2024 Short Course World Championships
- December 10-15, 2024
- Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
- SCM (25m)
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The men’s 4×200 freestyle relay capped an exciting day at the 2024 Short Course World Championships. It was a fitting end to the day, as two world records went down in one race. The team of Luke Hobson, Carson Foster, Shaine Casas, and Kieran Smith demolished the world record by 3.61 seconds, clocking 6:40.51 to win. They led from start to finish and averaged an impressive 1:40.1 across all four splits as they decisively claimed gold.
1st Leg (Flat Start)
| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Team Position Before | Team Position After |
| 1 | Luke Hobson | USA | 1:38.91 | 1 | |
| 2 | Max Giuliani | Australia | 1:40.73 | 2 | |
| 3 | Rafael Miroslaw | Germany | 1:41.25 | 3 | |
| 4 | Filippo Megli | Italy | 1:42.26 | 4 | |
| 5 | Tao Guannan | China | 1:42.76 | 5 | |
| 6 | Tatsuya Murasa | Japan | 1:43.04 | 6 | |
| 7 | Luis Dominguez | Spain | 1:43.17 | 7 | |
| 8 | Dmitrii Zhavoronkov | Neutral Athletes ‘B’ | 1:44.50 | 8 |
The first world record in the event came on the lead-off leg, as Luke Hobson took down Paul Biedermann‘s super-suited 200 freestyle world record. It was the oldest world record on the books, and Hobson blew by it, swimming a 1:38.91 to become the first man to break 1:39 in event history.
Hobson gave the United States a 1.82-second lead on the second-place Australian team after the first 200. Max Giuliani scared Edward Sommerville‘s Oceanian record with his lead-off time of 1:40.73. That swim gave them over a half-second lead on Germany as Rafael Miroslaw turned in the third fastest lead-off with a 1:41.25.
2nd Leg (Flying Start)
| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Team Position Before | Team Position After |
| 1 | Carson Foster | USA | 1:40.77 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Edward Sommerville | Australia | 1:41.03 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Manuel Frigo | Italy | 1:42.15 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Kaii Winkler | Germany | 1:42.32 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Miguel Perez-Godoy Brageli | Spain | 1:42.66 | 7 | 5 |
| 6 | Aleksandr Shchegolev | Neutral Athletes ‘B’ | 1:42.96 | 8 | 7 |
| 7 | Xu Yizhou | China | 1:43.36 | 5 | 6 |
| 8 | Kazushi Imafuku | Japan | 1:48.56 | 6 | 8 |
There wasn’t much change in the field during the second leg of the race. The United States maintained their lead with a 1:40.77 split from Foster. Sommerville will get a chance to lower his 200 free Oceanian record during the individual event, but he was a flying start on this relay, turning in a 1:41.03 split. It was the second-fastest among the second-leg swimmers and kept the Australians second.
The changes in the field all came from the fifth through eighth-place teams. Miguel Perez-Godoy Brageli moved Spain from seventh to fifth with his 1:42.66, while Japan went from sixth to eighth.
3rd Leg (Flying Start)
| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Team Position Before | Team Position After |
| 1 | Shaine Casas | United States | 1:40.34 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Carlos D’Ambrosio | Italy | 1:41.48 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Timo Sorgius | Germany | 1:41.87 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Harrison Turner | Australia | 1:42.21 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | Liu Wudi | China | 1:43.49 | 6 | 6 |
| 6 | Nacho Campos Beas | Spain | 1:43.84 | 5 | 5 |
| 7 | Aleksei Sudarev | Neutral Athletes ‘B’ | 1:44.14 | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | Kaito Tabuchi | Japan | 1:48.82 | 8 | 8 |
Casas kept pushing the United States lead, throwing down a 1:40.34 split. In prelims, he led off with a 1:40.88 in his first time swimming the 200 freestyle in short-course meters. His split was more than a second faster than Carlos D’Ambrosio‘s 1:41.48, which was the second-fastest split among the third-relay swimmers. His split helped Italy move closer to Australia and Germany, who were still in second and third. Harrison Turner split 1:42.21 for Australia, and Timo Sorgius clocked 1:41.87.
4th Leg (Flying Start)
| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Team Position Before | Final Position and Overall Time |
| 1 | Kieran Smith | United States | 1:40.49 | 1 | 1 (6:40.51) |
| 2 | Elijah Winnington | Australia | 1:41.57 | 2 | 2 (6:45.54) |
| 3 | Alberto Razzetti | Italy | 1:41.62 | 4 | 3 (6:47.51) |
| 4 | Roman Akimov | Neutral Athletes ‘B’ | 1:42.29 | 7 | 6 (6:53.89) |
| 5 | Segio de Celis Montalban | Spain | 1:43.07 | 5 | 5 (1:43.07) |
| 6 | He Yubo | China | 1:44.85 | 6 | 7 (6:54.56) |
| 7 | Florian Wellbrock | Germany | 1:44.99 | 3 | 4 (6:50.43) |
| 8 | Daiki Yanagawa | Japan | 1:47.48 | 8 | 8 (7:07.90) |
Kieran Smith brought the Americans home in 1:40.49, growing the team’s lead on the world record line through his swim. Elijah Winnington anchored Australia in 1:41.57 and stopped the clock at 6:45.54, marking an Oceanian record for the quartet.
Yesterday, Alberto Razzetti swam a European record in the 200 fly, earning a silver medal. His 1:41.62 split as the anchor leg for Italy pulled the team ahead of Germany for the bronze medal. Italy earned bronze in this relay at the 2022 Short Course World Championships as well.
400 freestyle Olympic champion and 200 free Olympic finalist Lukas Märtens pulled out of the meet due to illness, so Germany was missing one of its strongest weapons for this relay. Open water and distance star Florian Wellbrock dropped down from his usual distances and split 1:44.99.
wild. 4/5 fastest splits in the field with only giuliani breaking it up
Woah! A Biederman world record was broken. His 142.00 has not been remotely challenged. Maybe that will change now.