TSC Mysteries: What if the European All-Stars Break a World Record?

This is a series that we haven’t hit on in a while, but welcome to the revival of The Swimmers’ Circle Mysteries!

Today, we’ll look at a very topical question that I’m sure some of our fans will be asking themselves ahead of next week’s Duel in the Pool: What if the European All-Stars break a relay World Record?

The answer to this one is a simple one: nothing. They would have put together the fastest relay of it’s type ever assembled, but according to FINA rule SW 12.3:

SW 12.3 Members of relay teams must be of the same nationality.

Pretty straightforward, ehh? It won’t be to those swim fans who are watching it on NBC.

This has happened before, as one of our readers pointed out. At the 2004 NCAA Championships, which were held in long course meters in honor of the Olympic year, the Auburn 400 free relay of George Bovell (Trinidad and Tobago), Derek Gibb (USA), Ryan Wochomurka (USA), and Fred Bousquet (France) broke the World Record then held by Sweden, but because they came from three different countries, the record didn’t count.

It’s easy to understand the concept – Relay records wouldn’t mean as much if the swimmers didn’t all come from the same country, because swimmers might just assemble all-star quartets to break records. Then again, under normal rules swimmers are allowed to change nationalities, and you’re comparing countries with hundreds of millions of citizens to those with just millions, so is say, assembling a European relay really that much different than assembling a Chinese relay?

The most likely World Record to be broken by the Europeans would be the women’s 400 free relay mark of 3:28.22. This one was set by the Dutch at last year’s Short Course World Championships (which is to say, after the rubber suits that dominated the record books for two years were eliminated), so that hurdle is already met.

The average swim in that record was only a 52.0. The sprint group that the European squad has put together could almost get to that if the meet were in long course meters (it’s in short course).

Two of the members of that World Record setting relay, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Marleen Veldhuis (who split a 50.9 anchor to carry to that record last year) are also on this All-Star squad. If you tack onto them the defending tied World Champions (Jeanette Ottesen and Aleksandra Herasimenia) and Britain’s top sprinter Fran Halsall, there’s easily a record combination in there somewhere.

So what would result from that time? There’s currently no record list that allows for all-star relays, though with the increasing diversity in some of the American club teams, perhaps there should be. The swim would hang in limbo, probably earning only the status of “meet record.”

These Duel in the Pool meets always leave for some funny records, which shows their sort of unique standing within the swimming community. Recall the 2009 edition in Manchester, where swimmers like Nick Thoman broke World Records that don’t stand as officially ratified American Records, because American suit rules at the time were different from FINA’s.

With the path that Europe is on, it may soon enough resemble more of one, singular nationality, so perhaps this squad will be posthumously awarded the mark.