FLASH! European Championships: Britain Lowers European Mixed Medley Record To 3:38.82
Great Britain lowered their European 4x100m medley relay record to 3:38.82 as they won gold at the European Championships in Budapest.
The quartet of Kathleen Dawson, Adam Peaty, James Guy and Anna Hopkin sliced 1.16 off their previous mark of 3:40.18 set at the 2018 edition in Glasgow.
Splits:
- Dawson: 58.43
- Peaty: 57.13
- Guy: 50.61
- Hopkin: 52.65
The Netherlands were second in 3:41.28 with an anchor leg of 51.87 by Femke Heemskerk while Alessandro Miressi‘s final 100 of 47.16 propelled Italy from seventh to third in 3:42.30.
Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
The race included the four-fastest men in history over 100 breaststroke in the form of Peaty, Arno Kamminga, Ilya Shymanovich and Nicolo Martinenghi.
It was a second gold medal for Peaty following his 100 title and he said:
“We haven’t been swimming this mixed relay for a while.
“Of course, we had to make changes to the team depending on the weaknesses we see. This mixed relay is a new element in my schedule.
“I’m very happy where I’m at the moment as well as the whole British swimming.”
Dawson, who led the 100 back qualifiers into Friday’s final, claimed her second medal in as many days following silver over 50 back and said:
“I really enjoyed this race as it’s so different from the others, swimming with the boys.
“It was very exciting, I didn’t expect to swim as fast as I did in the semis but I ended up improving my time by 0.01.”
Guy has now won four relay medals in Budapest, two gold and two silver and he said:
“We went into the race with a very good plan. It was an excellent race.
“Kathleen started great, I did a very fast leg, Adam just did what he always does. In fact, this was my the second fastest split which shows we are on to something good.”
Kira Toussaint swam the lead-off for the Netherlands in 59.59 followed by Kamminga (58.37) and Nyls Korstanje (51.45) before Heemskerk’s thunderous anchor.
She said:
“We really focused on this relay because this is an Olympic event.
“At the last Europeans in Glasgow we were fourth and now we are very happy for this silver medal. It’s really nice to be on the podium with your team-mates.”
Martinenghi – the fourth-fastest man over 100 breaststroke – split 58.05 after coming fifth in the individual event and said:
“I’m very happy and satisfied. It was a very beautiful race, this relay is something new, I found it motivating and nice to swim in a mixed team.
“Everybody is really happy. Personally, I swam very well and clocked a very good time. After my individual final the other day I had to reboot myself, raised my level and now I’m back.”
Margherita Panziera, who qualified fourth for Friday’s 100 back final, added:
“I’m very satisfied, it’s a new Italian record, everybody was excellent.
“I didn’t expect to be as fast as I was in the semi-finals. I’m very pleased, everybody was great we showed we were in a very good shape.”
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