Richards, Dean, and Kibler Headline Men’s 4×200 FR Relay Prelims (Full Lineups)

2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 23 to 30, 2023
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Marine Messe Fukuoka
• LCM (50m)
• WORLD CHAMPS WATCH PARTY – DAILY
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Entry Book
• Live Results (Omega)
• Day 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Live Recap | Day 4 Finals Live Recap
• Day 5 Prelims Live Recap | Day 5 Finals Live Recap 
• Day 6 Prelims Live Recap 

The lineups for the preliminary heats of the men’s 4×200 free relay at the 2023 World Championships have been released.

Team USA will be represented by the team of Drew Kibler, Baylor Nelson, Henry McFadden, and Jake Mitchell. The four swimmers represent the 3rd through 6th place finishers in the 200 freestyle from US Nationals. The fastest swimmer in this morning’s heats will likely be joined by Kieran Smith, Luke Hobson, and Carson Foster in the final. Hobson and Smith finished 1st and 2nd at Nationals in the 200 freestyle, respectively. Foster, meanwhile, posted the fastest time in the prelims of the 200 freestyle at Nationals (1:45.67), before scratching out of the final. Given the fact that he has already completed his individual event schedule, Foster should be well-rested for the finals relay tonight. 

The US men will go head-to-head with Great Britain in heat 2. The two countries are the favorites to challenge for the gold medal in finals. Great Britain appears to be going “all-in” in prelims with the line-up of Joe Litchfield, Duncan Scott, Tom Dean, and Matthew Richards entered. Richards and Dean won the gold and silver medals in the 200 freestyle earlier in the meet, becoming the first duo from Great Britain to ever go 1-2 in the event. In addition to winning the 200 freestyle, Richards finished 5th in the 200 freestyle during yesterday’s session, setting a new British Swimming Record in the process with his time of 47.45. 

It is possible that Great Britain may sub-in James Guy for the final as he posted a 1:45.85 to finish 3rd at the British Championships. However, Guy will likely have to balance a double with the men’s 100 fly semi-final tonight, so that could be a gametime decision. 

Like the US, the Aussies are likely resting some of their top swimmers for the final. They will swim the line-up of Flynn Southam, Elijah Winnington, Kai Taylor, and Thomas Neill. Taylor won the Australian national title in a time of 1:46.25 this year, while Neill and Winnington also placed in the top 4. However, Taylor missed the semis of the 200 free individually, while Alexander Graham, the 2nd place finisher from nationals, managed to finish 13th in the event. There is also a chance that the Aussies throw 100 freestyle champion Kyle Chalmers onto the finals relay as well as he split 1:45.35 at the Tokyo Olympic Games. 

China has entered the team of Ji Xinjie, Hong Jinquan, Zhang Ziyang, and Wang Haoyu, most likely resting stars Pan Zhanle and Wang Shun for finals. South Korea is putting their best foot forward, entering their top team of Hwang Sunwoo, Kim Woomin, Lee Ho-Joon, and Yang Jaehoon. 

Full Lineups

Heat One: 

• Vietnam (Do, H. Nguyen, Mai, Q. Nguyen)
• China (Xinjie, Jinquan, Ziyang, Haoyu)
• Italy (de Tullio, Ciampi, Megli, di Cola)
• Australia (Southam, Winnington, Taylor, Neill)
• Brazil (Melo, Scheffer, Setin, Costa)
• France (Salvan, Yebba, Fuchs, Tesic)
• Canada (Gaziev, Hussey, Knox, Acevedo)
• Spain (Castro, Dominguez, de Celis Montalban, Quijada Roldan)

Heat Two:

• Thailand (Kaewsriyong, Kanteemool, Thammananthachote, Wongcharoen)
• Germany (Martens, Miroslaw, Slachow, Sorgius)
• Switzerland (Djakovic, Mityukov, Ponti, Liess)
• Hungary (Nemeth, Marton, Hollo, Rasovszky)
• USA (Kibler, Nelson, McFadden, Mitchell)
• Great Britain (Litchfield, Scott, Dean, Richards)
• South Korea (Hwang, Kim, Yang, Lee)
• Israel (Loktev, Frankel, Namir, Cohen Groumi)
• Japan (Mano, Matsumoto, Tanaka, Yoshida)