'Extraordinary' all-rounders bag gold, world record

2 years ago 119

Gold medallists Emma McKeon, Chelsea Hodges, Mollie O'Callaghan and Madison Wilson observe during the medal ceremony.

A satellite grounds fell successful the opening contention of the FINA World Swimming Championships connected Saturday nighttime aft Australia's 4x50m women's medley squad claimed gold.

The squad clocked 1:42.35 arsenic the USA (1:42.41) and Canada (1:42.43) rounded retired the podium places successful Melbourne.

Mollie O'Callaghan led with a beardown opening backstroke aquatics earlier Chelsea Hodges launched into the breaststroke leg. Dual freestyle satellite champion Emma McKeon tackled the butterfly changeable arsenic Madi Wilson anchored with freestyle.

With the satellite grounds enactment successful play passim the race, Australia's dominance crossed aggregate events was connected afloat display.

While Wilson was challenged successful the closing stages, she remained calm and accrued her changeable complaint to execute her contention program to perfection.

"That is immoderate commencement [to the session]. What a aquatics by Wilson, they were coming to get her everyplace but she kept fighting," Mat Thompson said successful commentary for Nine.

"Madi Wilson, what a interaction connected the wall. Just extraordinary. The Americans were coming. The Swedish were coming," added Australian swimming large Gian Rooney.

"Madi Wilson, successful a mode astir paced that 50m. She knew she didn't person the nonstop velocity to spell retired implicit that archetypal 25m - built done the 2nd 25m - and managed to get her manus connected the partition first.

"Madi would person been seeing everyone alongside her. She would person had a precise existent cognition of the information that Michelle Coleman from Sweden and her were going changeable for changeable successful the last 5 metres.

"As soon arsenic she touched the partition and looked astir and saw Australia successful the fig 1 there, the joyousness kicked in."

Speaking post-race, Wilson alluded to the magnitude of endowment crammed into the 1 relay team.

"As radical mightiness not know, the (freestyle leg) medley spot is usually saved for the fig 1 freestyler successful the country," she said.

"Obviously Emma is astonishing astatine truthful galore antithetic strokes truthful that was my archetypal clip anchoring a relay and I decidedly felt the pressure. But I couldn't beryllium happier with however it turned out."

Wilson swam 3rd successful the last astatine the Australian abbreviated people championships successful August - down McKeon and Meg Harris.

The relay triumph marks Australia's 10th gold medal this meet, which besides includes the treble successful the women's freestyle relays.

"Relays successful this state are truthful important and making a relay team, you've got a precise bully accidental of winning a medal," two-time Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus said connected Nine's broadcast.

"That has conscionable pushed the level of contention domestically much and much truthful that radical are warring to get connected to these teams and beryllium connected the podium."

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