World Championships, Day 4 Finals: Veterans Lead U.S. to Mixed Medley Relay Crown
Even without the usual big names, the same big countries came out on top in the mixed medley relay at the World Aquatics Championships Wednesday.
The U.S. won the gold medal in 3:40.22, leading wire-to-wire to finish nearly three seconds clear of Australia. Great Britain pulled from fifth to bronze in the final leg thanks to Anna Hopkin.
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The American finals squad was comprised of Hunter Armstrong, Nic Fink, Claire Curzan and Kate Douglass. Medals also go to prelims swimmers Jack Aikins, Jake Foster, Rachel Klinker and Addison Sauickie.
The Aussie quartet was Bradley Woodward, Sam Williamson, Brianna Throssell and Shayna Jack. For Great Britain, Hopkin was joined by Medi Harris, Adam Peaty and Matthew Richards.
For the U.S., it rectifies the bronze that the American won in Fukuoka last year after failing to medal in fifth at the Tokyo Olympics. The U.S. is the only nation to have medaled in all six instances of this event at Worlds, starting in 2015, with three gold, two silver and a bronze.
“We came here with a smaller team, but I think we are still performing up to our standard,” Douglass said. “I think we set a great start to the meet, and we are just excited to see what we can do.”
The U.S. were, on paper, the team to beat, with 100 back gold medalist Armstong and 100 breast winner Fink out front. Fink was on the back of a double with the 50 breast final, though so was every other breaststroker in the field. The U.S. was 1.3 seconds up on Italy and a clean two seconds ahead of Australia at the midpoint. Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi was .06 quicker than Fink, but otherwise the American had the two fastest opening laps.
Curzan, the 100 back champ, was the quickest of the female backstrokers in 56.54. Douglass brought it home in 52.34, a tenth quicker than Jack with plenty of cushion.
“I think our team definitely came together tonight, did the job and got us the silver medal,” Jack said. “So I’m really proud of the team and I was very pleased to anchor as well.”
Hopkin dove in fifth but went 52.52 to chase down two teams for a medal with nearly a second to spare over Poland. Greece was fifth, Italy slipping to sixth.
“It is great to be a part of this team,” Peaty said. “We all just do our individual stuff before the start. We obviously say good luck and finish strong. It is kind of hard to finish strong but at the end of the day, we got the job done.”
Australia wins silver for the third straight year and fourth in the last five, after winning it in 2019. Britain won the inaugural mixed medley relay in 2015 (plus the first Olympic gold in it).
China, which won gold in Fukuoka, finished 11th in prelims. The Netherlands, the 2022 bronze medalist, was disqualified in prelims.
Is Claire Curzan’s R.T. a misprint at -0.01 ?