Australian Olympians and Rising Stars Set 100×400 World Record

On Sunday, Australian swimmers of a variety of levels in South East Queensland combined to set the 100×400 free relay world record.

As previously reported, the team included Olympians David McKeonBrittany Elmslie, 2017 FINA World Championships team members Kaylee McKeown and Jack Cartwright, World Junior Team Members Minna Atherton and Gemma Cooney, and open water Worlds team member Josh Santacaterina, among other high-profile swimmers.

Late additions to the race included distance phenom and 2017 Worlds team member Ariarne Titmus, Senior Team IMer Jared Gilliland, open water Worlds team member Kiah Melverton, and three-time national champion Mikayla Messer.

The remainder of the team was made up of registered volunteers.

Swimmers averaged just under five minutes each to finish in 8:18:36.71, obliterating the previous record of 9:02:32. David McKeon led off the race in 4:06.86, and Jack Cartwright waited through 99 other swimmers to anchor in 4:07:

The relay has started with @davidmckeon leading off in a 4:06.46 #gwr #gwrswimwearshack #recordattempt #teameloise #speedo #swimwearshack

Posted by Swimwear Shack on Saturday, September 16, 2017

Speedo ambassador @jack.cartwright__ was the last swimmer bringing it home in an awesome 4:07 to smash the Guinness…

Posted by Swimwear Shack on Sunday, September 17, 2017

The group is waiting on the official certification from Guinness World Records.

At $10 per relay entry along with extra donations, the effort raised over $1000 for the Eloise Gannon Foundation, which raises awareness and develops initiatives to reduce instances of sudden cardiac death in youth.

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Bob
6 years ago

$10 per entry for 100 swimmers is already $1000…

Markster
6 years ago

4:06 for david mckeon? Was this in the ocean?

About Torrey Hart

Torrey Hart

Torrey is from Oakland, CA, and majored in media studies and American studies at Claremont McKenna College, where she swam distance freestyle for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team. Outside of SwimSwam, she has bylines at Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, SB Nation, and The Student Life newspaper.

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