Katie McLaughlin landed a major assignment Thursday at the FINA World Championships and came through golden in Kazan, Russia.
The Santa Margarita graduate and Mission Viejo Nadadores swimmer was selected to race on the U.S. women’s 800-meter freestyle relay for finals and helped the Americans capture the gold medal.
McLaughlin raced third and split a time of 1 minute, 56.92 seconds to keep the Stars and Stripes in second place. Katie Ledecky (1:55.64) then anchored the U.S. team to the gold.
McLaughlin also joined forces with leadoff swimmer Missy Franklin (1:55.95) and Leah Smith (1:56.86) to outdistance Italy (7:48.41).
McLaughlin’s challenge Thursday also included racing the 200 butterfly. She led the first three laps and finished sixth in a national age-group record and lifetime-best 2:06.95.
Please send swimming news to Dan Albano at dalbano@ocregister.com
