World Championships, Day 4 Prelims: Reigning Champ U.S. Leads Mixed Medley Relay Prelims

Dare Rose of United States of America prepares to compete in the Men's Butterfly 50m Semifinal during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 23rd, 2023.

Dare Rose; Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

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World Championships, Day 4 Prelims: Reigning Champ U.S. Leads Mixed Medley Relay Prelims

The United States led the way in prelims of the mixed medley relay Wednesday morning at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

The team of Katharine Berkoff, Josh Matheny, Dare Rose and Abbey Weitzeil went 3:40.47 to set the pace. They were four tenths quicker than the Australians with the Netherlands third in 3:41.45.

That’s the exact podium from Budapest last year, the U.S. winning in 3:38.79.

The U.S. was a tad lucky, with Matheny’s reaction time at minus-0.01, just within the allowable limit on a jump. He split 58.45, which was fine once he got in the water. None of the four are likely to be in finals tonight, with Torri Huske, Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink and maybe Regan Smith (although she has a busy night ahead with the 50 backstroke and 200 fly semis) are all options.

The Aussies have plenty of changes they can make. Emma McKeon stated her case by splitting 56.70 in fly. Shayna Jack’s split of 51.66 was fastest among the women in the field. Bradley Woodward’s backstroke leg was tied for third among the male leadoffs. Surely Kyle Chalmers will want a piece of the action; he has the men’s 100 free semifinals Wednesday night by more than an hour to recover.

The Dutch are more or less at their final form in the lineup, with Maaike de Waard, Arno Kamminga, Nyls Korstanje and Marrit Steenbergen. The latter three comprised the bronze team last year, with Kira Toussaint in backstroke. De Waard, who split 1:00.07, has the 50 back semis at night.

China finished fourth in 3:42.49, with the team of Xu Jiayu, Yan Zibei, Wang Yichun and Wu Qingfeng. They’ll have Qin Haiyang ready for breaststroke, and Zhang Yufei scratched the 200 fly prelims likely in a bid to stay ready.

Great Britain’s depth squad went 3:43.47. Canada clocked in at 3:43.47 with Maggie MacNeil in the squad. Kylie Masse is likely to sub in for Ingrid Wilm in backstroke, while Josh Liendo is an option for Ruslan Gaziev on the anchor.

Japan continued a wonderful morning by grabbing the seventh seed. Germany is eighth, edging Sweden by a half-second.

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