Historically, the top 12 relay teams at the World Aquatics Championships the year before the Olympics automatically secure qualification for the next year’s Games. This year, just the medalists secure automatic qualification, making this year’s relay finals mean that much more.
The swimming portion of the 2023 World Aquatics Championships gets underway Sunday in Fukuoka as the world anticipates many of the best swims to come. With just over a year to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the 2023 Worlds offer the first bit of automatic qualification for relays for next year, with the three medalists this week automatically securing spots for the big show in 2024.
“In general, relays are a measure of the strength of a swimming nation so we always want to be good in the relays and we have a strong tradition with that,” United States men’s head coach Bob Bowman said in a press conference Friday. “We are going to put together some very good relays for this meet.”
The United States is a heavy favourite to win medals in all seven relays where Olympic qualification is on the line, and USA Swimming has implemented a brand new relay incentive program, announced in March of this year.
$500,000 will be split among all pool and open water World Championship team members, according to a release from the organization. If USA Swimming wins medals in all seven relays, $150,000 will be split among all pool and open water World Championship team members.
This is set in place to encourage relay excellence for next year’s Olympics, and if the United States sweeps the gold medals in all relays next year, the cash prize is $1 million spread throughout the pool and open water team.
The internal stakes are high for the United States, and the team has risen to the challenge in year’s past. Last year at the Worlds in Budapest, the nation won gold medals in five of the seven Olympic relays. The two silvers came behind Australia in the women’s 4x100m free and Italy in the men’s 4x100m medley.
The Australians are the primary challenger for the Americans, coming in as gold medal favourites in the women’s freestyle relays, and the men’s 4x100m freestyle.
“With every relay we look forward to taking on not just the Americans but anyone that wants to get up there,” Australian head coach Rohan Taylor told reporters Friday. “We want to be the best and these guys work so hard and they want to be a part of the relays. It’s a big honor to be a part of the Australian team and swim on a relay. We have a rich history of success there and we want to continue that as best as we can, and whoever we are going up against we want to come out on top.”
The Americans won two of the three women’s relays last year, taking out the 4x200m free and 4x100m medley.
“(Relays are) my favourite part of the meet,” breaststroke world record holder Lilly King said in Friday’s press conference. “Especially having the medley relay last, it’s a celebration for everybody. We definitely work on relays and the people I have gone off of for relay starts, I’ve been doing that for years now so I am very comfortable in that. It’s such a big priority for us and something we really look forward to.”
The Australian women come in as the world record holders in both freestyle relays and Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus, who was not in Budapest last year, is looking forward to the prospect of racing the Americans and getting the World title back in the 4x200m on Thursday.
“I think we have a great chance. I think I have to say that,” Titmus said of Australia’s chances in the 4x200m. “I believe that we have a very strong team looking at even selecting heats to finals - it’s even hard picking a heats team with how much depth we have in the 200m freestyle in Australia. I feel like the depth in the country is driven because people want to be in the relays.
“People want to be in the final and experience that. I think all the girls are ready to go out there and give it a good crack. I believe we have the team that can win - I think I have to say that. We are going to go in with confidence and I feel lucky that I am back this year to be a part of that.”
In the men’s 4x200m freestyle, Great Britain comes in as the heavy favourite
despite only winning bronze last year. James Guy, who anchored the team to gold in 2015 and in 2017, is taking great pride in leading the team back to the top of the podium.
“It’s a nice building point for where we are now and seeing where we are heading into Paris,” Guy said. “Being part of the team is really, really fun, and you have expectations on your shoulders, especially from the country, which adds a bit more pressure to yourself to deliver the swim you want to swim with the team.
“This year is quite a new team, this is a lot of the guys’ first World Championships - but this year is about setting the scene, see where we are and then build on for next year.”
Last year, the United States men finished the competition by taking a silver to the Italians in the medley relay. After such a successful week with 45 medals and 17 golds, finishing with a silver in that relay was a sting for backstroke lead-off Ryan Murphy.
“A lot of the people we grew up watching in the sport, (Aaron) Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, (Ian) Crocker, (Michael) Phelps, (Nathan) Adrian - they were all parts of that relay and they have had a huge impact on our culture,” Murphy said. “There’s a level of we want to swim and perform really well because we know that we can. We know that if we swim to our potential, we are going to be in a really good spot to win that relay. We want to make the previous generation proud and hopefully they are watching and getting fired up on TV.”
For the Canadians, these championships are all about securing Olympic qualification. At last year’s Worlds, they won medals in all three women’s relays, but have lost some key players in 2023. For Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil, she has taken on a veteran role in her third World Championships as the women’s medley relay team has perhaps the best chance of any Canada relay to qualify for Paris.
“Relays for us have been really important ever since 2015 and going forward we have started to excel even more at them,” Mac Neil said in a press conference Friday. “They have always been a main focus for us in our camps and we are excited to have some new members and have our qualifying spot secured for Paris.
“For me, I still feel relatively new to the international scene - I’ve only been doing this a lot less years than some others like Kylie (Masse). I’m hoping to use that experience on this trip as we bring some more young up and comers on to the team. I’m really excited about doing the mixed relay - it’s always fun to do something different and hopefully we will be able to secure qualification.”