World Championships Relay Analysis: Powerhouse British 800 Free Relay Under Siege From Americans
At the Tokyo Olympics, the team of Tom Dean, James Guy, Matt Richards and Duncan Scott became the first relay representing Great Britain to win gold in swimming since the inaugural Olympic swimming relay almost a century earlier. Three years later in Paris, that foursome made history again by repeating as Olympic 800 freestyle relay champions with the exact same four swimmers.
Each of those men has a history of individual success in the 200-meter race. Guy and Richards have both won world titles in the event, and Dean was the Olympic champion in Tokyo. Scott earned silver behind Dean at those Games while Richards won silver in a tightly-contested Olympic final last year. This group will try to run it back again on the global level at this summer’s World Championships in Singapore.
The obstacle for the Brits comes from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean after the U.S. men assembled their strongest collection of 200 freestylers since the decade-plus winning streak fueled by Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. First up was Luke Hobson, last year’s Olympic bronze medalist in the 200 free and now the fifth-fastest performer in history. Hobson swam a time of 1:43.73, the top time in the world this year and only ever surpassed by Paul Biedermann, Phelps, David Popovici and Yannick Agnel.
Luke Hobson — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Improvement from Hobson was not a huge shocker, but the depth that followed him was. The other automatic qualifiers for this relay each annihilated their best times: Gabriel Jett clocked 1:44.70 to become the fourth-fastest American ever behind Phelps, Hobson and Lochte while Rex Maurer and Henry McFadden each swam 1:45-lows. Jett and Maurer are World Championships rookies while McFadden was previously a prelims relay swimmer in 2023.
The American men won a world title in the event in 2022 followed by World Championships silver in 2023 and Olympic silver in 2024, but the only swimmers returning from any of those finals teams are Hobson and Carson Foster, who qualified as the fifth-place swimmer at Nationals. Veteran Kieran Smith was left off after placing sixth in the 200 free final, a roster crunch denying him a spot in Singapore, while Drew Kibler did not race at the meet.
We’ll see if all these young swimmers can repeat their times, but if they do, the Americans could have a shot at the world record. The mark of 6:58.55 has survived since the supersuit era of 2009, with Britain falling narrowly short in numerous gold-medal swims, but for this American contingent, the potential for history is there. With Hobson’s 1:43.73 as the standout and no time slower than 1:45-low, the Americans’ composite time comes within a quarter-second of the world record, even before adding in relay starts.
Below are the added-up times for the top countries in this event. Only 2025 season-best times are used here, but limitations of this analysis will be considered. There are just three countries within range of a medal in this event, with every other nation more than three seconds behind.
- United States: Luke Hobson 1:43.73 + Gabriel Jett 1:44.70 + Rex Maurer 1:45.13 + Henry McFadden 1:45.22 = 6:58.78
- Great Britain: James Guy 1:45.08 + Duncan Scott 1:45.08 + Matt Richards 1:45.35 + Jack McMillan 1:46.49 = 7:02.00
- Australia: Ed Sommerville 1:44.93 + Sam Short 1:45.71 + Flynn Southam 1:45.85 + Charlie Hawke 1:46.10 = 7:02.59
It’s highly unlikely Britain actually finishes three seconds behind the Americans, and there are several pathways for improvement. First, Richards is expected to be much closer to the 1:44.30 form he swam to win the world title in 2023. Meanwhile, Dean is not accounted for in that composite above after he skipped the event at the British Championships. He did qualify for the British team via his performance in the 100 free, and he has clocked 1:44-low on numerous occasions in the 200 free. Both Dean and Scott have hit 1:43s in anchoring this relay to gold medals.
Expect the British and American teams again in the top-two spots in some order, but Australia is not far away. Distance freestyle world champion Sam Short joins the team for the first time alongside youngsters Ed Sommerville and Flynn Southam, with Max Giuliani available in reserve. The country’s third-best time belongs to Zac Incerti, but he scratched the 200 free final at Australia’s Trials and is not part of the country’s team bound for Singapore.
As for potential spoilers to the top-three, China could be in the mix if Pan Zhanle is in top form, and the same is true for Korea with strong performances from Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Woo-min. However, that has not been the case for either country thus far in 2025. Keep an eye also on Germany, with Lukas Martens swimming as fast as 1:44.25 this year and Rafael Miroslaw having been 1:45 in the past.