2024 SC Worlds Event Preview: With No Front Runners Predicting Mixed Relays Is Nigh Impossible

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With so many late withdrawals, the condensed schedule, and the small team sizes, many nations may have entered the mixed relays but could scratch or declare false start their relays, so our guesses are as good as anyone but we will certainly do our best to outline the major contenders, but as the entry list make no distinction between SCM and LCM times, it is possible we may overlook some teams purely based on the variable entry times and therefore any guesses at time would be entirely unreliable as each LCM time would need to be converted.

Mixed 4×50 Medley Relay PREVIEW

• World Record: 1:35.15 – United States (2022)
• World Championship Record: 1:35.15 – United States (2022)
• 2022 SC World Champion: United States – 1:35.15
• Returning 2022 SC World Finalists: United States (Gold), Italy (Silver), Canada (Bronze), Great Britain (4th), China (5th), Japan (6th), Netherlands (DQ)

Two years ago, the United States team of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Kate Douglass, and Torri Huske combined to set a new World Record of 1:35.15, taking down the mark set by the Dutch in 2021. The American squad was a perfect combination of swimmers, and the team’s strengths fell into the most prevalent relay order of MMFF. As did the silver medal-winning team from Italy, whose 1:36.01 not only rewrote the European record but made the Italians the second-fastest performers in the event. Fast forward two years and most teams have found themselves in very different positions.

The USA, missing Murphy, Fink, and Huske, will need to scramble to find replacements. The US has only one entrant in both the men’s 50 back and 50 breast, and they happen to be the same swimmer, Michael Andrew; therefore, unless the US opts for Jack Aikins or Shaine Casas (he did swim back in the prelims in 2022) one of the legs will likely be filled by a women. The obvious pick would be the backstroke as their duties likely will fall to Regan Smith or Katharine Berkoff, and Michael Andrew‘s breaststroke will likely be more impactful than Lily King‘s.

With the fly and free leg left to be filled, it would seem more beneficial to put Kate Douglass or Gretchen Walsh on the fly and anchor with Jack Alexy or Chris Guiliano, but either of the UVA-trained swimmers could be flexed to the free just as easily; however, that leaves the fly leg to either Michael Andrew, who is already in the breaststroke or to Dare Rose, whose entry in the 50 fly is in long course meters and doesn’t have the short course meter racing experience that Douglass and Andrew do.

The Italians will also suffer from absences as their star breaststroke and Olympic Champion, Nicolo Martinenghi, will not be competing, and neither will their anchor, Constanza Cocconcelli. The other two legs, Lorenzo Mora and Silvia Di Pietro return, and it would seem like the easiest move would be to just replace Martinenghi with a male breaststroker like Simone Cerasuolo and slot in Sara Curtis for the free. However, Benedetta Pilatto, a former long course WR holder, is in the 50 breast and if she were to take over those duties, that would potentially allow Lorenzo Zazzeri to take on the anchor role.

The Canadians, winners of the last edition’s bronze medal, set a new national record of 1:39.93 despite using backstroke/freestyler Javier Acevedo on the breaststroke leg. With potential medalists in the women’s backstroke (Kylie Masse and Ingrid Wilm) and in the men’s 50 fly (Ilya Kharun), Canada’s likely relay order comes down to whether or not they wish to use a female breaststroker. Sophie Angus, Sydney Pickrem, and Alexanne LePage are all on the roster, but so too is Finlay Knox, and if they use a male breaststroker, then Penny Oleksiak likely will get the nod to anchor.

With a small team even by their standards, the Brits will look to form a new squad as they return no legs from 2022. With no female entrants in any of the backstrokes, the first leg will most likely be taken up by Oliver Morgan. Breastroke duties could fall to Archie Goodburn, but that leaves Eva Okaro on the fly leg and Freya Anderson on free. if they opt to use Angharad Evans on the breast, then Jacob Peters would take on the fly leg, and either Anderson or Okaro on the free. With the loss of the likes of Adam Peaty and Anna Hopkin, Team GB will be hard-pressed to maintain a top 4 finish.

Looking to jump up into the medal conversation are the teams from China and Australia. The Chinese were 5th in 2022, and could build a strong team but have the difficult task of choosing between Qin Haiyang and Tang Qianting. They lose Zheng Yufei and Wu Qingfeng on the backhalf, but if Qin is on form, then going MMFF may be their best bet, as China is lacking sprinting depth on the men’s side, especially in butterfly.

Australia is the antithesis of China, as they lack that true breaststroke power, but Joshua Yong‘s improvement is a positive sign. Isaac Cooper, a favorite to win the 50 back, will likely get the lead-off nod, and that leaves the last two legs to Alexandria Perkins and Meg Harris, two experienced swimmers for the Aussies. On paper, the relay is up there with the best of them, but in 2022, the Aussie failed to advance out of prelims, so they would be wise to avoid such a mistake again.

The Dutch return much of their relay from 2022, with only their anchor Thom de Boer not making the trip. With only four men, and two of them breaststrokers the Dutch have limited options. The most likely relay consists of either Kira Toussaint or Maaike de Waard leading off, Caspar Corbeau and Nyls Korstanje forming a tough middle and de Waard (if not on back) or Milou van Wijk on the anchor leg.

The big disruptor to the 2022 order of finish are the Russian Athletes, who will be competing under the Neutral Athletes B banner. The Russians have a strong front half with Miron Lifintsev and Evgeniia Chikunova. They could opt to use Kirill Prigoda, but with a female breast, Neutral Athletes B can employ Andrei Minakov or Roman Shevliakov on the fly and Arina Surkova for free.

As with any preview, any number of things are up in the air, and in a relay, that factor considerably increases, so these predictions are, at best, semi-informed guesses.

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4

Mixed 4×50 Free Relay PREVIEW

• World Record: 1:27.33 – France (2022)
• World Championship Record: 1:27.33 – France (2022)
• 2022 SC World Champion: France – 1:27.33
• Returning 2022 SC World Finalists: Australians (Silver), Netherlands (Bronze), United States (4th), Japan (5th), China (6th), Brazil (8th)

In 2022, the French quartet of Maxime Grousset, Florent Manaudou, Beryl Gastaldello, and Melanie Henique combined to not only win by .7 of a second but also set a new World Record, lowering the mark from 1:27.89 to 1:27.33.  With three of the four legs returning, it would be wise to give the advantage to the French, however they opted to not defend their title and have not entered a team.

Runners-up Australia and the Netherlands will look to fill the gap left by the French, but each is missing key components. The Aussies will be without the sprinting giants Kyle Chalmers and Emma McKeon, while the Dutch lose Marrit Steenbergen as well as both of their male legs. The 6th place Chinese team also are much weaker as they lose their first three legs, which includes WR holder Pan Zhanle. In the midst of these absences, it seems like the battle will come down to Australia, the USA, Italy, and the Neutral Athletes B.

The Aussies will rely on Cooper to fill Chalmers’s role and hope that Perkins or Milla Jansen can replicate McKeon’s 22.62 split. The Americans, on the other hand, will hope that a new line-up can herald a return to the podium. Swapping in Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass for Erika Brown and Alex Walsh, the last two legs from 2022, should yield a positive return, but it’ll be up to Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano to set the early pace and not fall too far behind as the Italian’s strength lies in their front half.

In 2022, Italy DNSed the race, but with Alessandro Miressi, Leonardo Deplano, and Lorenzo Zazzeri on the front half and the rapid improvement of Sara Curtis, Italy will need the very best from Silvia di Pietro to try to win gold. The Russian Neutral Athlete B relay will look to rely upon the speed of Arina Surkova and Egor Kornev as a solid foundation but will need strong performances from their other legs to fill in the gaps.

Home nation Hungary fields a strong front half of Nandor Nemeth and Szebasztian Szabo but haven’t yet developed the true sprinting star on the women’s side.

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4

Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay PREVIEW

• World Record:
• World Championship Record:
• 2022 SC World Champion:
• Returning 2022 SC World Finalists:

It is difficult to look in the past to see what historical trends exist and what information can be gleaned from them when the event has never been contested before so much of this preview is going to be similar to the 4×50 mixed relay.

With the Neutral Athletes B team favored to have a medalist in the 100 back and 100 breast on the men’s side, Miron Lifincev and Kirill Prigoda should get their team out to a strong start. Surkova should have also be able to put in strong turn on the fly, leaving whomever they pick to ancho,r whether it be Daria Klepikova or Daria Trofimova a likely lead.

Italy loses Martineghi, which stings but if they opt to remain with a male breastroker, Simone Cesauolo, is seed quite high. Much like in the 4×50, Curtis will get the nod to anchor, leaving the fly leg to Elena Capretta or di Pietro.

The Australians will most likely be best suited by an MMFF order similar to the Russians and Italians, as Cooper and Yong were strong legs on the Men’s 4×100 in Melbourne, and that leaves the last two legs to play into the Women’s team strengths, with Perkins and Harris likely be given that opportunity.

Canada has a few options to play with as they likely will start with Kylie Masse on backstroke and use Ilya Kharun on the fly leg. The breaststroke could be swum by either Angus or Finlay Knox with Yuri Kisil and Penny Oleksiak or Summer McIntosh being given the freestyle leg.

The USA, like the Canadians, will lead off with a female, as Regan Smith is the reigning WR holder. Unless something extraordinary happens, it would appear best to have Michael Andrew swim the breaststroke leg, allowing the USA to use G. Walsh on the fly and either of the two individual entrants, Alexy and Guiliano, on the free.

China falls into the same issue that they faced in the 4×50. They have two outstanding breaststrokers but lack the firepower on the men’s side to make relay assignments obvious. Wang Gukaili is seeded high enough in the men’s 100 back, and he was a member of the 4×50 medley relay in 2022, so he’ll likely fill that role, leaving the fly leg to Chen Luying and the free to Liu Shuhan.

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4