The country that produced the most accurate relay exchanges at the Short Course World Championships might surprise you. Current photo via World Aquatics
Relays come fast and furious at the Short Course World Championships. Over the six-day competition, there are a whopping 12 different relay events, and with such a large sample size, we’re able to get a glimpse into which countries are the best and which have some work to do on their exchanges.
Given that the vast majority of American swimmers come up through the NCAA system (and a good chunk of the U.S. roster at the 2022 championships in Melbourne was made up of current collegiate athletes) you might expect that the U.S. has a distinct advantage over the rest of the world when it comes to relays.
However, the numbers say otherwise.
Taking into account only the reaction times from relay exchanges (so not the lead-off swimmer) done during finals, France came out with the lowest average—0.15 per exchange—although they only raced in four relay finals.
The U.S. was the only nation to qualify for all 12 relay finals, while Japan and Australia weren’t far behind with 11.
Among those three, it was Japan that performed the best by a wide margin. The Japanese team was actually the top performing squad among teams that raced in more than five relay finals, though they did disqualify one squad for an early takeoff.
Below, find the reaction times from each relay event, with 2nd, 3rd and 4th denoting the RT for the second, third and fourth swimmer on each team.
Women’s Relay Events
4×50 FR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
USA
0.04
0.36
0.37
0.77
AUS
0.21
0.52
0.16
0.89
NED
0.21
0.20
0.27
0.68
SWE
0.25
0.34
0.22
0.81
CHN
0.28
0.28
0.45
1.01
GBR
0.40
0.29
0.23
0.92
JPN
0.15
0.25
0.27
0.67
NZL
0.17
0.19
0.15
0.51
4×100 FR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
AUS
0.34
0.45
0.20
0.99
USA
0.34
0.23
0.35
0.92
CAN
0.25
0.18
0.41
0.84
SWE
0.19
0.60
0.39
1.18
NED
0.19
0.43
0.32
0.94
CHN
0.22
0.34
0.28
0.84
GBR
0.33
0.44
0.28
1.05
JPN
0.19
0.24
0.21
0.64
4×200 FR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
AUS
0.41
0.31
0.19
0.91
CAN
0.45
0.52
0.20
1.17
USA
0.25
0.18
0.24
0.67
NED
0.31
0.31
0.38
1.00
JPN
0.23
0.25
0.25
0.73
CHN
0.21
0.46
0.40
1.07
BRA
0.40
0.47
0.23
1.10
NZL
0.11
0.14
0.23
0.48
4×50 MR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
AUS
0.27
0.29
0.27
0.83
USA
0.24
0.38
0.25
0.87
SWE
0.12
0.05
0.12
0.29
CAN
0.31
0.18
0.20
0.69
NED
0.11
0.17
0.13
0.41
FRA
0.18
0.27
0.15
0.60
JPN
0.34
0.2
0.08
0.62
CZE
0.15
0.33
0.22
0.70
4×100 MR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
USA
0.38
0.27
0.31
0.96
AUS
0.28
0.32
0.18
0.78
CAN
0.31
0.13
0.22
0.66
NED
0.27
0.15
0.11
0.53
SWE
0.20
0.28
0.24
0.72
FRA
0.12
0.26
0.20
0.58
CHN
0.22
0.26
0.40
0.88
JPN
0.38
0.34
-0.07
DSQ
Men’s Relay Events
4×50 FR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
AUS
0.15
0.19
0.21
0.55
ITA
0.20
0.24
0.17
0.61
NED
0.17
0.24
0.04
0.45
JPN
0.23
0.23
0.16
0.62
USA
0.29
0.26
0.21
0.76
ESP
0.11
0.15
0.23
0.49
UKR
0.27
0.09
0.20
0.56
BRA
0.27
0.12
0.12
0.51
4×100 FR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
ITA
0.33
0.32
0.18
0.83
AUS
0.23
0.23
0.29
0.75
USA
0.29
0.20
0.27
0.76
BRA
0.28
0.19
0.22
0.69
CAN
0.20
0.23
0.16
0.59
ESP
0.20
0.29
0.14
0.63
JPN
0.18
0.13
0.21
0.52
NED
0.28
0.13
0.19
0.60
4×200 FR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
USA
0.33
0.25
0.21
0.79
AUS
0.28
0.06
0.31
0.65
ITA
0.21
0.26
0.22
0.69
KOR
0.16
0.33
0.14
0.63
JPN
0.09
0.18
0.31
0.58
ESP
0.12
0.16
0.21
0.49
CAN
0.35
0.09
0.15
0.59
BUL
0.20
0.26
0.03
0.49
4×50 MR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
ITA
0.18
0.19
0.23
0.60
USA
0.25
0.24
0.37
0.86
AUS
0.19
0.18
0.23
0.60
JPN
0.03
0.18
0.10
0.31
FRA
0.13
0.07
0.22
0.42
GER
0.44
0.21
0.25
0.90
CHN
0.22
0.43
0.00
0.65
NED
0.24
0.21
0.03
0.48
4×100 MR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
AUS
0.28
0.07
0.31
0.66
USA
0.18
0.15
0.20
0.53
ITA
0.18
0.13
0.56
0.87
JPN
0.13
0.37
0.29
0.79
GER
0.21
0.35
0.31
0.87
CAN
0.22
0.16
0.25
0.63
CHN
0.49
0.41
0.22
1.12
CZE
0.21
0.31
0.08
0.60
Mixed Relay Reaction Times
4×50 FR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
FRA
0.15
0.09
0.01
0.25
AUS
0.17
0.41
0.10
0.68
NED
0.16
0.10
0.19
0.45
USA
0.33
0.29
0.31
0.93
JPN
0.18
0.10
0.15
0.43
CHN
0.06
0.10
0.13
0.29
NZL
0.14
0.26
0.05
0.45
BRA
0.25
0.16
0.19
0.60
4×50 MR
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
USA
0.19
0.28
0.35
0.82
ITA
0.20
0.13
0.22
0.55
CAN
0.22
0.93
0.13
1.28
GBR
0.22
0.31
0.37
0.90
CHN
0.14
0.29
0.22
0.65
JPN
0.21
0.20
0.30
0.71
GER
0.19
-0.06
DSQ
NED
0.19
0.18
-0.04
DSQ
Not factoring in the reaction times from relays that were ultimately disqualified for an early takeoff, these are the cumulative averages for countries in the women’s, men’s and mixed events:
Women’s Reaction Times
Rank
Country
Relay Finals
RT Per Event
RT Per Exchange
1
NZL
2
0.495
0.165
2
FRA
2
0.59
0.196
3
JPN
4
0.665
0.222
4
CZE
1
0.70
0.233
5
NED
5
0.712
0.237
6
SWE
4
0.75
0.25
7
USA
5
0.838
0.279
8
CAN
4
0.84
0.28
9
AUS
5
0.88
0.29
10
CHN
4
0.95
0.316
11
GBR
2
0.985
0.328
12
BRA
1
1.10
0.366
Men’s Reaction Times
Rank
Country
Relay Finals
RT Per Event
RT Per Exchange
1
FRA
1
0.42
0.14
2
BUL
1
0.49
0.163
3
NED
3
0.51
0.17
4
ESP
3
0.536
0.179
5
UKR
1
0.56
0.187
6
JPN
5
0.564
0.188
7
GER
2
0.59
0.197
8
BRA
2
0.60
0.20
9
CZE
1
0.60
0.20
10
CAN
3
0.603
0.201
11
KOR
1
0.63
0.21
12
AUS
5
0.642
0.214
13
ITA
5
0.72
0.24
14
USA
5
0.74
0.246
15
CHN
2
0.885
0.295
Mixed Reaction Times
Rank
Country
Relay Finals
RT Per Event
RT Per Exchange
1
FRA
1
0.25
0.083
2
NED
1
0.45
0.15
2
NZL
1
0.45
0.15
4
CHN
2
0.47
0.157
5
ITA
1
0.55
0.183
6
JPN
2
0.57
0.19
7
BRA
1
0.60
0.2
8
AUS
1
0.68
0.227
9
USA
2
0.875
0.292
10
GBR
1
0.90
0.3
11
CAN
1
1.28
0.427
Brining all of the data together, we get the final results:
Overall Rankings
Rank
Nation
Events
Average RT
Per Exchange
1
FRA
4
0.4625
0.154
2
NZL
3
0.48
0.16
3
BUL
1
0.49
0.163
4
ESP
3
0.536
0.179
5
UKR
1
0.56
0.187
6
GER
2
0.59
0.197
7
JPN
11
0.602
0.20
8
NED
9
0.616
0.205
9
KOR
1
0.63
0.21
10
CZE
2
0.65
0.217
11
ITA
6
0.692
0.231
12
BRA
4
0.725
0.242
13
SWE
4
0.75
0.25
14
AUS
11
0.754
0.251
15
USA
12
0.803
0.268
16
CAN
8
0.806
0.269
17
CHN
8
0.814
0.271
18
GBR
3
0.957
0.319
NOTES
France, racing in four finals, had the lowest RT, which included averaging .083 on the world record-setting mixed 200 free relay.
China’s Pan Zhanle had the best legal takeover of the meet in a final at 0.00 on the anchor leg of the men’s 200 medley relay.
On paper, Canada’s Ilya Kharun had the slowest RT from a final at 0.93 on the butterfly leg of Canada’s mixed 200 medley relay. However, this appears to have been a technical error, as he still had a blazing-fast 9.84 opening 25 split (faster than GBR’s Ben Proud, who had a .31 reaction), and upon looking at the video, it doesn’t appear to be glaringly slow by any means. Without Kharun’s .93 factored in, Canada would improve from an average exchange of 0.269 to 0.24 and move up from 16th to 12th on the overall rankings.
Japan had the most accurate exchanges among nations that raced in five or more finals, averaging 0.20 per exchange in 11 events to edge out the Netherlands (0.205 average in nine events). However, Japan also disqualified one relay for an early takeoff.
China and Great Britain had the slowest reaction times on average, while the difference between the U.S. and Australia, who battled it out for gold in many of the events, was negligible.
Anyone done comparative analysis of type of exchange and rt times?
Dan Smith
1 year ago
Suggested by a friend: relay stats should be adjusted for gun-jumping as THAT is a complete disaster for the relay, obviously a DQ. Second, USA as opposed to many other countries swaps swimmers between prelims and finals. That practice could account for slow(er) RTs, as less to no time spent at camps working on alternate personnel on relays between prelims and finals. While I understand the desire to get as many swimmers a medal as possible (a laudable coaching goal!), the swap outs can alter or negatively affect something as critical as RTs.
For the Olympic Qualification System for swimming at Paris 2024, a clarification has also been made. As previously indicated, three (3) NOCs per relay event will qualify for the corresponding relay event at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 based on the final results achieved by their respective World Aquatics member federations at the World Aquatics Championships 2022 in Fukuoka.
The remaining 13 teams for each relay event will qualify on the basis of the fastest times from the preliminaries and finals performances of both the World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2022 and the World Aquatics Championships Doha 2024.
JimSwim22
1 year ago
With how many exchanges some of the athletes made it works be great to see analysis of individuals
Meathead
1 year ago
There are some swimmers who have such a great flat start they need to lead off (Roland S) and some who have such a bad flying start they need to lead off (Huske, who also happens to be amazing off a flat start)
A great flying start takes years to master. Experimenting in age group swimming, pushed at the high school level, and forced to perform in college championship meets gets one ready for the world stage.
4×50 relays are 20% exchanges.
America needs to hire some big energy high school and college coaches to teach some of their crew how to excel off the block. Timing, hype, and patriotism are all required
I’ve worked hard to make… Read more »
Paul Windrath
1 year ago
A slight “hijack” of this thread. It seems to me, given the technology we have for measuring the exchanges, the rules ought to be changed to cumulative instead of a single individual exchange DQing a relay.
For example, Japan’s cumulation exchange in the women’s 400 MR was .65 and were DQd because one exchange was -.07. Netherlands and Frances were a bit faster and were NOT DQ’d.
The rules could be amended to not DQ a relay if the cumulative exchanges was greater than .00 (with the requisite technology in place and operating properly). If .00 does not allow for technical variance, some guru can figure out what it should be.
Changing to cumulative exchanges would help those awkward exchanges… Read more »
This kind of defeats the point of a relay. Why not just minus the reaction time off the final time to determine which team “really” swam the fastest? The point of an exchange is that it is a skill.
Paul: How would this alteration handle a false start by swimmer #1! If we go to cumulative, seems a false start is allowable. Yes?
Robbos
1 year ago
A little off topic, but I love relays, especially when there is a few competitors like the excitement to the tied WR in the last race of the championship, with 3 teams going to the line together.
Chalmers rates it as his happy time racing with a team.
The next 2 years the 4x 200 women’s is going to be awesome with 4 countries with huge potential to win it Australia, USA, Canada & China. This relay especially has me very excited.
Last edited 1 year ago by Robbos
Taa
1 year ago
i hope the US coach take note of the time they lost. However I do feel like any relay that is the gold medal favorite tends to play it safe on the exchanges. I think the US in evaluating prelim swimmers actually adjusts for the reaction time ..maybe they should allow it instead. Oh bad idea it can cause an unnecessary DQ.
James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism.
Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …
Anyone done comparative analysis of type of exchange and rt times?
Suggested by a friend: relay stats should be adjusted for gun-jumping as THAT is a complete disaster for the relay, obviously a DQ. Second, USA as opposed to many other countries swaps swimmers between prelims and finals. That practice could account for slow(er) RTs, as less to no time spent at camps working on alternate personnel on relays between prelims and finals. While I understand the desire to get as many swimmers a medal as possible (a laudable coaching goal!), the swap outs can alter or negatively affect something as critical as RTs.
Some good news: Teams are no longer required to qualify relays at the 2024 WCs in Doha
With how many exchanges some of the athletes made it works be great to see analysis of individuals
There are some swimmers who have such a great flat start they need to lead off (Roland S) and some who have such a bad flying start they need to lead off (Huske, who also happens to be amazing off a flat start)
A great flying start takes years to master. Experimenting in age group swimming, pushed at the high school level, and forced to perform in college championship meets gets one ready for the world stage.
4×50 relays are 20% exchanges.
America needs to hire some big energy high school and college coaches to teach some of their crew how to excel off the block. Timing, hype, and patriotism are all required
I’ve worked hard to make… Read more »
A slight “hijack” of this thread. It seems to me, given the technology we have for measuring the exchanges, the rules ought to be changed to cumulative instead of a single individual exchange DQing a relay.
For example, Japan’s cumulation exchange in the women’s 400 MR was .65 and were DQd because one exchange was -.07. Netherlands and Frances were a bit faster and were NOT DQ’d.
The rules could be amended to not DQ a relay if the cumulative exchanges was greater than .00 (with the requisite technology in place and operating properly). If .00 does not allow for technical variance, some guru can figure out what it should be.
Changing to cumulative exchanges would help those awkward exchanges… Read more »
This kind of defeats the point of a relay. Why not just minus the reaction time off the final time to determine which team “really” swam the fastest? The point of an exchange is that it is a skill.
Paul: How would this alteration handle a false start by swimmer #1! If we go to cumulative, seems a false start is allowable. Yes?
A little off topic, but I love relays, especially when there is a few competitors like the excitement to the tied WR in the last race of the championship, with 3 teams going to the line together.
Chalmers rates it as his happy time racing with a team.
The next 2 years the 4x 200 women’s is going to be awesome with 4 countries with huge potential to win it Australia, USA, Canada & China. This relay especially has me very excited.
i hope the US coach take note of the time they lost. However I do feel like any relay that is the gold medal favorite tends to play it safe on the exchanges. I think the US in evaluating prelim swimmers actually adjusts for the reaction time ..maybe they should allow it instead. Oh bad idea it can cause an unnecessary DQ.