2022 SC World Championships: Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay Analysis

2022 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18, 2022
• Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, Melbourne, Australia
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Day 6 Finals Live Recap Post

The 2022 Short Course World Championships wrapped up in epic fashion, including world records in both the women’s and men’s 4×100 medley relays. Here’s a quick look at the split comparison for the women’s race, as well as a visualization of the race for gold between the US and Australia.

Back

Canada got out to an early lead, thank to a 55.36 backstroke leadoff from Ingrid Wilm. Notably, that’s faster than the 55.49 Australia’s Kaylee McKeown swam for gold in the individual event. Wilm tied the USA’s Claire Curzan for bronze individually with a time of 55.74.

Breast

Lilly King put the US back into the thick of things with a 1:02.88 breaststroke split, the fastest in the field. That time was just a bit off of the 1:02.67 King swam for individual gold, but she was still the only swimmer on the relay leg to go under 1:03.5.

Fly

Australia closed the gap to some extent with a 53.93 fly split from Emma McKeon. That was the fastest fly leg by exactly 0.60s, with Torri Huske providing a 54.93 split for the USA.

Free

After Kate Douglass split 54.46 on the fly leg in prelims, there some chatter about whether she would swim fly or free for the finals. The decision to have Douglass anchor seems to have been the right call, as she stormed home in 50.47 to give the USA the gold and the world record. Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands, who won the 100 IM and earned bronze in the 100 free with a 51.25, tied Douglass for the fastest anchor leg in the field.

In the end, the US won in a world record time of 3:44.35, lowering the previous mark of 3:44.52, which the US set two years ago. The Australians kept it close to the US the whole way, ultimately touching 2nd in 3:44.92, while Canada secured 3rd at 3:46.22.

To see the race in another way, check out the visual below, courtesy of Flourish.