Face of Nation : Duncan Scott swam the second-fastest relay split of all time in the anchor leg of the men’s 4x100m medley on Sunday, overhauling his U.S. and Russian rivals to secure gold for Britain and deny Caeleb Dressel a seventh World title here.
Britain’s come-from-behind victory came in the penultimate event of a pulsating last night in the pool. It came just before the U.S. women set a World record to win the medley relay, with Regan Smith breaking the backstroke record in the lead-off leg. Scott plunged into the pool with ground to make up on the United States after Dressel opened up a lead for Nathan Adrian with a typically blistering butterfly leg, with Russia also breathing down the American’s neck.
However, the Glasgow-born 22-year-old swam an incredible 46.14 seconds, the fastest since American Jason Lezak’s 46.06 at the Beijing Olympics, to run down Adrian and give Britain the gold and their first win over the U.S. in the event. “I can’t say I thought I had that split in me,” said Scott, still rubbing his head in disbelief. “I’m just sort of speechless I’ve been able to put that race together.”
South African Zane Waddell (24.43) grabbed a surprise gold in a blanket finish to the men’s 50m backstroke, ahead of Russians Evgeny Rylov and Kliment Kolesnikov, the World record holder. Only 0.08 seconds separated the top three. In the women’s 50m breaststroke America’s Lilly King got to the wall first in 29.84, while the third of the water-churning one-lap dashes saw Simone Manuel complete the 50/100m freestyle double, the American getting her fingertips to the wall ahead of Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom and Australian Cate Campbell.
