Caeleb Dressel of the United States heralded a new era in world swimming when he equalled the great Michael Phelps’s record of seven golds at a single world championship as the 17th edition closed on Sunday.

The 20-year-old Dressel underlined his credentials as the world’s fastest starter in breathtaking fashion at the Duna Arena when he broke away on the butterfly leg to give the U.S. gold in the men’s 4×100 metres medley relay.

Dressel had already won three individual golds and three relay titles in Budapest and Sunday’s addition allowed him to match his compatriot Phelps’s tally from the 2007 championships in Melbourne.

He also helped the U.S. to record their best-ever world championship haul, with 38 medals.

Team mate Lilly King had kickstarted the evening in blistering style with a world-record time of 29.40 seconds in the women’s 50m breaststroke.

King beat Russian Yuilya Efimova to the wall by 0.17 seconds, with another American, Katie Meili taking bronze.

Lilly King took another world record when she joined Simone Manuel, Kathleen Baker and Kelsi Worrell to win the women’s 4x100m medley relay gold in a world record time of three minutes 51.55 seconds.

The U.S. time broke the previous record of three minutes 52.05 seconds set by the American quartet at the London 2012 Olympics.