Leah Smith of Tucson was third in the 400-meter freestyle Sunday on the opening day at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

Australian Ariarne Titmus upset American Katie Ledecky to win the 400 followed by Smith. Titmus, 18, caught and passed five-time Olympic gold medalist Ledecky over the final 100 meters, finishing 1.21. seconds ahead in 3:58.76. 

Smith of Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics edged Hungary’s Ajna Kesley for the bronze medal in 4:01.29.

The U.S. women finished .81 seconds behind Australia (3:30.21) in the 400 free relay. Canada, with Taylor Ruck of Scottsdale swimming the second leg, was third in 3:31.78.

Ruck, 19, is taking an Olympic redshirt year off from Stanford and training again in Toronto ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Allison Schmitt of PItchfork Aquatics and former Arizona sprinter Margo Geer earned silver by swimming for the U.S. in the relay preliminaries.

Reach the reporter at jeff.metc[email protected] or 602-444-8053. Follow him on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.

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