What If There Was a 4×200 Medley Relay? (Men’s Edition)

Since introducing the Mixed 4×100 Medley and Freestyle Relays at the Kazan World Championships in 2015, the slate of events at all Long Course World Championship meets has been the same. Knowing that relays are some of the most anticipated events at any meet, we decided to run some hypotheticals and visualize what a 4×200 Medley Relay would look like.

Each time was gathered this past season, ending at the 2023 World Championships. Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Butterfly legs were selected based on a country’s fastest flat-start swimmer, while the 200 Freestyle leg was chosen based on a country’s fastest time, whether it was done during a relay or from a flat start.

Editor’s note: we used the World Aquatics database to compile this list

HONORABLE MENTIONS: 

GREAT BRITAIN: 

Despite Tom Dean’s monster 1:43.84 freestyle relay split, the Brits don’t have the depth in the other three strokes to be as competitive in the 4×200 Medley Relay. A 2:09.88 200 Breaststroke from James Wilby nearly puts them in contention, but with Luke Greenbank of form this year, the raw times just aren’t enough to crack the top 10. This was the most surprising result of the list – a 7:49.45 doesn’t crack the top 10.

ITALY: 

The 2022 World Champions in the 4×100 Medley Relay find themselves in an interesting situation here. With the European-record-holding relay (Ceccon, Martinenghi, Burdisso, Miressi) all being sprint-based swimmers, Italy lacks the depth of 200 specialists many other countries have.

10. SPAIN (7:49.00)

Supplemented by Hugo Gonzalez’s 6th place 200 Back and Arbidel Gonzalez’s sub-1:55 200 Fly in Fukuoka, the Spanish just barely crack into the top ten.

9. SOUTH KOREA (7:48.71)

A middle-of-the-pack opening three legs from the Korean team sets up Hwang Sunwoo’s (flat start!) 1:44.42 freestyle leg for an uphill battle.

8. CANADA (7:48.60)

Canada’s relay is helped out nicely by Ilya Kharun’s 1:53 butterfly split. Faster backstroke and freestyle legs would put the Canadians in close reach of the next fastest team, the Hungarians.

7. HUNGARY (7:47.18)

Hungary features the fastest 200 Back time this year from Kos and the second fastest 200 Fly time from Milak, but lacks a significant breaststroke or freestyle presence.

6. RUSSIA (7:44.19)

Russia is one of two teams to feature a backstroke split faster than their butterfly split, with 2021 Olympic Champion Evgeny Rylov leading off. Their first two legs would place them 4th at the 400 turn, but they slowly fade into sixth until the end of the relay.

5. FRANCE (7:43.44)

From here on, each of these countries could be serious medal contenders. The French find themselves in an interesting position where Leon Marchand could likely find success at any position in this relay. However, there’s only one Marchand, and he’s best suited to swim the butterfly leg.

4. AUSTRALIA (7:42.39)

With the 4th-fastest 200 Back swimmer this season with Edwards-Smith,  former world-record holder in Stubblety-Cook, and a consistent 1:44 split in Kai Taylor, the Aussies could be a force if they found a butterflier capable of going a 1:54.

3. JAPAN (7:42.34)

The Japanese could be a powerhouse in this relay if all of their swimmers are on form. Each is capable of contributing to a world-class relay, especially the middle two legs, veterans Ippei Watanabe and Tomoru Honda.

2. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (7:40.83)

Each of the swimmers on the American relay finaled in their respective events at Worlds, so it’s no surprise they’re near the top of this list. There’s no inherent “weak leg” on this team, but even with bronze medalist Matt Fallon going a 2:07, Qin Haiyang’s world record gives the Chinese a substantial leg up.

1. CHINA (7:40.62)

Qin’s dominance in the 200 breaststroke continues to show beyond Fukuoka. With a time nearly a full second faster than the next-fastest in the field (Australia’s Stubblety-Cook), his leg overcomes a deficit of nearly two seconds, putting the Chinese into the lead for the remainder of the relay despite faster butterfly and freestyle splits from the Americans.

TAKEAWAYS

This relay could allow 200 stroke specialists a chance at a relay, without requiring them to drop down to the 100 of their stroke. Certain swimmers, such as Matt Fallon and Moon Seungwoo, could have a chance to swim more than just their one event at the World Championships. It would showcase more country vs. country rivalry, and who doesn’t love a good relay rivalry?