There was plenty of talk on deck of a possible upset in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, and that’s just what the Canadian women gave the crowd as they took down the Americans.
Thanks to a monster anchor leg by new 100m freestyle Canadian record holder Chantal Van Landeghem, the Canadian women pulled ahead of the Americans, won gold, and collectively threw together a time of 3:36.80.
That time broke the previous Canadian record of 3:37.09 set at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona. Only two of the four that set that record were part of tonight’s record breaking swim (Sandrine Mainville and Chantal Van Landeghem).
Mainville led the Canadians off with a 54.43, putting them in first place ahead of the Americans. The Americans regained the lead at the 250m mark and carried that all the way to the 300.
It was at that point that Van Landeghem dove in 0.24 seconds behind to try and chase down living Olympic legend Natalie Coughlin.
By the 350m wall Van Landeghem had already eaten up Coughlin’s lead, turning over half-a-second ahead of her. Coughlin made up a ton of ground on Van Landeghem on the way back.
At the touch, a speedy Coughlin ran out of pool and the Canadians touched first in 3:36.80, the Americans second in 3:37.01.
The Brazilians who were with both teams the majority of the race ended up finishing third in 3:37.39.
Brazil time is a new sa record!