BEST MEN’S RELAY PERFORMANCE

CONTINUED FROM 15 still exceed the lofty aspirations.

Save for the fast opening leg by Sarah Sjostrom (before the Swedes faded to sixth), the Aussies led all the way. As the race for silver materialized behind them, the Australians nearly had time to hop out of the pool, towel off and take in the spectacle.

Bronte Campbell led it off, with the next 100 belonging to Meg Harris. Then came the big guns. McKeon’s split, the early indicator of her fantastic Games, was a dazzling 51.35. Only three women in the race came within a second of that time—and one was teammate Cate Campbell, who brought it home in 52.24!

The final time of 3:29.69 dashed the world record. It bested the field by a clear three seconds. In a race where nations tried desperately to cobble together splits under 54 seconds, the Aussies came within a tenth of having all four under 53.

“It’s very special to be part of this relay. It always is,” Bronte Campbell said. “The competition in Australia is fierce for this relay, and that’s what makes us so competitive on the international stage. It’s more than us competing against each other for the spots on the relay because we really are an extended team, and we support each other. That is why we have managed to have such a strong team for so long.”

The Aussie’s world record proved vanishingly rare. Only two individuals—Caeleb Dressel in the men’s 100 fly and Tatjana Schoenmaker in the women’s 200 breast—set world records. Only four of the seven relays, including a mixed medley in its infancy, featured rewritten records.

The Australians would crack on from the stellar start. From Ariarne Titmus in the mid-distance freestyle to Kaylee McKeown in backstroke to McKeon in one of the most impressive all-purpose sprint performances ever, the gold from the 400 free relay appeared to be the one that opened the floodgates.

“We push each other and challenge each other, but we do that in a really supportive way,” Cate Campbell said. “There is no malice and no animosity toward one another, and I think that has just spoken volumes. This is the third Olympics in a row that Australia has won this event, and that in itself really needs to be celebrated. To do that for 13 years in a row is incredible.” — Matthew De George BEST MEN’S RELAY PERFORMANCE: USA (400 MEDLEY RELAY)

It was a week that had produced the two worst finishes for the United States in Olympic history. First, the U.S. men’s 800 freestyle relay team faded to fourth after leading much of the race’s first half. The strategic decision to swim Zach Apple on the third leg backfired as Apple tightened up and slowed considerably on his last length. A few days after that, the U.S. team in the mixed 400 medley relay finished fifth. The Americans had bucked conventional wisdom by placing male swimmers on the backstroke and freestyle legs, and that left Caeleb Dressel to dive in eighth with an eight-second margin to try to overcome...which he could not.

As Dressel was climbing out of the water, backstroker Ryan

>> The United States had never lost the men’s 400 medley relay at an Olympics, but in Tokyo, they barely made finals, qualifying seventh. With Great Britain considered a slight favorite, (from left) Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew, Caeleb Dressel and Zach Apple not only won the race for the Americans, but set a world record from Lane 1. [ Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher / USA Today Sports ] Murphy told Dressel to put the race behind him. They had more work to do in the next day’s men’s 400 medley relay. “That’s how we work here,” Dressel said. “We knew we had a shot at doing something special tomorrow, so Murph was already refocusing.” It was an opportunity the Americans barely earned after qualifying seventh for the men’s medley relay final, leaving them in Lane 1, far away from their top competition. Great Britain was considered a slight favorite, with two-time Olympic champion and world record holder Adam Peaty swimming breaststroke. The Brits also had Duncan Scott anchoring, and at the 2019 World Championships, Scott had split 46.14 on the last 100 to pass the Americans and steal away gold. After strategic decisions had twice cost the Americans a medal in relays, one more decision remained for the men’s medley. Michael Andrew, who set the American record in the 100 breaststroke at U.S. Olympic Trials, but who finished fourth in the event earlier in the Olympics, had been struggling. In the 200 IM final just two days before the medley relay, he ended up fifth, two seconds off his best time from six weeks earlier. Also, he would have to swim the medley relay just an hour after the 50 freestyle final. Would the American coaches consider a lineup switch? No, they would not. U.S. men’s coach Dave Durden and national team managing director Lindsay Mintenko stuck with Murphy on back, Andrew on breast, Dressel on fly and Apple on free. The stakes were high. The Americans had never lost the men’s 400 medley relay at an Olympics. The event was on the Olympic schedule for the 16th time, and the U.S. had won 14 of the previous 15 gold medals, missing only in 1980 when the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Games. But in 2021, as in all those previous Olympics, the relay turned out perfectly. Murphy led off in 52.31, the top split in the field—and more than 1.3 seconds faster than Great Britain’s Luke Greenbank. Murphy had been disappointing with his 52.92 split on the 2019 medley relay that ended up with silver, but he did his job this time. Andrew surrendered the lead to Peaty and to Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi, but his 58.49 split was enough to give Dressel a chance. Dressel immediately passed Britain’s James Guy and opened up a lead of