Editorial content for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships is sponsored by FINIS, a longtime partner of Swimming World and leading innovator of suits, goggles and equipment. James Guy on Britain’s 800 Free Relay: ‘We Probably Are The Favorites’ When Duncan Scott touched the wall to secure gold in the men’s 800 freestyle relay at the Tokyo Olympics, he had produced the third-fastest split ever while earning the first Olympic swimming relay gold for Great Britain in 113 years. Not since winning the very first swimming relay at the 1908 Games in London had Great Britain ever topped a relay, and the historic nature of the performance meant that missing the world record by a mere three hundredths did not sting too badly. On the flip side was the United States, which failed to medal in an Olympic relay for the first time ever (not counting the boycotted 1980 Olympics). That disappointing result prompted outcries of “What went wrong?” as the U.S. coaches’ lineup decisions were heavily scrutinized. But less than one year later, the Americans were back on top of the 800 free relay, with Carson Foster and Trenton Julian joining Olympic returnees Drew Kibler and Kieran Smith to secure World Championships gold. The Americans’ time of 7:00.24 beat runnerup Australia by three seconds, and while it did not match Britain’s massive performance from Tokyo, it would have been good enough (easily) for silver in the Olympic final. The caveat to that result is that Britain’s roster was compromised in 2022, with Scott missing Worlds because of the aftereffects of his bout of COVID-19 and Matt Richards far off the form he displayed in the Olympic final. Britain did earn bronze, however, with Tom Dean unleashing a remarkable 1:43.53 anchor split, tops in the field, to move from fifth to third on the final leg. Now, Britain has its full roster back. At the British Championships earlier this year, the 20-year-old Richards showed that his poor performances in 2022 were a fluke as he topped a loaded 200 free field in 1:44.83, a tenth ahead of Dean, the gold medalist in the individual 200 free in Tokyo. James Guy, the 2015 world champion in the 200 free and a member of every British 800 free relay since 2013, was third in 1:45.85, his fastest time in six years. Scott was fourth in 1:45.90. A field of swimmers all under 1:46, including a pair of 1:44s and solid depth to boot, with Jack McMillan and Joe Litchfield both hitting 1:46s, has Britain thinking big for this summer’s World Championships. “I think we’re in a good position now to say we probably are the favorites,” Guy told Swimming World. “We are the ones who are supposed to win at the Worlds and at Paris next year. What I can tell you is that the way myself, Tom Dean, Matt and Duncan train, we’re never going to back off and get complacent with where we are because we’re always hungry to do more.” Guy knows the Americans represent the toughest challenge for his team. The U.S. will select its World Championships team in two weeks, and all of last year’s roster is still in the mix. Smith has been 1:44 in the past, and Kibler was fourth in the 200 free at Worlds last year in 1:45.01. Luke Hobson, fresh off a dominant sophomore season at the University of Texas, will be in the mix for a big 200 free as well. Australia is a consistent podium presence in this event and should be again in 2023 after strong swims at last week’s Australian Trials. Don’t discount a Brazilian team featuring Olympic bronze medalist Fernando Scheffer or a Hungarian team anchored by Kristof Milak, and South Korea might be in the mix for its first-ever relay medal at either an Olympics or World Championships. Hwang Sunwood was the silver medalist in the individual 200 free at last year’s Worlds, and at the Korean Championships earlier this year, Lee Ho-Joon swam a time of 1:45.70 to finish not far behind Hwang while Kim Woomin went 1:46.10. But the battle between these countries will be for bronze, with the Americans and British expected to be well ahead of the field. The landscape could change after U.S. Nationals, but Guy, who has been a part of two world-title-winning efforts in this event in addition to the Olympic gold, has utmost confidence that he and his teammates will hit their best swims when needed in the big moments. “You can never rule out anyone else and never take anyone for granted, but what I’ve realized is when you go to these meets, it’s all the same stuff,” Guy said. “You can never rule out anyone. It’s just doing your process, and that’s the way it always is. You don’t overthink it. You don’t try to be arrogant. You do in there, you enjoy it, you do your race. The time and medal will come.”
