{"id":265822,"date":"2017-07-14T12:00:23","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T19:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=265822"},"modified":"2017-07-14T17:05:13","modified_gmt":"2017-07-15T00:05:13","slug":"fina-world-championships-womens-800-free-relay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/fina-world-championships-womens-800-free-relay\/","title":{"rendered":"FINA World Championships Predictions: Women’s 800 Free Relay"},"content":{"rendered":"

The American women lose half of their Olympic gold medal-winning\u00a0800 free relay from last summer, yet they still remain the team to beat in the 800 free relay at the FINA World Championships. Having\u00a0Katie Ledecky\u00a0<\/strong>on their team is a big reason why.<\/p>\n

The team best-equipped to make a run appears to be China, which has three swimmers (Ai Yanhan<\/strong>,\u00a0Li Bingjie<\/strong> and\u00a0Shen Duo<\/strong>)\u00a0who have swum times in the 1:56.7-range in the 200 free this year and a fourth (Liu Zixuan<\/strong>) at 1:57.0.<\/p>\n

That depth is great, but even without\u00a0Maya DiRado<\/strong>,\u00a0Allison Schmitt<\/strong> and\u00a0Missy Franklin<\/strong>, Americans\u00a0Leah Smith<\/strong>,\u00a0Melanie Margalis\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Mallory Comerford<\/strong> all went under 1:57 at U.S. Nationals, and\u00a0Simone Manuel\u00a0<\/strong>is right behind.<\/p>\n

And then there’s Ledecky, who won Olympic gold last year in the 200 free in 1:53.73.<\/p>\n

Read below to see what\u00a0Swimming World’s\u00a0<\/em>trio of experts think will happen in\u00a0Budapest.\u00a0David Rieder<\/strong>,\u00a0John Lohn<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Andy Ross<\/strong>\u00a0will each offer their predictions for\u00a0who will finish on the podium.<\/p>\n

Women’s\u00a0800 Free Relay<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Current Records:<\/h3>\n

World Record:<\/strong>\u00a0China — Yang, Zhu, Liu, Pang (2009) — 7:42.08
\nChampionship Record:<\/strong> China — Yang, Zhu, Liu, Pang (2009) — 7:42.08
\nAmerican Record:<\/strong>\u00a0Vollmer, Nymeyer, Kukors, Schmitt (2009) — 7:42.56<\/p>\n

2015 World Champion:<\/strong>\u00a0United States — Franklin, Smith, McLaughlin, Ledecky — 7:45.37
\n2016 Olympic Gold Medalist:<\/strong>\u00a0United States — Schmitt, Smith, DiRado, Ledecky — 7:43.03<\/p>\n

Swimming World Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

David Rieder’s Picks:<\/h3>\n

Gold:<\/strong>\u00a0United States
\nSilver<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0China
\nBronze:<\/strong>\u00a0Australia<\/p>\n

John Lohn’s Picks:<\/h3>\n

Gold:<\/strong>\u00a0United States
\nSilver<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0China
\nBronze:<\/strong>\u00a0Canada<\/p>\n

Andy Ross’ Picks:<\/h3>\n

Gold:<\/strong>\u00a0United States
\nSilver<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0China
\nBronze:<\/strong>\u00a0Canada<\/p>\n

Previous\u00a0Events<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Day One:<\/h3>\n