World Short Course Championships: Flash! Russia Sets World Record in Men’s 400 Medley Relay; Ryan Lochte Ties Career Medal Mark

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MANCHESTER, England, April 13. IT was like the Cold War, but this time Russia won as teams from the United States and Russia battled back-and-forth in the men's 400 medley relay. The Russians, however, had just enough left to hold off the Americans for the world record at the FINA World Short Course Championships.

The Russian team of Stanislav Donets, Sergey Geybel, Evgeny Korotyshkin and Alexander Sukhorukov captured the world record and gold medal in 3:24.29, while the U.S. foursome of Randall Bal, Mark Gangloff, Ryan Lochte and Nathan Adrian also touched under the former record for a new American standard of 3:24.38.

"This is the greatest thing we could do. We couldn't expect to do it," Donets told meet organizers. "The U.S. or any other country wouldn't make any difference to us. We didn't think about them, we just swam. They are human beings as we are. They are made of flesh and blood as we are. It's not impossible to beat them."

The U.S. had owned the previous world record with a 3:25.09 from back in 2004.

Here are the comparative splits:
Russia: Stanislav Donets (50.57), Sergey Geybel (57.93) 1:48.50, Evgeny Korotyshkin (49.39) 2:37.89, Alexander Sukhorukov (46.40) 3:24.29
United States (2008): Randall Bal (50.74), Mark Gangloff (57.34) 1:48.08, Ryan Lochte (50.57) 2:38.65, Nathan Adrian (45.73) 3:24.38
United States (2004): Aaron Peirsol (51.35), Brendan Hansen (57.42) 1:48.77, Ian Crocker (49.76) 2:38.53, Jason Lezak (46.56) 3:25.09

The win is the first for Russia in the event, while the U.S. missed its chance for a fifth victory after wins in 1993, 2000, 2002 and 2004.

The silver medal for Lochte gave him his 15th career top-three placing at the FINA World Short Course Championships, tying him with Michael Klim for the most ever.

New Zealand's team of Daniel Ball, Glenn Snyders, Corney Swanepoel and Cameron Gibson wound up third in 3:27.15.

At the end of the meet, 18 world records fell by the wayside as swimmers brutalized the record book.

Lochte and Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry both walked away as their respective gender's Swimmer of the Meet as both went on world-record sprees at the meet.

Meanwhile, the United States ended the meet with the team championship trophy.

Event Results

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