The fourth finals session of the 2018\u00a0FINA Short Course World Championships in Hangzhou, China started with a New World Record courtesy of Team USA.<\/p>\n
The American men’s relay team of Caeleb Dressel<\/strong>, Ryan Held<\/strong>, Jack Conger<\/strong> and Michael Chadwick<\/strong> set a new World Record in the 4 x 50 Freestyle (1:21.80), while Dressel lowered his own American mark in his leadoff leg down to 20.43.<\/p>\n Held\u00a0(on swimming fast): \u201cThat was fun. We love to swim fast and no better way to swim fast than to set a world record.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Conger\u00a0(on swimming with this group of teammates): \u201cWe\u2019re all kind of used to swimming against each other in a short-course atmosphere, so being able to do it as a team, it\u2019s kind of like the Dream Team. We knew we had a pretty good chance going in, but we just had to execute the right stuff and it all worked out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Chadwick\u00a0(on whether setting a world record is fun): \u201cIt\u2019s a blast. I think we\u2019re just getting better as the meet goes on. For the U.S. there\u2019s no bigger honor than breaking a record like this, so like any team we\u2019re just going to keep it rolling and praise God for this opportunity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The split was out-done only by Russia’s Vladimir Morozov<\/strong>, who opened up the race for the Russians in a 20.39. Morozov was joined by teammates Evgeny Sedov<\/strong>, Ivan Kuzmenko<\/strong> and Evgeny Rylov<\/strong> for the silver.<\/p>\n Italy’s Santo Conorelli<\/strong>, Andrea Vergani<\/strong>, Lorenzo Zazzeri<\/strong> and Alessandro Miressi<\/strong> earned the bronze medal.<\/p>\n Held raced to the fastest non-lead off split in the field of 20.25. He was followed by South Africa’s Chad le Clos<\/strong> (20.31), Rylov (20.37) and Vergani (20.44).<\/p>\n The previous World Record was set by Russia in 2014.<\/p>\n\n