Volkswacht Bodensee - Olympic swim greats Phelps, Lochte, rip US World Championships performance

Lochte, whose 12 Olympic medals include six gold, shared an image on Instagram depicting a funeral that featured a tombstone inscribed: "In loving memory of United States Swimming" with the dates 1980-2025.

"They set the bar high -- until they stopped reaching for it," the inscription says, Lochte adding the caption: "Call it a funeral or call it a fresh start. We've got 3 years."

Phelps, who counts a stunning 23 gold among his 28 Olympic medals, shared Lochte's post, adding: "Is this the wake up call USA swimming needed? Let's find out ..."

The United States headed to Singapore aiming to use the world championships as a springboard to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

But they were slow off the blocks after acute gastroenteritis swept through the team at a pre-championships training camp affecting the "overwhelming majority" of swimmers, according to team officials.

Through the first seven of nine days of competition, their five gold medals were tied for the most with Australia and their total of 20 was seven more than the Aussies.

After her 200m breaststroke gold on Friday, Kate Douglass acknowledged it had been a "rough week" for the US team.

"We've done a great job of coming back and showing that we are here to race," she said.

T.Zimmermann--VB