USA Taps Murphy-Fink-Huske-Douglass for Mixed Medley Relay Final (ALL LINEUPS)

2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 23 to 30, 2023
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Marine Messe Fukuoka
• LCM (50m)
• WORLD CHAMPS WATCH PARTY – DAILY
• Meet Central
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• Entry Book
• Live Results (Omega)
• Day 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Live Recap | Day 4 Finals Live Recap

Mixed Medley Final Relay Lineups

Start lists for the mixed medley relay final are out, and there aren’t really any big surprises. Every nation has seemingly learned their lesson and opted for a male breaststroker. The majority of the teams, including China and the U.S. are using a M/M/F/F order.

The exceptions are Great Britain, Australia, and Canada. Before we get into it, here’s a reminder of how things stand after prelims:

MIXED 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY – PRELIMS

• World Record: Great Britain – 3:37.58 (2021)
• Championship Record: United States – 3:38.56 (2017)
• 2022 World Champion: United States – 3:38.79
• 2022 World Champs Top 8: 3:46.54

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. United States – 3:40.47
2. Australia – 3:40.87
3. Netherlands – 3:41.45
4. China – 3:42.49
5. Great Britain – 3:43.47
6. Canada – 3:44.32
7. Japan – 3:44.79
8. Germany – 3:45.34

So, as we expected after their prelims lineup was revealed, the United States has turned to Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Torri Huske, and Kate Douglass for finals. Fink and Huske were on the finals relay last year, and Murphy swam in the morning heats.

In a separate article, we added up this team’s aggregate time to be 3:39.83. On paper, it may not be the fastest lineup the U.S. could come up with, but it’s certainly the safest. Given the constraints of the schedule–mainly Regan Smith’s 200 fly/50 back double earlier in the session, it’s too much of a risk to make her do a triple.

That leaves them with using a male backstroker–Murphy, given his performance yesterday–so, the rest of the pieces fill themselves in. Huske has historically been a bit slower on relays than she is on a flat start, but perhaps a reduced schedule from last year means that won’t be the case here.

Meanwhile, China brings in Zhang Yufei for the fly leg. Zhang is the 2020 Olympic champion in the 200 fly, but she dropped that event in prelims, reportedly to focus on this relay. The Chinese swimmers have exceeded all expectations at this meet, and they’re clearly eyeing the gold medal and possibly the world record line.

They’ve gone with Xu Jiayu on backstroke, Qin Haiyang on breaststroke, and Cheng Yujie on freestyle. Based on the math, they’re ahead of the U.S. by about a half-second, and now they’ve gotten Zhang out of the double, which only improves their chances. China finished sixth last year, with but the way the team has been swimming, particularly Qin, they’re serious medal contenders.

Like the U.S. and China, Australia has brought on its 100 stroke champion. Fresh off her victory in the 100 backstroke last night, Kaylee McKeown will lead off for the Aussies. She’s followed by Zac Stubblety-Cook, Matt Temple, and Shayna Jack.

It seemed all but certain they would bring McKeown onto the relay, which left the biggest question for the Australians of who they would turn to for the anchor: Mollie O’Callaghan or Shayna Jack. Both have shown themselves to be on great form here in Fukuoka.

However, it seems that avoiding a double for O’Callaghan won out, giving Jack the spot. Jack isn’t exactly a consolation prize though; she threw down some serious speed on the Aussie women’s 4×100 free relay (prelims and finals), including a 51.69 rolling split on their world record effort. If the race is close, Jack could be the difference maker for the Australians.

Like the Australians, Great Britain has opted for a F/M/M/F lineup of Medi Harris, James Wilby, Jacob Peters, and Anna Hopkin. This wasn’t exactly a surprise either; the Brits don’t have the male backstroke speed they need in order to be competitive with a M/M/F/F lineup.

Great Britain is the world record holder in this event, but we’re expecting them to have only an outside chance at the podium. The three teams in the middle of the pool seem to have the podium locked down, and now it’s more about fighting for the medal colors.

The only team that’s not using either a F/M/M/F or M/M/F/F lineup is Canada. Out of lane seven, the Canadians will be rolling with a F/M/F/M lineup of Kylie Masse, James Dergousoff, Maggie MacNeil, and Ruslan Gaziev. While this is more of an untraditional relay order, it makes sense that the Canadians have turned to MacNeil. So far, she’s won their only medal in the pool–silver in the women’s 200 fly. That’s showed that she’s going well here in Fukuoka. And, if you’re not going to deploy Josh Liendo on this relay at all, it’s probably the smartest move. Under the same logic, so is using Ruslan Gaziev. Gaziev had a monster split for them on their fourth place men’s 4×100 free relay, splitting a team-best 47.30.