Americans swim to three gold medals.

Swimming and diving: Missy Franklin got the Americans rolling. Then Katie Ledecky really fired ’em up.

By the end of the night, the U.S. team was awash in medals at the world swimming championships at Barcelona, Spain.

Franklin and Ledecky each won their second gold medal of the meet, Matt Grevers led a 1-2 American finish in the backstroke, and there was plenty of reason to celebrate for the red, white and blue on Tuesday.

In all, the Americans claimed three golds, two silvers and a bronze — a strong meet for most nations, certainly quite a haul in a mere two hours.

After going stroke for stroke with Denmark’s Lotte Friis most of the 1,500-meter freestyle race, with both well under world-record pace, Ledecky really turned it on over the final 200 and beat the mark by more than 6 seconds. Friis also went under the old record, and all it got her was silver.

Franklin easily won the 100 backstroke before returning about an hour later to post the second-fastest time in the semifinals of the 200 free.

Grevers touched ahead of teammate David Plummer in the 100 backstroke.

• American wins diving: American Cesilie Carlton has won gold in 20-meter diving — the equivalent of jumping off a seven-story building — at the inaugural high diving competition at the swimming world championships

Huskies remove sophomore DE

College football: Washington has dismissed sophomore defensive end Pio Vatuvei from its program for a violation of team rules.

Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said Vatuvei had numerous opportunities to “display behavior consistent with the values of our program” and fell short of meeting the standard. The school did not release any more information about Vatuvei’s dismissal.

Vatuvei played in nine games and had seven tackles last season as a freshman. He was a highly regarded recruit coming out of Patterson, Calif., and was expected to be part of the Huskies’ defensive line rotation for the 2013 season.

Pistons trade Knight for Bucks’ Jennings

NBA: A person familiar with the deal tells The Associated Press that the Detroit Pistons have acquired point guard Brandon Jennings from the Milwaukee Bucks for point guard Brandon Knight and two prospects.

• Bobcats sign Henderson: The Charlotte Bobcats have announced they’ve re-signed shooting guard Gerald Henderson.

A person familiar with the situation had said the deal is worth $18 million over three seasons with a player option for the third season.

• Miller returns to Grizzlies: Mike Miller says one of his first calls after the Miami Heat decided to amnesty him was to the Memphis Grizzlies’ chief executive officer.

The guard said he and Jason Levien had the same idea — his return to Memphis would a perfect fit.

The Grizzlies announced that they had signed the best 3-point shooter in franchise history.

• Pelicans sign Withey: The New Orleans Pelicans say 7-foot center Jeff Withey has signed his rookie contract.

The club is not releasing the terms of the deal with the former Kansas standout.

Stewart survives wreck in Canada

Miscellany: Tony Stewart was not injured in a scary accident at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, in which his sprint car rolled five times

The three-time NASCAR champion will sit out a pair of races this weekend as his team takes its cars to Indiana for repairs.

• Police continue search: Police divers have returned for a second day of searching in a lake in the Connecticut hometown of Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots player who is charged with murder.

Authorities have declined to comment on the search at Pine Lake, a 54-acre man-made lake in Bristol, except to confirm it is related to the Hernandez investigation.

Authorities believe Odin Lloyd was killed with a .45-caliber Glock, which hasn’t been recovered.