World Championships: Women’s 400 Free Relay to be Heated Affair

By John Lohn

MELBOURNE, Australia, March 24. THE much-anticipated clash between the United States, Germany and Australia in the women's 400 freestyle relay will finally unfold tonight at the FINA World Championships. The American squad took the top qualifying spot with a time of 3:38.32 while Australia (3:40.04) and Germany (3:40.55) were third and fifth, respectively. The Netherlands took the second spot for the final in 3:40.01.

The United States sent Dana Vollmer, Lacey Nymeyer, Amanda Weir and Kara Lynn Joyce to work during the morning session, with Nymeyer producing the fastest split. The University of Arizona standout, who won the 200 free at the recent NCAA Championships, covered her 100 freestyle leg in 53.78. That outing is likely to land Nymeyer on the evening squad. The USA will get stronger at night as Natalie Coughlin is tabbed for duty.

Australia took a stroll in the morning behind the quartet of Danni Miatke, Melanie Schlanger, Sally Foster and Shayne Reese. In the championship final, look for the Aussie ladies to crank it up a few notches, and not just because they'll have the home crowd on their side. The Aussies, of course, will turn to Libby Lenton and Jodie Henry for swims at night.

While Germany only managed to qualify fifth, it is the world-record holder from last summer's European Championships and will be a factor tonight. In the morning, Germany turned to the crew of Petra Dallman, Annika Lurz, Meike Freitag and Britta Steffen, the world-record holder in the 100 freestyle. In picking up the second spot, the Netherlands was fueled by Chantal Groot, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Femke Heemskerk and Marleen Veldhuis. Sweden was fourth in 3:40.09.

Click Here to view event results PDF file.

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