When a present world file holder breaks their very own WR and nonetheless doesn’t win, there may be some severe expertise within the pool. On the Australian Trials two weeks in the past, Mollie O’Callaghan touched second within the girls’s 200 freestyle in a time that was underneath her 1:52.85 world file in 1:52.48, nevertheless it nonetheless fell simply shy of Ariarne Titmus, who set a brand new benchmark of 1:52.23.
Rounding out the highest 4 at Trials and making up the doubtless 800 free relay relay in Paris are Lani Pallister and Brianna Throssell, who touched at 1:55.57 and 1:55.74, respectively. With out accounting for relay takeovers, their 800 free relay in Paris would appear like this:
- Titmus – 1:52.23
- O’Callaghan – 1:52.48
- Pallister – 1:55.57
- Throssell – 1:55.74
- Complete – 7:36.02*
Paris Preview
The present world file stands at 7:37.50, set by the Australian workforce final summer time on the World Championships in Fukuoka. When the file was set, Shayna Jack was on the workforce as an alternative of Pallister and he or she may also be touring to Paris with Australia. Relying on how they need to construction the prelim and night relays the names are topic to vary however with two extra 1:56-lows supporting the workforce, they don’t lack depth.
Popping out of the 2023 World Trials, the add-up of the 4 that may go on to set the file in Fukuoka would have been 7:41.66. Realizing they then went on to crush that by over 4 seconds as Titmus dropped the quickest cut up in historical past (1:52.41), the questions this summer time grow to be:
- How far can they decrease their very own file?
- Will Titmus and/or O’Callaghan grow to be the primary to interrupt the 1:52 mark (from a takeover…or not)?
To place this relay in perspective, no different relay workforce has ever damaged the 7:40 mark within the 800 free relay. The closest workforce was the gold medal relay from China on the Tokyo Olympics at 7:40.33. This workforce will probably be returning their swimmers in Paris this summer time, however the Australian workforce is in a league of their very own for this relay.
Primarily based on the outcomes of the Chinese language and Canadian Trials, the Australian workforce is taking a look at an eight-second buffer heading into the Olympics. Whereas the US continues to be within the combine after Trials, there’s a huge quantity of floor to be made up for all these groups as they chase Australia’s heels. Primarily based on the occasions posted to this point this 12 months, it’s unlikely some other workforce will break 7:40.
| Nation | Australia | China | United States | Canada |
| Leg 1 | 1:52.23 | 1:54.37 | 1:55.22 | 1:53.69 |
| Leg 2 | 1:52.48 | 1:56.29 | 1:56.18 | 1:55.44 |
| Leg 3 | 1:55.57 | 1:56.56 | 1:56.36 | 1:57.60 |
| Leg 4 | 1:55.74 | 1:56.85 | 1:56.75 | 1:57.86 |
| Complete Time | 7:36.02 | 7:44.07 | 7:44.51 | 7:44.59 |
On the Tokyo Olympics, there was lower than one second separating the highest three finishers as China, the US, and Australia battled tooth and nail for podium spots.
Whereas we gained’t know for positive till the Paris Video games this summer time, it’s shaping as much as be a race for silver as Australia seeks to smash its mind-boggling world file.
