2022 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18, 2022
- Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, Melbourne, Australia
- SCM (25m)
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On Saturday, the Australian quartet of Mollie O’Callaghan, Chelsea Hodges, Emma McKeon, and Madi Wilson broke the women’s 4×50 medley relay world record in a time of 1:42.35, taking 0.03 seconds off the United States’ old world record from the 2018 Short Course World Championships.
O’Callaghan led things off with a 25.49 backstroke leg, breaking her own Oceanic record time of 25.61 from the individual 50 back finals yesterday, and holding off 50 back silver medalist Claire Curzan. O’Callaghan now overtakes Curzan’s 25.54 to become the second-fastest performer of all-time in the 50 back, just behind world record holder Maggie MacNeil.
Following O’Callaghan, Hodges split 29.11 on breast, which was faster than anyone else in the field besides Lilly King who went 29.00. McKeon then split a 24.43 50 fly, and Wilson’s 23.32 on free was just enough to keep a charging Kate Douglass (who anchored the Americans with a blistering 22.72) at bay.
Although the Aussies broke the world record, this race was extremely close, as the Americans and Swedes swam times of 1:42.41 and 1:42.43 respectively and were both just a few hundredths off the old world record.
Splits Comparison:
| Australia, 2022 Short Course Worlds (New World Record) | United States, 2018 Short Course Worlds (Former World Record) | United States, 2022 Short Course Worlds | Sweden, 2022 Short Course Worlds | |
| Back | Mollie O’Callaghan — 25.49 | Olivia Smoliga — 25.97 | Claire Curzan — 25.75 | Louise Hansson — 25.86 |
| Breast | Chelsea Hodges — 29.11 | Katie Meili — 29.29 | Lilly King — 29.00 | Kiara Thormalm — 29.34 |
| Fly | Emma McKeon — 24.43 | Kelsi Dahlia — 24.02 | Torri Huske — 24.94 | Sara Junevik — 24.06 |
| Free | Madi Wilson — 23.32 | Mallory Comerford — 23.10 | Kate Douglass — 22.72 | Michelle Coleman — 23.17 |
| Total | 1:42.35 | 1:42.38 | 1:42.41 | 1:42.43 |
Man, that was a close as it gets. Another 2ft of pool and the Aussies could have been easily third in that race. US and Sweden were coming on like freight trains at the end. But the US lost the race on their exchanges…
USA relay exchanges were not quick according to the data, but in real time they looked even worse.
Whoah what a race