World Aquatics has dropped the mixed 400 free relay from the World Aquatics Championships schedule, now fully aligning the programs of the signature World Aquatics event with the Olympic Games.
The event will still be held at the World Junior Swimming Championships.
With the World Championships in the pre-Olympic year being reimagined as a more direct line to the Olympic Games, including World Championship-only qualification pathways in the 50 meter stroke events, the alignment of the schedules will simplify organization. Now the two meets can have matching event lineups, allowing the World Championships to be a better preparation for the Olympic Games.
The mixed 400 free relay was first added for the 2015 World Championships. The United States won in 2015, 2017, and 2019; Australia won in 2022 and 2023; China won in the lightly-attended 2024 championship; and the United States got back on top in 2025 with a relay of Jack Alexy, Patrick Sammon, Kate Douglass, and Torri Huske.
The 2027 World Aquatics Championships will be held in World Aquatics’ new headquarters city of Budapest.
All-Time Medalists, Mixed 400 Free Relay, World Aquatics Championships
Neutral Athletes B (NAB)*Swimmers who participated in the heats only.
Above table courtesy: Wikipedia
Short Course Worlds
World Aquatics has also altered the relay event lineup at the Short Course World Championships.
Previously, the 200, 400, and 800 free relays, plus the 200 and 400 medley relays, were swum for each sex, with a mixed 200 free and mixed 200 medley relay.
Now that lineup will more closely mirror the Olympics as well, though not exactly. Both men and women will swim separate 400 and 800 free relays, plus a 400 medley relay. The mixed events will be the 200 free and 200 medley relays and the 400 medley relay.
That means no more separated 200 meter events by sex, and an additional mixed medley relay. While the 200 meter men’s and women’s races remained in the official rulebook last year, they were not actually contested at the 2024 World Short Course Championships.
In 2022, Australia won the men’s 200 free relay, Italy won the men’s 200 medley relay, the United States won the women’s 200 free relay, and Australia won the women’s 200 medley relay.
The 2026 World Short Course Championships will be held in Beijing, China.
These events brought nothing extra to the sport….except events. It was an experiment that just fizzled out.
The mixed relays are popular among the general public.
Night swim was right again. 😉
A point rarely mentioned is the US/AUS dominance in relays in the last few years. As they basically medal in all relays, that leaves one relay medal for the 200 other countries!
Getting rid of two 4×50 events at world short course is the opposite direction the sport needs to take from a purely viewership standpoint. Short explosive and close relays are always much more fun to watch.
The problem is that they film from the side, making it impossible to see anything aside from water splashing. Would be better if they had combined filming from underwater and above the swimmers.
I would prefer they get rid of mixed medley which is actually just a complete Mickey Mouse sideshow event, but both mixed relays are a bit pointless.
Looks like Comm Games might be the last time this is ever contested at a major event
With relays and individual, you can still swim the 100 free 9 times in the meet. We’ve seen that movie.
Clear some of that out to make way for freak show events like fin swimming, 1600 IM, underwater swimming, or obstacle swimming. (At Worlds, not Olympics, though those last two were Olympic events 🙂
Sure they were kinda cool, but just too gimmicky. I feel like medals shouldn’t be handed out right and left and 5 relays is just too much.
So this means that the infamous 200 free French relay from 2008 when everyone went 19 is going to stay “world leading” time forever