London Roar Relay Breaks Australian Record at ISL – Lewisville Meet

2019 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE: GROUP B, MATCH 1

  • Saturday, October 19th – Sunday, October 20th
  • 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Central Time
  • The LISD Westside Aquatic Center – Lewisville, TX
  • Short Course Meters (SCM)
  • Group B: Iron, LA Current, London Roar, New York Breakers

The London Roar’s winning 400 medley relay on Sunday at the Lewisville stop of the International Swimming League may have been representing a “British team,” but all 4 athletes are of Australian nationality, and the group combined to swim under the Australian Record in the final.

The relay of Minna AthertonJess HansenEmma McKeon, and Cate Campbell combined to swim a 3:47.91, which easily broke the 2010 record of 3:48.88. What’s more, the Australian/Roar relay probably left more than a second in the water – with anchor Cate Campbell hitting the water 2.5 seconds ahead of the LA Current’s 2nd-place relay, she was able to cruise to a win. She split 52.0 on the anchor – which actually still extended their lead – but she was 50.8 in a relay earlier in the meet, and is the World Record holder in short course meters at 50.25 (on a flat start – which was at a similar time of year as this weekend’s meet in 2017).

The big difference-maker was Minna Atherton, who was one of the pleasant surprises as Group B opened this weekend. She swam a 55.45, which is the 4th-fastest performance in history, a US Open Record, and very-nearly an Australian Record.

Old Record New Record
Rachel Goh 57.39 Minna Atherton 55.45
Leisel Jones 1:03.76 Jess Hansen 1:04.73
Felicity Galves 55.56 Emma McKeon 55.67
Marieke Guehrer 52.17 Cate Campbell 52.06
Total Time 3:48.88 Total Time 3:47.91

The World Record in the relay is 3:45.20, which was set by a U.S. team at the 2015 Duel in the Pool meet.

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Verram
4 years ago

So do these records officially count ? Or do they need FINA ratification ?

Troyy
Reply to  Verram
4 years ago

National records are separate from FINA.

Coach John
Reply to  Troyy
4 years ago

has Australia said if they will recognize these records though? I know USA has but haven’t heard an offical word from other countries.

I’m guessing we wont hear for another 4-8 weeks until their respective boards (NGB’s) can meet and approve it.

torchbearer
Reply to  Verram
4 years ago

Will be funny having the Australian Record held by London Roar…

Verram
Reply to  torchbearer
4 years ago

Will it count as Oceania record though ?

Coach John
Reply to  Verram
4 years ago

those are FINA’s records, so no. unless this is one of the 2/8 competitions that FINA has hastily approved.

Blackflag317
Reply to  Braden Keith
4 years ago

Probably. Likely, FINA realized it might not look very good for their image if a handful of national records ended up being faster that the “world” records.

John
Reply to  Braden Keith
4 years ago

It’s much more nuanced then this. There are the actual reasons they originally declined sanctioning (conflict with other FINA event, not within 6 month sanction period) and the behind the seasons reason (stop a direct competitor, backlash, optics).

They likely caved a little to stem the criticism

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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