Australia has claimed its fourth relay world title at the 2019 World Swimming Championships in South Korea, after the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle team stormed to victory in a new Oceania record time of 7:00.85.
The quartet of Clyde Lewis (1:45.58), Kyle Chalmers (1:45.37), Alex Graham (1:45.05) and Mack Horton (1:44.85) proved too strong for the hotly contested field, which saw Russia nab silver in 7:01.81 and the USA receive bronze in 7:01.98.
Showcasing the Dolphins’ team spirit, Australia now boasts four of the five relay titles that have so far been on offer, after victories in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle, 4x100m Mixed Medley and the Women’s 4x200m Freestyle.
Lewis, who swum the first leg, said he was thrilled to walk away with the gold, while Chalmers praised the relay camps they did earlier this year.
“We all put together a fantastic race. I had to give the boys a bit of confidence and we swam like absolute animals. I'm stoked, I've got no words – they've shut me up for once,” Lewis said.
“I tried my best to swim my own race. It's different in a relay, you don't go in at the same time. It's been good, we've done relay camps this year and it's really paid off for the Aussies. We're doing a good job,” Chalmers added.
Our Dolphins also snared silver spoils on night six, with Cate Campbell and Matthew Wilson both claiming individual silver medals at the Nambu University Aquatic Centre.
Having already won two gold medals for relay events this week in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle and 4x100m Mixed Medley, Campbell captured silver in the first event of the night – the highly anticipated Women’s 100m Freestyle.
Diving in from lane from lane five, the triple Olympian hit the wall in 52.43 – just three one hundredths of a second ahead of Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom – to secure second spot and her third podium finish of the meet. Fellow Dolphin Emma McKeon, who’s proudly powering through her program, touched in 52.75 to place fourth, while America’s Olympic champion Simone Manuel won the gold from lane one in 52.04.
“I put in a really stellar performance,” Campbell said post-race in the mix zone.
“It's been a great week for me in the pool and to come away with a silver medal, that's nothing to be sneezed at.
“My goal coming in here has been to shift the focus off the outcome and look at the races I put together.”
Later in the evening Wilson backed up his world-record-equalling semi-final performance in the Men’s 200m Breaststroke, powering home in 2:06.68 – only one one hundredth of second behind last night’s time – to take home the silver. Already a gold medallist from the mixed medley relay, the 20-year-old finished behind Russia’s Anton Chupkov, who set a new world record of 2:06.12. Dolphin Zac Stubblety-Cook also swum in the final, placing a solid fourth 2:07.36.
“I came in here with the goal of just going into the finals and doing my best,” Wilson said.
“To equal the world record yesterday was a big shock to me and I’ve only gone 0.01 over what I did yesterday which was a flat out effort, so I was very happy with that.”
In his debut outing representing Australia, Matthew Temple has qualified for his first final – the Men’s 100m Butterfly. Recording a time of 51.70 to place fourth in his semi-final, Temple qualified eighth fastest and will battle it out in the final tomorrow night. Fellow Australian David Morgan posted 52.20 in the same race however it wasn’t enough to see him progress.
Backstroke specialists Minna Atherton and Kaylee McKeown will both fight it out for a podium finish in the Women’s 200m Backstroke after qualifying for the final hit-out on Friday night. Atherton, who already has a silver medal after her performance in the 100m backstroke, clocked 2:07.38 to win her semi, while Kaylee McKeown recorded 2:08.19 to place third. The pairs’ times will see them head into the final as the fourth and sixth fastest competitors.
After winning a bronze medal on night one as part of the men’s 4x100 freestyle relay team, Cameron McEvoy dived in for an individual event – the Men’s 50m Freestyle semi-finals. Touching in 21.88 and placing fifth in his race saw the 25-year-old place 10th overall and narrowly miss a spot in the final.
Capitalising on the momentum from her relay performances this week – in which she’s already won two gold medals – Brianna Throssell will progress to the final of the Women’s 50m Butterfly. Hitting the wall in 25.93, the Western Australian qualified with the sixth fastest time.
At the conclusion of night six, Australia sits second on the medal tally with five gold, six silver and three bronze medals.
Tomorrow’s heats kick off at 11am (EST), with finals starting at 9pm (EST).
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