The 27-year-old who won silver at London 2012, at which Australia failed to win an individual gold for the first time since 1976, turned the tables on South African Cameron van der Burgh in a perfectly controlled race.
His win was Australia’s first individual success at a major world meet since James Magnussen won the 100m freestyle at the world champs in 2011.
Aussie Alicia Coutts almost made it more glory for the yellow caps, adding two more silver medals to her 4x100m relay one on Sunday night.
Sprenger said he hoped he would start a trend for the Australian team, which also endured scandal out of the pool in London.
“For me, getting this first gold medal at these world championships is an absolute honour and I feel like I’ve really helped the team to lift to a new standard for this world championships,” Sprenger said.
“The first one’s the hardest to get for the country and I feel privileged to be that person.
“As a team this year, we’ve been so much better.
“Our team has obviously had some setbacks last year but … we’re going to be back and we’re going to be strong.”
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