Simone Manuel Becomes 1st American to Sweep 50m, 100m Freestyles at Worlds

Simone Manuel earned gold in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle Sunday, becoming the first American woman to sweep the events at the FINA World Championships.

Manuel topped Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom by 0.02 seconds in the 50-meter race, and outlasted Australia's Cate Campbell in the 100-meter event. She previously captured gold in the mixed 4x100 freestyle and was a silver medalist in the 4x100 and 4x200 events.

Manuel won gold in the 100 free despite entering the finals with the slowest qualifying time.

"Not everybody has a perfect swim every time so I just needed to regroup and put on a good face," Manuel told reporters. "I'm a veteran on the team, so I have to be able to show a little bit of poise in these hard moments."

The 22-year-old appears to be in a strong position to repeat her 100-meter freestyle victory from the 2016 Summer Games. She previously won five gold medals at the 2017 world championships but brought home bronze in the 50-meter freestyle, so Sunday's triumph was a full-circle moment.

She also won silver in the 50-meter free at the 2016 Summer Games, along with a gold in the 4x100 medley and silver in the 4x100 freestyle