Team USA’s quartet of Daniel Diehl, Maximus Williamson, Hudson Williams, and Jason Zhao set a new world junior record in the boys’ 4×100 freestyle relay with a time of 3:15.49 on the opening night of the World Junior Swimming Championships on Monday.
Williamson celebrated his 17th birthday with a monster 47.78 split on the second leg, bringing the U.S. back from 4th place to 1st at the halfway point — more than a second ahead of 2nd-place Australia. His split was just a hundredth of a second slower than Chris Guiliano‘s relay split at this year’s World Championships.
🇺🇸 Team USA with a fantastic swim to set the new WOOOOORLD JUNIOR RECORD in the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay 💪💪 ⏱️ 3:15.49 #Swimming pic.twitter.com/x2HGOu0qGG
— World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) September 4, 2023
Diehl (49.93), Williamson (47.78), Williams (49.14), and Zhao (48.64) combined to take a few tenths off the previous world junior record of 3:15.79 set by the U.S. last August at Junior Pan Pacs.
Split Comparison, New and Old Records
| USA – 2023 WORLD JUNIORS | USA – 2022 JUNIOR PAN PACS | |
| 100 | Daniel Diehl — 49.93 | Thomas Heilman — 49.14 |
| 200 | Maximus Williamson — 47.78 | Henry McFadden — 49.04 |
| 300 | Hudson Williams — 49.14 | Daniel Diehl — 48.66 |
| 400 | Jason Zhao — 48.64 | Kaii Winkler — 48.95 |
| Total | 3:15.49 | 3:15.79 |
This is your LIVEBARN Race of the Week because Williamson was the fastest in the field by a wide margin — Australia’s Flynn Southam was the next-quickest with a 48.47 anchor leg — establishing himself as an intriguing U.S. relay piece at the Paris 2024 Olympics along with LA 2028.
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