World Championships, Day One Finals: Australian Women Maintain Control of Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay
The women’s 400-meter freestyle relay has been the domain of Australia for some time. Four consecutive Olympic titles. Three straight world championships from 2019-2023. The world record. Nine of the 11-fastest times in history, all produced between 2014-2024.
And in dramatic fashion at the World Championships on Sunday, the event still belongs to the Aussies.
Behind the foursome of Mollie O’Callaghan, Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Olivia Wunsch, Australia registered a time of 3:30.60 to finish ahead of the United States, which touched the wall in 3:31.04. The Bronze medal went to the Netherlands in 3:33.89.
Heading into the final length, Wunsch trailed the United States’ Torri Huske, but in the closing 15 meters, Wunsch was able to rally and pull ahead to maintain Australia’s dominance in the event. The fact that Australia prevailed is a testament to its freestyle depth and ability to develop world-class 100 freestylers. Only O’Callaghan and Harris returned from gold-medal squad from the Paris Games, where Shayna Jack and Emma McKeon were part of the mix.
“I think it’s amazing,” O’Callaghan said. “We have a pretty rookie-dominated team at the moment, so it’s nice to see the younger swimmers lift up. After the Olympics, we had a lot of people take breaks and retire, and it’s great to see (the new athletes) getting
the experience and putting down so much effort and determination into this meet.”
On Sunday night, O’Callaghan put the Australians in front on the opening leg, as her effort of 52.79 was .30 ahead of the 53.09 of U.S. stalwart Simone Manuel, who went 53.09. The game-changer on the relay proved to be Harris, who handled the second leg for the Aussies. A veteran of international competition, Harris delivered a split of 51.87 to keep Australia in front of the United States, which received a stellar leg of 51.90 from Kate Douglass. With Douglass coming through with a stellar performance, Harris needed to answer – and she responded impressively.
The United States was dealt a blow less than an hour before the final of the 400 freestyle relay when it was announced that the Team USA coaching staff was removing Gretchen Walsh from the event, and replacing her on the third leg with Erin Gemmell. Walsh contested the semifinals of the 100 butterfly earlier in the session, but the illness that has ravaged the American roster since training camp in Thailand has apparently affected Walsh.
Gemmell acquitted herself admirably on the third leg, splitting 53.17, which wasn’t far off the 52.87 mark of Jansen. Going into the anchor legs, Australia was ahead of the U.S., 2:37.55 to 2:38.16.
Huske initially put the United States in the lead during the front half of her leg, as she split 24.75 going out. Down the stretch, however, Wunsch was able to move ahead. Wunsch split 53.05, with Huske going slightly quicker in 52.88. Huske, too, has dealt with illness in the leadup to the World Champs. The reigning Olympic champion in the 100 butterfly, she withdrew from that event to place her focus on the 400 freestyle relay.
“I don’t really want to speak to how much it’s affected us necessarily or like who it’s affected or anything,” Huske said of the illness that has hit Team USA. “But I feel like we’ve done a really good job, just staying resilient and staying really positive and kind of just rolling with whatever comes our way.”
The Netherlands picked up the bronze medal behind the heroics of Marrit Steenbergen, who had the fastest split of the event. Steenbergen went 51.64 on the anchor leg to pull the Dutch ahead of China, 3:33.89 to 3:34.17.
