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DOHA, Qatar — Despite the absence of many of the sport's biggest names there was nevertheless a world record broken as the swimming events started at the World Aquatics Championships. Teenager Pan Zhanle swam the fastest 100 meters in history as he led off China's gold medal-winning 4x100 freestyle relay team. His time of 46.80 seconds took six hundredths off Romanian David Popovici's world record from 2022 and established the 19-year-old as one to beat in swimming's marquee race at this year's Paris Olympics. China won the relay ahead of Italy and the United States. Erika Fairweather became New Zealand's first ever gold medalist at a World Aquatics Championships by winning the women's 400 free.
