Australia Shatter Men’s 4×200 Free Commonwealth Games Record, Guy And Taylor Split 1:44-Low

2026 Commonwealth Games

MEN’S 4×200 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL

• World Record – 6:58.55, USA, 2009
• Commonwealth Record – 7:00.85, Australia, 2019
• Commonwealth Games Record – 7:04.96, Australia, 2022
• 2022 Champion – Australia, 7:04.96

GOLD – Australia – 7:01.67 *Commonwealth Games Record*
SILVER – England –  7:04.98
BRONZE – Wales – 7:09.59

Australia hacked three seconds off their Commonwealth Games record in the men’s 4×200 free in what proved to be a fantastic race with England. The Australian team touched the wall in 7:01.67, three seconds under their own record of 7:04.96, and just 0.69 seconds off the 7:00.98 they posted at the World Championships last summer to take bronze.

Sam Short led them off in 1:46.08, nearly a second slower than the 1:45.16 he swam for gold at Australian Trials last month. He handed over to Harrison Turner, who kept 2020 Olympic Champion Tom Dean at bay with a split of 1:45.95.

Ed Sommerville blasted out to an opening 100 split of 49.87 and held on to split 1:45.34, although he fell behind the English team due to a blistering 1:44.03 split from James Guy.

Kai Taylor saw the gauntlet thrown down by Guy and notched a personal best split of 1:44.10 to blow Max Litchfield away. That is half a second faster than his previous best, a 1:44.56 from the heats at the 2023 World Championships, and faster than the 1:44.64 he swam on the relay at the World Championships last summer.

Australia were faster on every leg than they were four years ago, with the biggest gap coming on the anchor leg. It was an entirely different quartet this year, with Zac Incerti and Mack Horton not on the team, Elijah Winnington not selected for the event, and Flynn Southam focusing on the sprint free events this season.

Split Comparison

England won silver after matching Australia through the first 650m. Gabriel Shepherd led off in a near-lifetime best of 1:46.67, Tom Dean split a solid 1:45.63, James Guy rocketed to a 1:44.03 for his second-fastest split ever, and Max Litchfield anchored in 1:48.65.

Guy’s split is a timely indication of his abilities after placing 4th in the 400 free last night. The 200 free comes on the final day of this competition, but both he and Taylor now look to be two of the favorites.

Split Split Comparison

Matt Richards led off in 1:45.42 for a Welsh team who won their second relay medal in two days, having waited 48 years between their last two Commonwealth relay medals before this week. Dan Jones (1:49.13), Kieran Bird (1:47.54), and Tyler Melbourne-Smith (1:47.50) held off a fast-charging Duncan Scott (1:45.58) on the anchor leg.

Wales and England both set national records tonight, with England coming within 0.02 seconds of the previous Commonwealth Games record in 7:04.98. This is the fifth Games in a row to have seen the meet record broken in this event, with Australia breaking the record in all five.