2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
- Meet site
- Competition Schedule
- FinaTV Live Stream
- Entry Lists
- Results
Swimming in the final of the 4 x 100 mixed medley relay, American Caeleb Dressel posted a 49.33 butterfly split to give the United States a 1.25-second lead over Australia going into freestyle. Though the Americans did not defend their 2017 title, Dressel’s split in the butterfly deserves recognition, and could preview his individual 100 fly times Friday and Saturday.
Dressel’s 49.76 relay split in 2017 was the second-fastest all-time behind only Michael Phelps‘ 49.72 relay split from the 2009 World Championships in Rome, and the fastest split ever in a textile suit. Based on previous FINA record keeping practices, Dressel’s split today may not “officially” count as the fastest all-time, but we’re not going to forget it anytime soon.
To the best of our knowledge, Dressel and Phelps are the only swimmers in history to produce sub-50 splits in the 100 LCM butterfly in the medley relay, mixed or traditional. To date, Dressel has registered three 49-second splits and Phelps one. Chad le Clos is the third-fastest on the medley relay with a 50.10 fly split from the men’s 400 medley relay at the 2018 Commonwealth Games with a 50.10.
Fastest Butterfly Splits in Medley Relay History:
| Rank | Swimmer | Time | Country | Event | Competition |
| 1 | Caeleb Dressel | 49.33 | United States | Mixed 400 Medley Relay | 2019 World Championships |
| 2 | Michael Phelps | 49.72 | United States | Men’s 400 Medley Relay | 2009 World Championships |
| 3 | Caeleb Dressel | 49.76 | United States | Men’s 400 Medley Relay | 2017 World Championships |
| 4 | Caeleb Dressel | 49.92 | United States | Mixed 400 Medley Relay | 2017 World Championships |
| 5 | Chad le Clos | 50.10 | South Africa | Men’s 400 Medley Relay | 2018 Commonwealth Games |
| 6 | Michael Phelps | 50.15 | United States | Men’s 400 Medley Relay | 2008 Beijing Olympic Games |
| 7 | Andrew Lauterstein | 50.16 | Australia | Men’s 400 Medley Relay | 2009 World Championships |
| 7 | Gabriel Mangabeira | 50.16 | Brazil | Men’s 400 Medley Relay | 2009 World Championships |
Dressel Split Comparison:Dressel’s reaction time today was a relatively quick .28, unlike 2017 where he was off the blocks in a .42, the slowest in the field. At the 2017 World Championships, Dressel teased fans with a 49.92 butterfly split in the finals of the mixed medley relay, which the United States won in World Record fashion. Dressel then fired off a 50.08 in the prelims of the 100 fly, a 50.07 in the semifinals, and a 49.86 in the finals, missing Phelps’ World Record by only .04. Dressel ended the meet with a 49.76 butterfly split in the men’s 400 medley relay.
| Race: | 2017 Mixed Medley Relay | 2017 100 Fly Final – Flat Start | 2017 Men’s Medley Relay | 2018 Mixed Medley Relay |
| Split: | 49.92 | 49.86 | 49.76 | 49.33 |
If we were to predict Dressel’s time in the finals of the 100 fly based off the information we have from the 2017 World Championships, supposing he drops another .10 from his relay split to his flat start, Dressel’s finals time would be a 49.23. That is an unbelievably fast time, but it’s worth remembering that he went 50.36 unrested in June.
Whatever Dressel goes in the 100 fly, it’s sure to be faster than 50.00, and he may not be the only swimmer sub-50. After watching 19-year-old Hungarian Kristof Milak destroy Phelps’ 200 fly World Record with a 1:50.73, it’s reasonable to predict that Milak also slips under 50 and the current World Record of 49.82 in the 100 fly. Milak’s best time is 50.62 from the 2017 World Championships where the then-17-year-old took 2nd to Dressel.
To date, only Michael Phelps (49.82), Caeleb Dressel (49.86), and Serbia’s Milorad Cavic (49.95) have been under 50 seconds in the 100 LCM butterfly, and each swimmer has only done it (flat start) on one occasion.
Other notable splits in the Mixed medley relay include Russia’s Evgeny Rylov‘s 51.97 backstroke lead-off and Cate Campbell‘s 51.10 freestyle anchor leg that propelled the Australian team to gold over the United States.
One note on Phelps’ 2009 World Record in the 200 fly: Though Phelps’ swam the time at the 2009 World Championships in Rome, it is worth noting that he did not wear a full-body suit for the race and opted only for the Speedo LZR Racer legskins with polyurethane paneling.
MIXED 4 X 100 MEDLEY RELAY – FINAL
- World Record: United States (Grevers, King, Dressel, Manuel), 2017, 3:38.56
- World Junior Record: Russia (Prikhodko, Chupkov, Pakhomov, Openysheva), 2015, 3:45.85
- World Championships Record: United States (Grevers, King, Dressel, Manuel), 2017, 3:38.56
- 2017 Defending World Champions: United States (Grevers, King, Dressel, Manuel), 2017, 3:38.56
MEDALISTS:
- GOLD: Australia (Larkin, Wilson, McKeon, Campbell), 3:39.08
- SILVER: United States (Murphy, King, Dressel, Manuel), 3:39.10
- BRONZE: Great Britain (Davies, Peaty, Guy, Anderson), 3:40.68
The rule we always estimated growing up for fly was double your hundred and add 10 sec which should put Milan in the low 50 point range
Those :55 girls ain’t goin 2:00s.
It’s entirely up to Dressel how fast he goes.
“Don’t try to be fast. Be fast.”
Stuff Dressel. Campbell 51 swim was off the map
Campbells swim was certainly good, however, dressels split was .4 faster than anyone has split before on a relay
his relay start isn’t as beneficial to him as others. He’s already so explosive from a flat start that he doesn’t seem to gain as much.
I think 49.4 is in play.
it was a bummer to watch the last 100, as if Simone had no energy.
I don’t know, I quite enjoyed it. It was Larkin who was showing no energy, beat Murphy in the individual 100 & was a 1 sec behind here.
I feel like Minakov and Milak will be close up there with Dressel as well. Remember Minakov went a 51.12 when he was 16. SIXTEEN.
Giggity
If Phelps hadn’t had his goggles will with water in the final of the 200 fly in Beijing, he likely would have been at least a full second faster, which would have gotten him to at least a 1:51. Yes, that’s a big “if,” but if you extrapolate from his 4:03.8 IM and 1:42.9 free, a time in that vicinity would have been in line. Also, keep in mind, for both that swim and his 1:51.5 the next year in Rome, while they were, technically “super-suited,” he in fact only wore the LAZR leggings, which had those two chloroprene patches on the front of the thighs, but was a far cry from the completely rubberized suits like the Arena X-Glide… Read more »
You have to remember the burden he took on in that meet to. There’s a reason no one has done that since, the sheer yardage he went through at that meet is ridiculous. I know the googles story but I remember seeing something where he showed his goal times and he wanted like a 49.5 100 fly and a 1:51.0 200, he could’ve already been tiring at that point in the meet, his 100 fly (7th gold) was only a 50.5, a second off what he thought he was capable off. And in 2009 after taking on a lesser schedule and famously not training as hard he easily broke the record in 50.2
IM Fan: Agree completely, he had to have been exhausted by the end of that week in Beijing. But we also have to remember, in ’09 he actually wore the full body LAZR for his 100 fly, whereas in Beijing he only wore the leggings for that race. And the full body was definitely faster than just the leggings, even if it wasn’t in the same class as the Arena X-Glide etc.
Also keep in mind that about 10 months before Beijing he broke his hand and he wasn’t in the shape he wanted to be even at Beijing either