In the men’s 4×100 medley relay, Great Britain was in fourth place after the backstroke leg, but then Adam Peaty went to work. Peaty split 57.60 on the breaststroke leg — actually far slower than his best but more than a second quicker than anyone else in the heat — and his countrymen didn’t look back.
Nicholas Pyle (54.58), Peaty, James Guy (50.91) and Duncan Scott (47.35) combined for a time of 3:30.44, breaking the championship record of 3:31.32 set by France in 2010. Peaty finished the week with four gold medals (also 50 breast, 100 breast and mixed 4×100 medley relay), while Scott and Guy each won their third gold.
Russia finished second in 3:32.03. Kliment Kolesnikov led off in 52.77, and he was followed by Anton Chupkov, Egor Kuimov and Vladimir Morozov, who posted the fastest anchor split at 47.44. Germany’s Christian Diener, Fabien Schwingenschlogl, Marius Kusch and Damian Wierling took bronze in 3:33.52.
Wierling split 47.75 to touch out Lithuania for third. The Lithuanians, anchored by Simonas Bilis in 47.81, ended up fourth in 3:30.70. Also in the final were Hungary (3:34.24), Belarus (3:34.79), the Netherlands (3:35.24) and Sweden (3:36.00).
