2024 WORLD AQUATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 11th – February 18th, 2024
- Doha, Qatar
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Official Entries
- Live Results
- How To Watch
- Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Recap | Day 4 Finals Recap
The US made a statement swim to win gold in the mixed medley relay on Wednesday in Doha, but not much changed in terms of Olympic qualifying.
The mixed medley relay has been an adventure for Team USA in the past few years, from poor lineup decisions to poor performances, but on Wednesday the group of Hunter Armstrong, Nic Fink, Claire Curzan, and Kate Douglass combined for a 3:40.22. That’s only .03 seconds short of what they did at last year’s World Championships with a full roster at their disposal.
Fink and Douglass both return from the 2023 relay, and both were slower in 2024 than last year, as was Armstrong the leadoff leg vis-a-vis Ryan Murphy (about a second off). But all of that was more-than-made-up-for by Claire Curzan splitting 56.54 on the butterfly leg.
Historically, American coaches have had the luxury in relays, especially in medley relays, of just being able to choose the best swimmers in the world. But as the world has gotten better, and the US’ lineup has gotten more complicated, that selection has become more crucial – especially in this mixed medley relay where there are even more variables. The pieces will often be there for a medal-worthy, or gold medal-worthy, relay, but picking the right ones is more difficult than it used to be.
Aside from that, World Aquatics got at least some relief from the fact that Israel’s mixed 400 medley relay remained in the top 16 and qualified for the Olympics. There have been ongoing negotiations between the Israeli federation and World Aquatics about an alternative pathway for Olympic relay qualifying given that many Israeli swimmers wouldn’t come to Qatar because of ongoing political tensions between the two nations.
Neither organization has reported any conclusions to those conversations, and there are still other Israeli relays on the bubble for Worlds qualifying, but for this race, at least, the need for an extra qualifying meet has been eliminated.
The only movement in the rankings was that Poland improved their seed – though they would have been ‘in’ even without the quarter-second improvement from 2023 Worlds to 2024 Worlds. If any qualified nations decline their spots, South Africa and Spain both improved their qualifying spots, moving past New Zealand to be the top two alternates.
RELAY SELECTION PROCEDURE (IN BRIEF)
The top 3 finishing relays from the 2023 World Championships automatically qualified. The next 13 slots come from the best times among the combination of heats and finals at the 2023 and 2024 World Championships.
Because all of the finalists for 2024 Worlds are in the top 16 relay, the finals tonight won’t impact selections (though it may impact seedings). That means the field is set, pending countries declining their selections.
Their is no host country automatic allocation for the Olympics and France is already qualified thanks to their time from 2023 Worlds. Unlike in past years, there is no “free-for-all” best times in the qualifying period to worry about, so the field should be set at this point, with the exception of any scratches.
The Field
| Rank | Country | Time | Meet |
| 1 | China | 3:38.57 |
2023 Worlds (Finals)
|
| 2 | Australia | 3:39.03 |
2023 Worlds (Finals)
|
| 3 | USA | 3:40.19 |
2023 Worlds (Finals)
|
| 4 | Netherlands | 3:41.45 |
2023 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 5 | Great Britain | 3:43.20 |
2023 Worlds (Finals)
|
| 6 | Canada | 3:43.72 |
2023 Worlds (Finals)
|
| 7 | Japan | 3:44.79 |
2023 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 8 | Germany | 3:45.34 |
2023 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 9 | Sweden | 3:45.85 |
2023 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 10 | Poland | 3:46.04 |
2024 Worlds (Finals)
|
| 11 | France | 3:46.07 |
2023 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 12 | Italy | 3:46.08 |
2023 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 13 | Greece | 3:46.69 |
2023 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 14 | South Korea | 3:47.09 |
2023 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 15 | Israel | 3:47.76 |
2023 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 16 | Brazil | 3:48.00 |
2023 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 1st Alt | South Africa | 3:48.03 |
2024 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 2nd Alt | Spain | 3:49.07 |
2024 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 3rd Alt | New Zealand | 3:49.26 |
2023 Worlds (Prelims)
|
| 4th Alt | Hungary | 3:50.40 |
2024 Worlds (Prelims)
|
One problem for some of the Swedish relays (men’s 400 Free Relay and Mixed relay) will be whether the Swedish Olympic Committee will select them to go to the Olympics or not. They have given the Okay for the women’s 400 Free Relay. I am not completely sure about the Mixed relay, but I believe they have not been given the Okay to go yet. It is not up to the National Swimming Federation or the National Head Coach to say yes or no.
They hadn’t been given the okay to go because they weren’t officially qualified yet. I say the mixed will go as they qualified in 9th and SOK require top 12 potential. The issue is more the men’s 4×1 free because they qualified in 16th.
nothing changed, its just that huske was historically bad on that relay in 2023
A bad day and a mistake can happen.
But, it should not be forgotten that Huske was the key piece for the USA in relays in 2022 in both the freestyle and butterfly.
starting like none of her teammates has done so far in a free relay 52.96.
shes never split below 56 on a flying start to my knowledge. Curzan and Walsh have simular upside with a much higher floor
Why?
Maybe huske would be olympic champion in 100 butterfly.(is one of favourites with yufei, macneil, kohler,Wattel…)
I dont think curzan and gretchen would be champion in this category.
Maybe Gretchen in 100 free but huske is the wolrd champion in 2022, and she should swim the relay. I think that she is the BEST option for relays
We all want Huske to be the unquestioned choice for the final in both medley relays, but in Fukuoka there we were biting our nails just hoping for Gretchen to go 57 mid or better in the women’s relay final. That gets silver or bronze next Summer.
I agree with big fella that Claire seems to have the highest floor of the 3. I really hope she’s in Paris ready to go as an option if anything goes awry like it did in Fukuoka.
unless Huske goes 55 low individually there is no reason to believe she goes sub 56 on that relay, and the fact that theres a chance she goes 58 means that the extra few tenths she could maybe have over curzan are no longer worth it.
Will it be Curzan or Huske at the Olympics on the fly leg?
Finals, I would go with Curzan as of today.. Huske has not shown consistency in relay spots as of yet.
Someday Huske’s big difference with her teammates (55.64) will be shown in the relay.
and it will be the best option without discussion.
Huske was the key piece for the USA in relays in 2022 in both the freestyle and butterfly.
starting like none of her teammates has done so far in a free relay 52.96.
She’s had some great swims but going more than a second slower on the medley relay with relay start than she had in individual 100 fly probably wasn’t one of them.
Probably Huske, but don’t completely rule out Smith-Fink-Dressel-Douglass
If Dressel shows good form at Trials, they could go with this.
Time wise the peak Dressel lineups are the best. His 49.0 split is just insane
Whoever is fastest in Paris! Most likely Huske, Walsh seems pretty close behind. Curzan will have to beat one of them to make the team in fly. And Douglass, if she swims. Shackell’s got a shot too, IMO.
Could be Gretchen
G Walsh would like a word.
I want Torri or Gretchen to be having a great meet and be full of confidence to crush that swim, but if we get Fukuoka 2.0 (which I doubt will happen) I hope Claire is there ready to step up.