Night 2 of the Short Course World Championships ended with an explosion of records in the mixed 4×50 medley relay.
Russia (under the neutral flag) led the final from start to finish, posting a 1:35.36 to down the national and European records. The team included Miron Lifinstev, Kirill Prigoda, Arina Surkova, and Daria Trofimova. The previous European record of 1:36.01 belonged to Italy (Lorenzo Mora, Nicolo Martinenghi, Silvia di Pietro, Costanza Cocconcelli) from 2022 Short Course Worlds.
Within Russia’s relay, 18-year-old Lifinstev rocketed a 22.39 50 backstroke lead-off. This is faster than the current world junior record of 22.52, set by Australia’s Isaac Cooper from 2022 Worlds. Though this is a mixed relay, Lifinstev will swim the individual 50 backstroke tomorrow for a potential three more chances at the official record.
Below Russia, records fell throughout the scoreboard. Silver medalists Canada (Kylie Masse, Finlay Mox, Ilya Kharun, Ingrid Wilm) established a new national record in 1:35.94.
Coming in 4th and 7th respectively, Australia and Japan broke records for their continents.
The Aussie squad of Isaac Cooper, Joshua Yong, Alexandria Perkins, and Meg Harris fired off a 1:36.78 Oceanian record together. This cuts another .99 off the 1:37.77 record that their prelims squad established this morning.
Not far behind Australia, Japan’s foursome of Kaiya Seki, Taku Taniguchi, Mizuki Hirai, and Yume Jinno combined for a new Asian record of 1:37.29.
The world record of 1:35.15, set by the United States in 2022, remains intact. Tonight, the American team of Shane Casas, Michael Andrew, Regan Smith, and Katherine Berkoff posted a 1:36.20 for bronze.
