimming competition.

Caeleb Dressel has two individual finals remaining, and Katie Ledecky is a big favorite in the 800 free.

Dressel set another Olympic record in the semifinals of the 100 butterfly.

Minutes after Hungary’s Kristof Milak took down the mark in the first semifinal heat, Dressel went even faster with a time of 49.71 in the second heat.

“I feel fine,” Dressel said. “I’m not worried about the schedule. I’ve had it written down for a couple weeks now. I know what’s coming. I know how to pace it correctly. I know how to take care of my body.”

It was the third-fastest time in history and left Milak as the second-fastest qualifier at 50.31.

In the preliminaries, Dressel tied the former Olympic record of 50.39 set by Singapore’s Joseph Schooling to win gold at the 2016 Rio Games.

Dressel will be a big favorite in Saturday morning’s final, though he could get pushed by Milak. The Hungarian already won the 200 fly with a dominating victory.

Dressel picked up the first individual gold medal of his career with a win in the 100 freestyle.

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Paul Newberry is an Atlanta-based national writer and sports columnist covering his 14th Olympics. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963 and his work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/paulnewberry

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More AP Olympic coverage: https://www.apnews.com/OlympicGames and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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