World Swimming Championships : Louganis Wins; Morales Edges Biondi

Greg Louganis won his fourth world title Monday, and Michael Gross failed to get a medal in the 100-meter butterfly at the World Swimming Championships.

Louganis, a double Olympic champion, amassed 750.06 points in the springboard diving final. The 26-year-old diver was in control most of the way, withstanding the challenges of China’s Tan Liangde and Li Hongping.

The American wrapped up the title with a solid 10th dive, which earned him one of his five perfect marks of 10 and a score of 93.06.

World record-holder Pablo Morales and Matt Biondi of the United States finished 1-2 in the 100 butterfly final, topping Gross, who was listless and unable to find his rhythm.

Morales took the first American swimming gold medal in 53.54 seconds, with Biondi (53.67) adding a silver to the bronze he won in the 200-meter freestyle Sunday.

Britain’s Andy Jameson, who set a Commonwealth record of 53.67 in a morning heat, beat Gross for the first time in his career to take the bronze in 53.81. Gross, who won the 200 freestyle, was fourth in 53.87.

“I thought it would take a world record to win,” said Morales, whose world mark is 52.84. “Michael Gross was great last night, but you just don’t know about his butterfly until you see it.”

The East Germans won the 800-meter freestyle relay in 7:15.91, with West Germany second and the United States third. The victory brought East Germany’s medal total for the day to three.

Silke Horner of East Germany outlasted European champion Tania Bogomilova of Bulgaria to win the gold medal in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke with a world-record time of 2 minutes 27.40 seconds.

Horner’s time was 4/5ths of a second faster than the previous mark held by compatriot Silvia Gerasch, who was fourth. Bogomilova also topped the old record, in 2:27.66, to take the silver. Allison Higson, Canada’s 13-year-old double Commonwealth champion, earned the bronze medal in 2:31.34.

Alex Baumann, the world record-holder in the 400-meter individual medley who created a controversy when he was allowed to compete in the final, won a bronze medal in that event. Baumann was initially disqualified from his morning heat for a faulty turn but was later reinstated.

However, he could not outswim European champion Tamas Darnyi of Hungary, who won in 4:18.98. Vadim Yaroshuk of the Soviet Union gained the silver.

Heike Friedrich, the world record-holder, led East German teammate Manuela Stellmach to a 1-2 finish in the women’s 200-meter freestyle. Friedrich was timed in 1:58.26, Stellmach in 1:58.90.

Kevin Roberton scored with less than three seconds left to give the U.S. men’s water polo team a 10-9 victory over West Germany, moving the Americans into the semifinals.