Australian Women’s 400 Medley Relay Breaks All-Comers Record as Campbell Runs Away From Americans

The Australian women’s 400 medley relay has broken the Australian All-Comers Record in the 400 medley relay on the final day of the 2014 Pan Pac Championships, swimming a 3:55.49 in the timed final event.

That broke the old record of 3:55.74 done back in 2007, with the only holdover from that relay being Emily Seebohm, who 7 years later still isn’t all that old, even in swimming terms.

The comparison from old to new here is especially interesting just given the quality of name and talent on that old record-setting relay. Jones’ sub-1:05 breaststroke at the time was one-of-a-kind, as a year earlier she had just become the first under 1:06 on a flat-start in the race. China won bronze that year with a breaststroker swimming 1:09, which would never happen anymore on a World Championship level.

Tonks swam a solid 1:07.44 on Sunday, but the other three legs were left digging in and trying to make up that ground on the record. Campbell’s 51.85 relay anchor on a .47 reaction time is one of the fastest through-the-water splits that we’ve ever seen in the women’s sprint freestyles, and that broke this one open for Australia.

It’s not that it was a big surprise that Australia won this meet; rather it was a big surprise that they won by almost two seconds. Having Seebohm and Campbell as bookends is an ace-in-the-hole that very few countries can match. Watching them race against a healthier United States team, along with maybe the Danish squad, at Worlds next year will be one of the highlight events.