US Shatters World Record in Thrilling Mixed Relay Swim

The Americans finished fifth in the event’s Olympic debut three years ago.

PARIS, France — The United States redeemed their disappointing performance in Tokyo by setting a new world record in the 4×100 mixed medley relay.

Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske combined for a winning time of 3:37.43, surpassing the previous record of 3:37.58 set by Britain during the event’s Olympic debut.

In this unique format, each team chooses two men and two women. Both the U.S. and China opted to start with their male swimmers for the first two segments.

Murphy gave the U.S. an early lead in the backstroke, while China’s Qin Haiyang overtook Fink during the breaststroke. Walsh regained the lead for the Americans in the butterfly, and Huske successfully held off China’s Yang Junxuan to clinch the gold.

WHAT AN EFFORT.

TORRI HUSKE HOLDS ON FOR THE 4X100 MEDLEY RELAY GOLD AND WORLD RECORD! #ParisOlympics | NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/bIxkbrGiN6

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2024

The Chinese team, which included Xu Jiayu and Zhang Yufei, secured the silver medal with a time of 3:37.55. Australia took bronze, finishing in 3:38.76.

France, with Marchand swimming the breaststroke leg, finished fourth. Marchand had already accumulated four individual golds. However, the French team was more than two seconds behind the Australians.

In the 2021 event, the Americans had finished in fifth place, while Britain claimed the gold. This time, Britain finished in seventh place.

With this victory, the U.S. brought their gold medal count to six, trailing Australia by one with four events remaining on Sunday. However, the Americans are assured of winning the overall medal tally with a total of 25 medals.