Day 3 Relay Analysis: Chalmers Clutch For Aussies; McKeon, Douglass Hit 22.7 Free Legs

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The relay world record streak came to an end on Day 3 in Melbourne, but despite the fact that all-time marks didn’t fall in the 200 free relays, we were still treated to some blistering times and enthralling showdowns.

The U.S. ended the Australian women’s run by winning in the 200 free relay, with Emma McKeon and Kate Douglass producing two of the fastest splits ever on the anchor leg, and Kyle Chalmers came from behind to earn the Aussies an epic win in the men’s event by four one-hundredths of a second.

Let’s dive into the splits:

WOMEN’S 200 FREE RELAY

Lead-off Splits

There wasn’t much separating the top teams on the lead off, with Anna Hopkin giving the Brits a slight edge in 23.94, nearing her fastest time since 2019 (23.89 last year at SC Euros). Hopkin’s PB sits at 23.70 from 2018.

Meg Harris and Torri Huske were a tenth apart for the Aussies and Americans, who would battle throughout the entire race, while Sara Junevik continued to show her excellent form for Sweden, knocking a significant chunk off her previous best time of 24.40 in 24.13.

Flying Splits

Emma McKeon couldn’t quite run down Kate Douglass on the anchor leg—that’s because both women were swimming about as fast as anyone ever has.

McKeon anchored the Aussies in a scintillating 22.73 (0.16 reaction), just .03 back of the fastest ever, with Dutch legend Ranomi Kromowidjojo having twice been 22.70 (2009 and 2010).

Douglass was two-tenths slower off the blocks than McKeon with a 0.37 reaction time, but was just .04 slower overall in 22.77, which ranks her as the third-fastest performer of all-time. Kromowidjojo also had a 22.73 split in 2015 (on a mixed relay).

With Douglass and McKeon essentially canceling each other out, it was the splits from Claire Curzan (23.30) and Erika Brown (23.74) that propelled the Americans to victory, as they gained nearly half a second over Australia’s Madi Wilson (23.51) and Mollie O’Callaghan (24.01) over the middle 100.

Curzan also had the fastest reaction time in the field at .04, while O’Callaghan was slowest among those with a takeover at 0.52.

Michelle Coleman was sub-23.5 for Sweden, splitting 23.28 to mark the fastest of her career, having been 23.38 last year in Abu Dhabi.

MEN’S 200 FREE RELAY

Lead-off Splits

The men’s race saw nothing jaw-dropping on the opening leg with no one under 21 seconds, as American David Curtiss led the field in 21.16 to improve on his 21.34 from the prelims.

Alessandro Miressi was essentially right on his best time for Italy in 21.22, while Japan’s Kosuke Matsui, who was quickest leading off in the heats in 21.14, ended up adding a tad and touching fifth.

Flying Splits

The Australians sat in fifth place at the final exchange, but Kyle Chalmers came back in absolutely epic fashion in front of the home crowd, splitting 20.34 to give the Aussies a narrow win by .04.

Chalmers had a .21 reaction, was marginally the fastest man to the feet in 9.59, and then came home better than anyone over the last 25 meters in 10.75.

Only six others in the field came back under 11 seconds, and five of them were between 10.97 and 10.99. The lone man who nearly matched Chalmers’ closing speed was Ukraine’s Vladyslav Bukhov, who was 9.69/10.78 for a blistering 20.47 leg, the second-fastest in the field.

Sub-11 Back Half Splits

• Kyle Chalmers (AUS), 10.75
• Vladyslav Bukhov  (UKR), 10.78
• Sergio de Celis Montalban (ESP), 10.97
• Alessandro Miressi (ITA), 10.98
• Leonardo Deplano (ITA), 10.99
• Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 10.99
• Masahiro Kawane (JPN), 10.99

Chalmers doesn’t have a 50 free relay split on record prior to this swim, but his flat start best sits at 20.68.

Leonardo Deplano (20.59) and Thomas Ceccon (20.67) had the third and fourth-fastest splits to launch Italy into the lead with 50 meters to go, while Matt Temple had a critical 20.75 second leg for the Aussies to keep them in the hunt.

Thom de Boer was 20.72 on the Dutch anchor, good to earn them the bronze medal, though he was significantly faster (20.56) in the prelims (Temple was also slightly faster in the heats at 20.71).

The Americans opted to keep their prelim lineup intact and they got nearly the same result, going .04 faster to place fifth in 1:24.03. Notably, Michael Andrew wasn’t used, with him having the 100 IM semis earlier in the session.