4 × 100 m medley relay, men, 25 m pool

What to remember

Backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle: in December 2024, at the short course World Championships in Budapest, the Russian relay worked through the four strokes for a 4 × 100 m time of 3 min 18.68 s, on the 15th of the month.

Miron Lifintsev opened on backstroke in 49.31 s, Kirill Prigoda followed on breaststroke in 55.15 s, Andrei Minakov swam butterfly in 48.80 s and Egor Kornev closed on freestyle in 45.42 s. The order is no accident: backstroke goes first because its start is in the water, and the last swimmer may use any stroke the team has not already swum, usually front crawl.

Miron Lifintsev, a backstroke specialist, made those 2024 championships a high point, winning five short course world titles there. He has also set the junior world record in the 100 m backstroke.