4 × 200 m freestyle relay, women, 25 m pool

What to remember

The anchor leg was the fastest: Claire Weinstein swam her 200 m in 1:50.31, clearly faster than her three teammates. On December 12, 2024, at the short course World Championships in Budapest, the United States covered the women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay in 7 min 30.13 s.

Before her, the first three legs were tightly bunched: Alex Walsh in 1:53.25, Paige Madden in 1:53.18 and Katie Grimes in 1:53.39. Walsh, born in Nashville, is known for her versatility across all four strokes, which has brought her success in medley events. She won silver in the 200 m individual medley at the 2020 Olympics and three golds at the 2022 World Championships. Swimming for the University of Virginia from 2020 to 2025, she won 29 NCAA medals, 23 of them gold.

The women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay came late to the big meets: in 1986 at the World Championships and in 1996 at the Olympics, while men have raced it at the Games since 1908. In short course, both the men's and the women's records belong to the United States.