Great Britain Sets A New European Record in the Mixed 4×100 Free Relay With A 3:21.68

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In the last event of the penultimate night of 2023 Worlds, the British team of Matt Richards, Duncan Scott, Anna Hopkin, and Freya Anderson set a new mixed 4×100 freestyle relay European record. The quartet combined for a total time of 3:21.68, breaking the previous record of 3:21.81 by .13 seconds.

This is also the first time that Great Britain has gotten on the podium in this race since the event was first introduced to the World Championships in 2015.

The Netherlands had held the previous European record since 2017, when they had legendary sprinters Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk to bring them home on the back half of the race.

“It was a great race. I think we all put together a really good swim there for what’s been a busy meet for all four of us,” said Richards, the lead off man. Richards reset the men’s 100 freestyle British record three times during the course of the meet. On this relay he opened in 47.83, touching second behind the U.S.’s Jack Alexy. 

Scott fired off a 47.46 split, briefly giving the Brits the lead. Anna Hopkin, who dropped the individual 100 freestyle, turned in a 53.30 then handed things off the Freya Anderson, who anchored in 53.09.

Where the 2017 Dutch relay was powered by the women, it was the British men’s splits that helped them get under the old record. Take a look at the splits breakdown below.

Split Comparison, GB vs. Dutch Mixed 4×100 Free European Record 

The biggest difference comes on the lead off legs, as Richards was 1.29 seconds faster than Ben Schwietert. That gave the Brits a healthy lead over world record pace, which Scott extended by also beating his counterpart’s split, albeit by a smaller margin.

Richards and Scott’s splits gave them a enough of a lead over the 2017 team Dutch team that as she came charging home, Anderson was able to get her hand on the wall just ahead of the previous mark.

All four of these athletes are done with the individual portion of their meets, but may factor on Great Britain’s medley relays, both of which go off tomorrow, the final day of competition at these World Championships.