Great Britain Relay Analysis: Four Teams Head to Paris as Medal Favorites

Matthew Richards and Tom Dean of Great Britain react after winning the gold and the silver medals in the 200m Freestyle Men Final during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 25th, 2023.

Matt Richards & Tom Dean -- Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia

Great Britain Relay Analysis: Four Teams Head to Paris as Medal Favorites

Three years ago in Tokyo, Great Britain won Olympic gold in the men’s 800 freestyle relay, the country’s first gold medal in any swimming relay since the inaugural Olympic relay at the 1908 Games in London. Now, with British Trials complete and the country’s top stars poised to make the trip across the English Channel for the 2024 Games in Paris, the country will be among the medal favorites in all three men’s relays in addition to the mixed 400 medley relay, the second relay in which Britain claimed Olympic gold in 2021.

For the freestyle relays, Matt Richards has emerged as a headliner after making his Olympic debut on relays as an 18-year-old. He is the reigning world champion in the 200 free, joined by Tokyo Olympics 1-2 finishers Tom Dean and Duncan Scott atop the international standings in that event, while Richards was also a World Championships finalist in the 100 free in 2023.

Meanwhile, Adam Peaty has reached his best times in the 100 breaststroke in years as he seeks to join Michael Phelps as male swimmers to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in one race while Ollie Morgan is now the best 100 backstroker in British history. Each of those swimmers will be key in relay efforts come Paris.

Let’s break down how Britain’s relays are shaping up for Paris. We will use composite times based on Trials performances only and another based on best times from 2023 and 2024.

Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay

Trials only: Matt Richards 47.84 + Duncan Scott 47.92 + Tom Dean 47.94 + Alexander Cohoon 48.20 = 3:11.90
2023 + 2024: Matt Richards 47.45 + Duncan Scott 47.92 + Tom Dean 47.94 + Jacob Whittle 48.03 = 3:11.34

Duncan Scott — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

This is the event in which Britain had a real chance at winning a medal, perhaps even gold, at last year’s World Championships, but a false start in prelims cost the team majorly. Richards won the event at British Trials in 47.84, and he will head up this year’s squad with Duncan Scott and Dean, although the fourth spot is a bit of a question. Alexander Cohoon placed fourth at Trials, but fifth-place finisher Jacob Whittle owns a quicker personal best and could be added to the team for relay purposes.

Let’s use the 2023 + 2024 composite time as our baseline here, with Richards likely to again reach his best marks when racing internationally. Add in the improvement of relay exchanges, and Britain is right around the 3:10s that won medals at last year’s Worlds. Three swimmers capable of 47-second flat-start swims is a great place to begin, and both Richards and Scott are accomplished relay swimmers. Richards twice split 46s on relays at last years Worlds while Scott has been 47-low on numerous occasions along with his 46.14 medley relay anchor from the 2019 Worlds that is the second-quickest mark ever.

Regardless of who the fourth swimmer is, this team will likely find itself right in the hunt for medals alongside Australia, Italy, the United States and China.

Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay

Trials only: Matt Richards 1:44.69 + Duncan Scott 1:44.75 + Tom Dean 1:45.09 + James Guy 1:45.28 = 6:59.81
2023 + 2024: Matt Richards 1:44.30 + Tom Dean 1:44.32 + Duncan Scott 1:44.75 + James Guy 1:45.28 = 6:58.65

Barring some shocking results over the next four months, Great Britain will be favored to win a second consecutive Olympic gold medal here, with a team featuring the top-two finishers in the individual 200 free from both the 2021 Olympics (Dean and Scott) and the 2023 World Championships (Richards and Dean). Last year, a sensational 1:43.84 anchor split from Dean helped Britain pull away from the United States to secure a world title.

The same four swimmers will return from Tokyo, with Richards and Scott clocking 1:44 flat-start times to claim the individual slots in Paris while Dean came very close to breaking the barrier and Guy swam his best time in six years in his fourth-place finish. The composite of just the Trials times adds up to under 7:00, a standard no non-British team has achieved since 2012.

Factor in the quicker times that Richards and Dean recorded in 2023, and Britain’s composite is less than a tenth off the world record of 6:58.55 set by the United States at the 2009 World Championships. Britain’s teams have missed that record by miniscule margins at both the 2021 Olympics and 2023 Worlds, but now this foursome is threatening the time without even factoring in relay starts. Thus, a 6:57 or even 6:56 performance looks possible if all four are peaking in Paris. Moreover, the standard has been set for other nations, including the United States, to chase at their Olympic selection meets.

Men’s 400 Medley Relay

Trials only: Ollie Morgan 52.70 + Adam Peaty 57.94 + Joe Litchfield 51.71 + Matt Richards 47.84 = 3:30.19
2023 + 2024: Ollie Morgan 52.70 + Adam Peaty 57.94 + Adam Peters 51.16 + Matt Richards 47.45 = 3:29.25

Adam Peaty — Photo Courtesy: Morgan Harlow/Aquatics GB

In 2021, it took a world-record-breaking performance from the United States to hold off Britain for gold. With Peaty, James Guy and Scott on the final three legs, Britain’s only weakness was backstroke, where 200-meter specialist Luke Greenbank ended up 1.32 seconds behind American Ryan Murphy. Well, backstroke is no longer the problem, not with Morgan going 52.70 at British Trials and Jonathon Marshall providing a very solid No. 2 option at 53.07.

Peaty is once again going 57s in the 100 breast, and we know Richards is strong on the end. But Britain now has a butterfly problem; Adam Peters was the top British flyer in 2023 at 51.16, and he actually had the top Trials time overall at 51.56 in the heats, but he faded to fourth in the final as Joe Litchfield came through to take the win in 51.71. If Litchfield is the top British option for Paris, that will be a huge disadvantage compared to countries such as the U.S., Australia, France and Canada, which each have men in the 50 or 49-second range.

Note that Britain could also turn to Guy for the butterfly leg. The 28-year-old was fifth in the event’s final at Trials, but he was entrenched in that spot in 2021, when he split as fast as 50.00. Guy will be on the Olympic team by virtue of his fourth-place finish in the 200 free.

But when your breaststroke split is superior, as Peaty’s has been in so many international appearances, a team can overcome one weak leg and remain in the medal conversation.

Mixed 400 Medley Relay

Trials only: Ollie Morgan 52.70 + Adam Peaty 57.94 + Keanna Macinnes 57.92 + Anna Hopkin 53.09 = 3:41.65
2023 + 2024: Ollie Morgan 52.70 + Adam Peaty 57.94 + Keanna Macinnes 57.92 + Anna Hopkin 53.33 = 3:41.89

Britain has struggled in the mixed medley in Peaty’s absence from international racing in 2022 and 2023, but the breaststroke leg is the clear key to this event, so Peaty’s return should again put Britain into the gold-medal conversation, just like the breaststroke power of China’s Qin Haiyang was the critical leg in lifting his team to gold at last year’s World Championships.

In Tokyo, the British team used female swimmers on the first and last legs while Peaty and Guy handled the middle two legs, but now, with Morgan emerging as an elite backstroke swimmer, it makes more sense to use two male swimmers and then two female swimmers. Anna Hopkin, the anchor swimmer from Tokyo, still provides the best option coming home while Keanna Macinnes is Britain’s top female 100 butterflyer, having recorded a mark of 57.92 in taking the win at Trials.

At last year’s Worlds, only three teams, China, Australia and the U.S., beat Britain’s 2023 + 2024 composite time of 3:41.65, and the time based on Trials bests is only slightly behind that (Hopkin was a quarter-second slower at Trials than she was at February’s World Championships). Add in relay exchanges, and you have a fourth relay which will contend for medals.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use