American And Australian Men Tie World Record In 4×100 Medley Relay — 3:18.98

2022 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

In one of the most exciting races of the 2022 Short Course World Championships, the American and Australian men tied to break the world record in the 4×100 medley relay with a time of 3:18.98. They become the first two teams in history sub-3:19, taking down the previous, super-suited standard of 3:19.16 set by the Russians in 2009. The Italians, who finished in third, swam a 3:19.06 to also get under the previous world record. They set a new European record with their team.

America’s Ryan Murphy gave his team the early lead with a 48.96 backstroke leg, the only one in the field sub-49. Nic Fink continued that lead by splitting 54.88 on breast, which was the fastest split in the race by over half a second. Trenton Julian’s 49.19 fly split was enough to keep the Americans in the lead, but Australia’s Matt Temple and Italy’s Matteo Rivolta split 48.34 and 48.50 respectively to close the gap.

On the freestyle leg, it seemed like the Italians were going to win and break to world record, as Alessandro Miressi, who split 45.56, had pulled them to the lead until the final few meters. However, Australia’s Kyle Chalmers had a monster 44.63 anchor to help his team go from third to first, while Kieran Smith‘s 45.95 anchor leg was somehow just enough for the United States to tie the Aussies for the win.

Notably, Chalmers scratched the individual 200 free to be on this relay, which clearly paid off in the end.

Down below are the splits from the top three teams in the race, as well as the splits from Russia’s old world record.

United States, 2022 Short Course World Championships Australia, 2022 Short Course World Championships Italy, 2022 Short Course World Championships Russia, 2009 Vladmir Salinkov Cup
Back Ryan Murphy — 48.96 Isaac Cooper — 49.46 Lorenzo Mora — 49.48 Stanislav Donets — 49.63
Breast Nic Fink — 54.88 Joshua Yong — 56.55 Nicolo Martinenghi — 55.52 Sergey Geybel — 56.43
Fly Trenton Julian — 49.19 Matt Temple — 48,34 Matteo Rivolta — 48.50 Yevgeny Korotyshkin — 48.35
Free Kieran Smith — 45.95 Kyle Chalmers — 44.63 Alessandro Miressi — 45.56 Danila Izotov — 44.75
Total 3:18.98 3:18.98 3:19.05 3:19.16

 

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MIKE IN DALLAS
2 years ago

The best fairy-tale ending I’ve seen in a LONG time!

homey looking skinny
2 years ago

chalmers earned a few chrissy puds after this week. Keen to see him get the mongrel back for 23 and 24

jeff
2 years ago

man haha neither of them swimming the 200 final (and prelims for charmers) really ended up being the best option

Beginner Swimmer at 25
2 years ago

Smith trying to hold off Chalmers at the end was like 1 square inch flex tape trying to contain a tsunami

Anonymous
2 years ago

Yes Nic Fink saved the Americans

Adam H.
2 years ago

Miressi’s reaction time being 0.56 on the anchor hurts for Italy; if he had even an average reaction time and the same swim in the water that’s a solo WR.

PFA
2 years ago

I would say this was the biggest surprise of the meet loved the ending to this meet it has been very entertaining.

Last edited 2 years ago by PFA
Tomek
2 years ago

It looked to me that USA was to finish third when suddenly Smith found some inner strength to accelarate on last few strokes forba tie, I was stunned

Anonymous
Reply to  Tomek
2 years ago

Not making the 200 free final allowed him to get some rest.

About Yanyan Li

Yanyan Li

Although Yanyan wasn't the greatest competitive swimmer, she learned more about the sport of swimming by being her high school swim team's manager for four years. She eventually ventured into the realm of writing and joined SwimSwam in January 2022, where she hopes to contribute to and learn more about …

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