Aussies, Italians DQed In Men’s 400 Free Relay Final For False Starts

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Italy and Australia were anticipated to battle for the medals in the men’s 400 free relay with the U.S., Brazil, and Russia, but when they touched they finished out of the medals.

After the initial disappointment of missing a top three finish, they soon found out they had both been disqualified.

Sitting 4th heading into the final leg, Australian anchor Alexander Graham jumped early, registering a reaction time of -0.09. Swimming 2nd for Italy, Ivano Vendrame had a reaction of -0.04 to disqualify the Italians. The legal limit is a reaction of -0.02.

Prior to the false start none of the Australians had particularly impressive legs, with Cameron McEvoy a relatively flat 48.04 swimming 3rd. The Italians also had just a so-so lead-off from Luca Dotto (48.64)

Australia sat 2nd and Italy 4th in the event after the prelims.

The Americans powered to gold, regaining the World title for the first time since 2009. Caeleb Dressel led them off in an American Record of 47.26, and Nathan Adrian anchored in a solid 47.25 for a final time of 3:10.06.

The Brazilians, who weren’t really in the medal picture in Rio, had an amazing swim to grab the silver, nearly running down the US. Marcelo Chierighini registered a blistering 46.85 leg, and Bruno Fratus actually out-split Adrian (47.18) on the anchor.

Much to the delight of the home crowd, the Hungarians, who were nowhere to be seen last year, came in for bronze thanks to a sizzling 47.21 anchor from ASU grad Richard Bohus. They cleared Russia (3:12.58) by over half a second in 3:11.99.