Commonwealth Games: Australia Dominates Women’s 400 Free Relay Again
There is simply no stopping the Australian freestyle relay machine, not at this Commonwealth Games at least.
The Aussies did what the Aussies have come to be expected to do, routing the field in the women’s 400 freestyle relay Saturday in Birmingham. The team of Madison Wilson, Shayna Jack, Mollie O’Callaghan and Emma McKeon blistered the field in a time of 3:30.64, besting England by a margin of nearly six seconds.
The splits:
- Wilson 53.22
- Jack 52.72
- O’Callaghan 52.66
- McKeon 52.04
Those were four of the five fastest splits in the event, the only other one the 53.11 by Maggie MacNeil off the end of the Canadian relay, but that’s all down to the start on Wilson’s flat start.
It continues a domination of freestyle relays in recent years. The Aussies (Bronte Campbell, Harris, McKeon, Cate Campbell) set the world record in winning in Tokyo in 3:29.69. Sans McKeon, they won the World Championship in Budapest earlier this summer in 3:30.95. Saturday’s time remained shy of the Commonwealth Games record that Australia set in 2018 (Jack, both Campbells and McKeon in 3:30.05). The last Commonwealth Games in which the Aussies failed to win this event was 1986, 10 Games ago.
England did well to best an undermanned Canadian side to silver with the team of Anna Hopkin, Abbie Wood, Isabella Hindley and Freya Anderson. Hopkin led off in 53.81, and Anderson’s 53.43 held off MacNeil on the anchor. Wood, more comfortable in the IMs, turned in a very respectable 54.28.
Canada won bronze in 3:37.25. Summer McIntosh led off in 54.62, followed by Katerine Savard, Rebecca Smith and MacNeil. They were three seconds clear of South Africa for the final podium spot.
