2024 Paris Olympics: US Coaches Make Right Decision With Smith Anchor (Day 4 Relay Analysis)

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
  • Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024
• La Défense Arena — Paris, France
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• Prelims Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
• Finals Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

The men’s 4×200 freestyle relay proved to be just as much of a battle as expected, with Great Britain and the United States racing side by side throughout the entirety of the seven-minute race. 

Though it seemed at times that the U.S. might manage to pull off an upset, challenging Great Britain at every exchange. Despite the push, Great Britain managed to fend off their challengers, holding down the lead throughout the entire race to soar to victory in a time of 6:59.43. That victory was largely thanks to Duncan Scott, who threw down a massive 1:43.95 split on the anchor leg, the fastest in the field by a second. 

The Americans settled for silver, while Australia was firmly entrenched in third throughout the event

Let’s take a dive into the splits to determine the biggest impacts on this race.

MEN’S 4×200 FREESTYLE RELAY – Final

• World Record: 6:58.55 – USA (2009)
• Olympic Record: 6:58.56 – USA (2008)
• 2021 Winning Time: 6:58.58 – Great Britain
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 7:01.84

Podium

1. Great Britain (Guy, Dean, Richards, Scott) – 6:59.43
2. USA (Hobson, Foster, Kibler, Smith) – 7:00.78
3. Australia (Giuliani, Southam, Winnington, Neill) – 7:01.98
4. China – 7:04.37
5. France – 7:04.80
6. Korea – 7:07.26
7. Japan – 7:07.48
8. Germany – 7:09.56
9. Israel – 7:10.22

Swimmer #1 Splits

Great Britain saw a fantastic first leg from veteran James Guy. After splitting 1:45.04 on the prelims relay, Guy was kept in the lineup for finals. The decision paid off as Guy dropped a 1:45.09 leg, just five one-hundredths off his split from the morning to lead the field by two-tenths. 

Newly-minted 400 free Olympic champ Lukas Martens led Germany put Germany in second with a 1:45.31 split, faster than the 1:45.46 that he went to finish 5th in the individual 200 free. 

He was closely followed by 200 bronze medalist Luke Hobson from the U.S.. Hobson’s split of 1:45.55 was almost a second slower than the 1:44.79 that he dropped to win the bronze medal last night. Australian Maximillian Giuliani was the only other swimmer in the field to dip under 1:46 off of the start, keeping Australia in the race early with a 1:45.99. 

Swimmer #2 Splits

Despite his prelims performance raising some doubts, Tom Dean was over a second faster than his split from prelims (1:46.71), hitting 1:45.28 to lead all second-leg swimmers. Dean’s split proved to be crucial for Great Britain as Carson Foster was just behind Dean with a 1:45.31 split. 

Foster, who scratched this event at U.S. Trials, proved to be the right decision for the American coaching staff as he had the second-fastest split for the U.S.and was faster than all four prelims swimmers. 

Japan saw its fastest split of the relay on this leg, as Katshuiro Matsumoto matched Foster’s 1:45.31. Matsumoto finished 8th in the 200 free earlier in the meet with a 1:46.26, so his split here was also a big improvement from his individual time, though still a little off his personal best of 1:45.22. Another big split came from young Australian star Flynn Southam, who dropped a 1:45.53 after swimming a 1:45.62 on the prelim relay. Southam’s best time stands at 1:46.67 from back in 2023 so he produced two large drops on his splits today. 

Swimmer #3 Splits

In a swim that probably went unnoticed by many fans, Kim Woomin continued his strong meet by swimming the fastest leg of all swimmers on the third leg. Kim, who just had a major breakout to win a bronze medal in the 400 free this week, split 1:44.98 for South Korea. His split was one of only three in the entire field to dip under 1:45 and it played a key role in separating South Korea from Japan, as the two teams ultimately only finished two-tenths apart in sixth and seventh, respectively.

Continuing the string of strong performances for Great Britain, Matt Richards split 1:45.11, holding off Drew Kibler (1:45.12) and the Americans entering the final leg. 

On this leg, Elijah Winnington popped a 1:45.19 split for the Australians, suddenly propelling the team back into the conversation for the silver medal. Notably, China’s Pan Zhanle only managed a 1:45.81 split coming off of the 100 freestyle semi-finals earlier in the session. Zhanle holds a best flat-start time of 1:44.65, so his performance didn’t prove to be a difference-maker for the Chinese team.

Swimmer #4 Splits

The U.S. coaching staff was reportedly in conflict prior to the start of finals regarding the relay lineups. The decision to rest Kieran Smith and race him as the anchor of the finals relay seemed controversial. Instead of racing Smith during prelims, the coaching staff opted to use Olympic Trials runner-up Chris Guiliano on the morning relay. Traditionally, the top two from Trials get a bypass into the final, especially with Guiliano also racing the 100 freestyle earlier in the session. However, with Guiliano missing the 200 freestyle semis earlier in the meet, his inclusion in the prelims relay wasn’t a huge surprise. The decision proved to be the correct one, as Smith came through on his leg. Suddenly caught in a battle for the silver medal with Australia, Smith produced a 1:44.80 split, the second-fastest in the entire field, to give the U.S. the silver medal after they missed the podium for the first time three years ago in Tokyo. 

Alongside Smith, Duncan Scott was on fire with a 1:43.95 anchor split, pulling Great Britain away from the Americans to secure the gold medal. On his split, Scott was a second faster than the 1:44.87 he went to finish a narrow 4th in the individual event. Scott’s time also proved to be a major difference-maker for the team as Great Britain finished 1.35 seconds ahead of the US, despite only having a .5 second lead entering the final leg. 

South Korea was the only team to move up on the anchor leg, with Hwang Sunwoo‘s 1:45.99 moving them up from eighth to sixth. 

Full List of Splits