Seto defeated his compatriot and the reigning Olympic champion Kosuke Hagino to win in a new Universiade record time of 4min 11.98sec.

Hagino was well beaten by Seto but still managed to take silver in 4:15.44 at the Taiwan Sport University Arena.

Aleksandr Osipenko of Russia completed the top three in 4:16.63.

The rest of today's events were largely dominated by the United States, who claimed four out of the eight gold medals available. 

Caroline Baldwin won the opening final of the night in the women's 50m freestyle in a time of 25.02.

Mariia Kameneva of Russia finished just behind in 25.08 while Katrina Konopka completed a memorable double for the US by taking third in 25.21.

The large American following continued to chant "USA, USA, USA" throughout and it seemed to rub off on those in action.

Andrea Cottrell followed compatriot Baldwin onto the top step of the podium as she won the women's 50m breaststroke final in 30.77.

Leiston Pickett of Australia finished agonisingly short of Cottrell in 30.82 while bronze was won by Jessica Eriksson of Sweden in 31.50.

Ella Eastin added a third gold for the US when her time of 2:08.21 was good enough to seal the women's 200m butterfly gold.

Martina Eva Van Berkel of Switzerland took the silver medal way back in 2:11.32.

Nida Eliz Ustundag of Turkey completed the medal positions, taking bronze in 2:11.40.

A fourth gold from eight was then sealed for the Americans when they prevailed in the men's 4x100m medley relay with a time of 3:33.27.

Russia took silver in 3:34.85 with Japan sealing bronze in 3:34.88.

Elsewhere today, Japan took the women's 4x100m medley relay title following a thrilling final leg.

Chihiro Igarashi led Japan down the final stage but was being chased the whole time by Baldwin.

The duo were neck-and-neck until a late burst from the Japanese swimmer handed her team the gold in 4:00.24.

The Americans were forced to settle for silver in 4:00.49, while Italy completed the medal positions in 4:02.40.

Ari Liukkonen claimed Finland's first gold medal of Taipei 2017 in any sport.

He took the men's 50m freestyle title in the tightest of conclusions, touching the wall in 22.02.

The silver medal was shared by Italo Manzine Amaral Guarte of Brazil and Katsumi Nakamura of Japan after they both finished in 22.05.

Germany's Sarah Koehler finally made it to the top of the podium and set a Universiade record to win gold in the women's 400m freestyle.

It had been coming after she had already won two silvers so far here in the 1,500m and 800m freestyle finals.

Koehler eventually got the title she deserved in a Universiade record time of 4:03.96.

Joanna Evans of The Bahamas took silver in 4:08.52 while Sierra Schmidt of the US completed the podium with bronze in a time of 4:09.82.