After Dressel swam the third leg, Nathan Adrian touched the wall first for the USA at three minutes, 27.91 seconds with Great Britain taking silver at 1.04 while Russia earned bronze at 1.45.

The 20-year-old Dressel has now matched US swim legend Michael Phelps' record of seven gold medals from a single worlds set at the 2007 championships in Melbourne.

Dressel's seven golds include three individual titles in the 50m, 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly, plus relay golds in the 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m mixed freestyle, 4x100m mixed medley and Sunday's 4x100m medley.

He became the first swimmer to claim three world golds in one session on Saturday by winning the 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly and mixed 4x100m freestyle titles in a jaw-dropping 98 minute-spell.

Dressel's stunning display has earned comparisons with both Phelps and Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

His historic achievements earned the University of Florida ace the award for the best male swimmer at the Budapest championships.

"It's incredible, watching Caeleb is the coolest thing for me -- that kid is unbelievable, how he motivates himself, watching how he keeps his composure," said America's Chase Kalisz, who won the 200m and 400m IM golds in Budapest.

"I'm watching how he steps on the blocks. Every single race, he is ready to race, he is ready to go.

"This is how Team USA functions, we all feed off each other's energy."