2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
In the finals of the men’s 4×100 medley relay, Italy pulled an upset on the United States, who were the heavy favorites to win this race. The quartet of Thomas Ceccon, Nicolo Martinenghi, Federico Burdisso, and Alesandro Miressi put together time of 3:27.51, which ties Great Britain’s European record that was set last year. They edged out the Americans by 0.28 seconds, and it was a close race throughout.
Backstroke
Thomas Ceccon got the Italians off to a scorching start with a 51.93 leadoff leg, a time that would have taken silver in the 100 back just behind her own 51.60 world record time. His swim from today ranks as the fourth-fastest performance of all time, just behind his world record, Ryan Murphy‘s 51.85, and Xu Jiayu’s 51.86.
Top 5 Peformances, Men’s 100 Back:
- Thomas Ceccon, Italy – 51.60 (2022)
- Ryan Murphy, USA – 51.85 (2016)
- Xu Jiayu, China – 51.86 (2017)
- Thomas Ceccon, Italy – 51.93 (2022)
- Aaron Peirsol, United States (2009)/Ryan Murphy, United States (2018) – 51.94
Murphy recorded a 52.51 split, which had the U.S. in second 0.58 seconds behind Italy. He was a bit off his time of 51.97 from when he finished second in the 100 back.
| Country | Swimmer | Time |
| Italy | Thomas Ceccon | 51.93 |
| United States | Ryan Murphy | 52.51 |
| France | Yohann Ndoye-Brouard | 53.08 |
| Great Britain | Luke Greenbank | 53.81 |
| Germany | Ole Braunschweig | 53.94 |
| Australia | Isaac Cooper | 54.29 |
| Austria | Bernhard Reitshammer | 54.38 |
| China | Wang Shun | 55.19 |
Breaststroke
Just like the backstroke, the breaststroke was also a two-country battle between Italy and the United States. 100 breast world champion Nicolo Martinenghi got his hand to the wall first with a 57.47 split, the ninth fastest 100 breast relay split of all time behind eight of Adam Peaty’s times. Nic Fink also had a strong leg, matching his 57.86 from the mixed medley relay.
Top 9 100 Breast Relay Splits Of All-Time:
- Adam Peaty, Great Britain – 56.53 (2021)
- Adam Peaty, Great Britain – 56.59 (2016)
- Adam Peaty, Great Britain – 56.78 (2021)
- Adam Peaty, Great Britain – 56.91 (2017)
- Adam Peaty, Great Britain – 57.08 (2021)
- Adam Peaty, Great Britain – 57.12 (2017)
- Adam Peaty, Great Britain – 57.20 (2019)
- Adam Peaty, Great Britain – 57.27 (2018)
- Nicolo Martinenghi, Italy – 57.47 (2022)
Stepping up in the absence of Peaty, James Wilby was just 0.11 seconds faster than his individual time, putting down a 58.82 to push the Brits from fourth to third. Zac Stubblety-Cook was a bit off for the Aussies, going 59.88 compared to his mixed medley relay split of 58.92.
| Country | Swimmer | Time |
| Italy | Nicolo Martinenghi | 57.47 |
| United States | Nic Fink | 57.86 |
| Great Britain | James Wilby | 58.82 |
| Germany | Lucas Matzerath | 59.32 |
| China | Qin Haiyang | 59.44 |
| Austria | Simon Bucher | 59.73 |
| Australia | Zac Stubblety-Cook | 59.88 |
| France | Antoine Viquerat | 1:00.34 |
Butterfly
Even without Caeleb Dressel, the butterfly leg was supposed to be where the U.S. had the biggest advantage over Italy. Michael Andrew still had a very strong fly leg for the U.S. splitting 50.06—the fastest out of any swimmer by 0.47 seconds. However, Italy’s Federico Burdisso had stayed with him the entire time, clocking a 50.63 split. This was a huge moment for Burdisso, considering that he wasn’t even on the original Italian worlds team roster individually. He made a big improvement from the 51.07 that he swam on Italy’s Tokyo medley relay, and that time drop could have potentially decided the entire race. The way that Burdisso held onto Andrew was almost reminiscent to how Chelsea Hodges stepped up for Australia on the women’s medley relay last year at the Olympics, staying close to Olympic champion Lydia Jacoby to help her team get gold.
Matt Temple had a strong 50.75 split to push the Aussies from seventh to fifth. For Great Britain, James Guy went 51.32, slightly off the 50-point splits that he usually produces on relays. That being said, he did swim three rounds of the 200 fly this meet compared to other meets where he was primarily a relay swimmer, which could have contributed to fatigue headed into the final day of the meet.
| Country | Swimmer | Time |
| United States | Michael Andrew | 50.06 |
| Italy | Federica Burdisso | 50.63 |
| Australia | Matt Temple | 50.75 |
| Germany | Eric Friese | 51.03 |
| Austria | Simon Bucher | 51.04 |
| Great Britain | James Guy | 51.32 |
| China | Wang Changhao | 51.38 |
| France | Leon Marchand | 51.50 |
Freestyle
Kyle Chalmers once again dropped a 46-point split, going 46.89 to boost the Aussies from fifth to fourth. This comes after splitting 46.60 on the men’s 4×100 free relay and 46.98 on the mixed 4×100 free relay, and definitely earns him the award for the most clutch relay performer of this meet.
Ryan Held split a very fast 47.36 for the United States, but it was not enough to over take Alessandro Miressi, who went 47.48 to help the Italians secure gold. Maxime Grousset, Tom Dean, and Heiko Gigler all had strong 47-point splits of 47.45, 47.45, and 47.65 respectively.
| Country | Swimmer | Time |
| Australia | Kyle Chalmers | 46.89 |
| United States | Ryan Held | 47.36 |
| Great Britain | Tom Dean | 47.45 |
| France | Maxime Grousset | 47.45 |
| Italy | Alesandro Miressi | 47.48 |
| Austria | Heiko Gigler | 47.65 |
| Germany | Rafael Mirolsaw | 48.34 |
| China | Pan Zhanle | 48.61 |