Clocking a time of 3:09.01, the American men’s team won the 4×100 freestyle relay, establishing brand new Pan Pac and U.S. Open records.
Transcript of the Video
The Canadian swimmers are getting set in lane six.
And the American squad, Rowdy, is looking to put up an incredibly fast performance together.
Chris Giuliano is set to get things underway, with Jack Alexy anchoring in pursuit of the gold.
The lineup is ideal.
Kicked off strong by Chris with a 47.1 split.
I do not believe the Australians will be much of a threat here.
Honestly, it does not look like anyone else will pose a challenge.
The real focus is whether they can eclipse a world mark that has stood for 18 years.
They definitely have an opportunity.
But every single member of the team must deliver.
Keep in mind, these were the quickest four individual competitors at this entire Pan Pac meet.
Get set.
All four recorded the top times.
When you combine those talents, you get a championship relay, but each person has to perform.
They possess a strong start, Alexy’s finish, and great depth, but everyone has to execute if they want a shot at history.
An opening leg of 47.1 is required.
That needs to be backed up by a performance like Chris Giuliano’s last night, where his consolation-final victory in 47.1 would have placed him second overall.
Correct, the Pennsylvania-born swimmer now trains with the Texas program and competed individually in the 50, 100, and 200 events at the Paris Games.
We will see what kind of lead he can hand over to Patrick Sammon.
Kai Taylor is swimming the initial leg for Australia.
A great finish to the leg.
The margin stands at three-tenths of a second.
Sammon enters the water now.
He was a finalist in the 100 freestyle at the world championships last summer in Singapore.
A split of 47.5.
That is identical to the time Michael Phelps clocked when he led off that famous relay.
And believe it or not, that mark was a national record at the time.
The gap remains steady at around three-tenths of a second.
Jamie Jack is swimming the second leg for the Aussies.
Sammon is attempting to stay ahead of the field.
Japan currently holds the third position.
Mitsunaga is keeping them in that spot.
Sammon needs to clock around a flat 47 seconds.
He goes 46.9!
An amazing leg for Patrick Sammon.
That effort puts them squarely back on pace for the world record.
A mark of 46.9.
Incredible swim from Patrick Sammon.
Destin Lasco is in the water now for the United States.
Australia’s Edward Sommerville is trying to close the gap.
And the American lead widens to eight-tenths of a second.
They remain ahead of the world record split.
Lasco is out fast with a 22.6.
A 22.6 split.
The world-record mark at this point was 2:22.1.
The Australians refuse to back down, but Team USA has Alexy on the anchor.
A fantastic swim by Sommerville cuts the deficit to just three and a half tenths.
Harrison Turner is the anchor swimmer for Australia.
Now it is up to Jack Alexy, the two-time world silver medalist, US record holder, and the individual 100 freestyle champion at these Pan Pacs.
Lasco registers a 47.7 split.
That leaves them with a tough mountain to climb.
It will be difficult unless Alexy can pull off something extraordinary.
Alexy is digging deep.
Harrison Turner is responding strongly.
It is a battle between Australia and America.
Alexy is fighting to finish strong in this 4×100 freestyle relay for the US.
Alexy powers toward the wall.
He touches the wall.
A guaranteed meet record and a gold medal for the United States.
Australia takes silver, and Japan will claim the bronze. Comparing this to the tight 2008 finish, Lasco was slightly slower than expected, but Alexy anchored with a stellar 46.7.
Nearly everyone was slightly off their best times, with the exception of Sammon.
His 46.9 split.
Just an outstanding performance from him.
However, the world record remains safe at 6,577 days.
Wow.
What an incredible record that is.
Set by Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak.
That mark survives yet another challenge as the Americans attempted to break it.
They came within roughly a quarter of a second, but just fell short.
Alexy wraps up the victory to secure Pan Pacs gold for the USA.
And the American teams complete a sweep of the 4×100 freestyle relays.
With the US women winning earlier, the men follow suit with another gold. Team USA finished just eight-tenths of a second shy of that legendary world record they are pursuing.
How does this result impact your confidence and drive as you look ahead?
Oh, man, we are just incredibly grateful to everyone in the stands who supported us.
Their energy is what kept us so close to that record.
We also have to credit Australia and the rest of the field, because their performance pushed us to that limit.
Every single leg of the relay is crucial, but the final anchor leg always gets a lot of attention.
How do you manage the tension and nerves when stepping up onto the starting block?
Before the race, I told the team that we had been training all season for this exact moment.
I told them to look around at the fans and just enjoy the atmosphere as we walked out.
You will always feel nervous, but you just have to try and enjoy it.
And yes, as Destin mentioned, credit to the Australian team.
That was an incredibly exciting race to watch.
Thanks to the crowd in Irvine, California, for staying with us so late.
Let’s hear it for the champions of the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay.
