By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers which country should be favored in the men’s medley relay at the 2025 World Championships:
Question: With the U.S. looking vulnerable on back and breast, who is the team to beat in the men’s 4×100 medley relay?
RESULTS
China – 75.6% Russia (Neutrals) – 10.3% USA – 8.7% Great Britain – 3.9% Other – 1.5%The United States has been historically dominant in the men’s 4×100 medley relay, winning every Olympic gold medal up until last summer, while over 21 World Championships, they’ve won 15 gold medals, three silvers, and been disqualified three other times.
Outside of the DQs, the 1998 World Championships were the only time the U.S. had lost the event at an Olympic or World Championship meet prior to 2019. But in the last six years, they’ve lost three of the six major titles, falling to Great Britain at the 2019 Worlds, Italy at the 2022 Worlds, and most recently, to China at the 2024 Olympics.
Now, entering the 2025 World Championships, the Americans are looking perhaps as weak as they ever have in the medley relay, particularly on backstroke and breaststroke due to the absences of Ryan Murphy and Nic Fink, who have been among the best in their respective disciplines for an extended period of time.
In addition to Murphy and Fink sitting out of U.S. Nationals, we also learned Wednesday that Caeleb Dressel and Hunter Armstrong won’t be racing, meaning the entire U.S. medley relay from the 2024 Olympic final won’t be at the 2025 Worlds.
They should have suitable replacements on fly (Dare Rose, Thomas Heilman, Shaine Casas) and free (Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano), but back and breast are both big question marks, making the Americans vulnerable to a finish worse than silver for the first time in its history (outside of DQs).
In our latest poll, we asked SwimSwam readers who they believe is the favorite in the men’s medley relay this summer in light of the Americans looking weaker than usual, and leading the way with more than three-quarters of votes were the reigning Olympic champions from China.
China is home to the world record holder in the 100 free, Pan Zhanle, the second-fastest man ever in the 100 breast, Qin Haiyang, and the fourth-fastest man ever in the 100 back, Xu Jiayu. If they have a weak leg, it’s the butterfly, but Chen Juner set a big personal best time of 51.03 at last week’s Chinese Nationals, nearing the National Record to shore them up on the third leg.
Behind China, the Russian (Neutral Athletes ‘B’) team ranked 2nd in the poll with just over 10% of votes, coming off winning the short course world title in world record fashion this past December.
The 2024 Short Course World Championships marked the first time we saw Russian swimmers contest a relay on the global stage since they were banned from international competition in early 2022, and they’ve got a formidable medley relay lineup that should challenge China in Singapore.
Teenager Miron Lifintsev has emerged as a star on backstroke, giving them a formidable 1-2 punch with Kliment Kolesnikov. Kirill Prigoda has maintained an elite level on breaststroke, Andrei Minakov gives them a 50-point swimmer on fly, and Egor Kornev is their fastest freestyler this year at 47.42. Kolesnikov could also slide over to the free leg, depending on the form Kornev shows in Singapore.
SwimSwam’s Sam Blacker recently dove into the medley relay numbers, and China (3:26.98) has the fastest add-up (using personal best times from the swimmers most likely to be racing), followed by Italy (3:28.70) and Russia (3:28.98).
Italy’s add-up, however, uses times from 2021 for both Federico Burdisso on fly and Alessandro Miressi on free, while there’s reason to believe Russia’s add-up undervalues them after Prigoda recently split 57.89 on the breast leg of a medley relay last month.
The United States, which has a projected add-up of 3:29.25 using Shaine Casas, Josh Matheny, Dare Rose and Jack Alexy‘s best times, earned 8.7% of the votes, while Great Britain, who will be missing Adam Peaty on breast, earned 3.7%.
Italy wasn’t included in the poll, largely due to its weakness on fly, but were likely the country in mind for the 1.5% that voted for “other.’
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Which women’s event is the U.S. deepest in?
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
A3 Performance is an independently-owned, performance swimwear company built on a passion for swimming, athletes, and athletic performance. We encourage swimmers to swim better and faster at all ages and levels, from beginners to Olympians. Driven by a genuine leader and devoted staff that are passionate about swimming and service, A3 Performance strives to inspire and enrich the sport of swimming with innovative and impactful products that motivate swimmers to be their very best – an A3 Performer.The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.
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