TAIPEI – Led by a victory in the men’s 400-meter freestyle relay, the United States medaled in all four finals Sunday on night one of the 2017 World University Games at National Taiwan Sport University Arena.

In the final event of the night, the American line-up of Maxime Rooney (Livermore, Calif./Pleasanton Seahawks/Florida), Ryan Held (Springfield, Ill./NC State), Justin Ress (Cary, N.C./NC State) and Justin Lynch (Vallejo, Calif./California Aquatics) touched in 3 minutes, 14.01 seconds to top the podium by over a second ahead of runner-up Italy.

The top individual performance on night one came via Ally McHugh (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn State) in the women’s 400-meter individual medley, as she earned silver in 4:40.22. Brooke Forde (Louisville, Ky./Lakeside Swim Team) took fifth in 4:44.04.

 “It feels pretty cool, pretty amazing,” McHugh said. “I definitely wasn’t expecting to go that fast and do so well, so I’m really happy to get a medal for the U.S.”

Grant Shoults (Laguna Hills, Calif./Stanford Swimming) claimed Team USA’s first medal of the competition, touching third in the men’s 400m free in 3:49.03 for bronze. Teammate Mitch D’Arrigo (Gainesville, Fla./Gator Swim Club) was eighth in 3:57.37.

“I’m really happy to get on the podium for the U.S., especially being the first race to start off on the right foot,” Shoults said. “I’m ecstatic with the team we have here and I’m very confident that this momentum we’ve built will continue through the whole competition at WUGs.”

The United States also took bronze in the women’s 400m free relay with a time of 3:40.09. Caroline Baldwin (Westfield, N.J./North Carolina), Claire Rasmus (New Orleans, La./Aggie Swim Club), Katrina Konopka (Greenville, S.C./Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics) and Veronica Burchill (Carmel, Ind./Athens Bulldog Swim Club) comprised the finals relay for Team USA.

Full results can be found at www.2017.taipei.