Australia Blast 3:09.49 For Men’s 4×100 Free GR, #9 All-Time; Southam Units 100 Free GR on leadoff

2026 Commonwealth Games

Australia dominated the lads’s 4×100 free from the get-go in tonight’s ultimate, reducing their Games file from 2022 by over a second and a half as they took the win by 2.20 seconds over England in a time of three:09.49.

Their swim tonight ranks because the ninth-fastest swim in historical past, and the second-fastest Australian swim ever. The Australian file stands at 3:08.97 from the 2025 World Championships, the place they received gold over Italy and the USA.

Three of the 4 swimmers from that relay have been in motion tonight, with Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor, and Kyle Chalmers returning on the identical legs they swam in 2025. Harrison Turner was the brand new man, changing Max Giuliani on the third leg and splitting 47.94, beneath his flat-start better of 48.21.

Southam set an enormous private finest on the leadoff, touching in 47.09 to drop over half a second from his earlier better of 47.69. He strikes as much as rank simply outdoors the highest ten in historical past, and turns into the #4 Australian.

Men’s 100 Freestyle, Australian All-Time Top 5

1. Cameron McEvoy (2016) – 47.04
2. Eamon Sullivan (2008) – 47.05
3. Kyle Chalmers (2021) – 47.08
4. Flynn Southam (2026) – 47.09
5. James Magnussen (2012) – 47.10

He additionally strikes as much as rank second on this planet to date this season, solely behind Egor Kornev. Southam break up 22.56/24.53 tonight, including vital front-end velocity that we hadn’t seen from him earlier than. He has dropped half a second within the 50 free this season, setting a PB of 21.72 at Australian Trials.

Kai Taylor notched 47.53 on the second leg, half a second slower than his break up final summer season, and Harrison Turner break up 47.94. Kyle Chalmers swam one more 46-point break up on the anchor, splitting 46.93 for his fifteenth* sub-47 relay break up. Only one different nation has extra of these than Chalmers – the U.S. has 16 in whole.

*A earlier model of this text acknowledged that Chalmers had 16 sub-47 relay splits. We will doubtless have to attend a couple of extra days for that to be true

Compared to their nationwide file from final summer season, all three flying splits have been barely slower whereas Southam was seven tenths sooner on the leadoff.  The distinction between the Games file from 2022 and the swim tonight got here nearly completely from the 1.45 second distinction between Southam’s respective leadoffs of 47.09 and 48.54.

Split Comparison

Adding Southam’s leadoff tonight to the remainder of the relay from final summer season, Australia’s time would drop to three:08.29 – simply 0.05 seconds off the USA’s super-suited world file from the 2008 Olympics. After all of the expertise the USA have had lately, it might be Australia who lastly decrease that mark.

England set a brand new nationwide file of three:11.69 for silver, with 18-year-old Gabe Shepherd splitting 47.73 and Jacob Whittle anchoring in 47.70. Jacob Mills led off in 48.02 for them, a strong begin to his first Commonwealth Games.

Josh Liendo (48.13) and Pieter Coetze (48.38) have been different notable leadoffs for Canada and South Africa respectively. South Africa bought a 48.29 anchor leg from Chad le Clos, competing at his fifth Games, as they received bronze in 3:13.99. He now has 19 Commonwealth medals, probably the most of any man and one behind Emma McKeon for the general lead.

Duncan Scott break up 47.48 on the second leg for Scotland, however the three different legs have been 49.26, 49.27, and 49.26 and so they completed 4th in 3:15.27. They sliced six tenths of a second off the Scottish file from the 2018 Games.