PARIS (AP) — The United States made up for a disappointing showing in Tokyo by setting a world record in the 4×100 mixed medley relay.
Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske held off China for a winning time of 3:37.43, breaking the mark of 3:37.58 set by Britain when it won gold in the wild and woolly event’s Olympic debut three years ago.
With each team picking two men and two women, the U.S. and China both went with their male swimmers in the first two legs.
Murphy put the U.S. in front on the backstroke, China’s Qin Haiyang slipped past Nic Fink on the breaststroke, but Walsh put the Americans back in front on the butterfly before Huske held off Yang Junxuan to secure the gold.
The Chinese team, which also included Xu Jiayu and Zhang Yufei, took silver in 3:37.55. The bronze went to Australia in 3:38.76.
Marchand swam the breaststroke leg for France but couldn’t add to his already impressive haul of four individual golds. The French finished fourth, more than two seconds behind the Aussies.
When the British won gold in 2021, the Americans finished fifth. Britain was seventh this time.
The U.S. bumped its total to six golds, one behind leading Australia with four events remaining Sunday. The Americans are assured of winning the overall medal count with 25.