It marked the second medal for the Dutch swimming team at the tournament in Hungary, after Kamminga’s silver in the 100-meter breaststroke.
At last year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, the Orange quartet finished in sixth place in the 4×100 change. Then Toussaint, Kamminga and Korstanje were joined by the now retired Femke Heemskerk. The Netherlands qualified second in Budapest for the final, with a time of 3.43.48.
In the mixed relay, the participating countries can decide for themselves in which order they let their two men and two women swim. Toussaint, who took the backstroke as a start swimmer, saw American Hunter Armstrong take a big lead in the lane next to her. ‘Team USA’ started with two men, after which the two women had to finish it. Armstrong, Nic Fink and teenagers Torri Huske (19) and Claire Curzan (17) were way too strong for the rest of the field.
Behind that, Kamminga (breaststroke) and Korstanje (butterfly) ensured that the Netherlands advanced to the podium. Steenbergen, who swam the final freestyle, was in second place for quite some time. In the last meters, however, she was passed by the Australian Shayna Jack. Bronze was nevertheless an unexpected bonus for the Dutch quartet.
At the previous World Cup, three years ago in South Korea, the mixed relay team was disqualified in the final because Toussaint had swam underwater for too long.
Toussaint to final 50 back at World Cup
Kira Toussaint has reached the final in the 50 meter backstroke at the World Championships long track swimming in Budapest. The holder of the Dutch record (27.10) set the seventh time in the semifinals with 27.69 seconds. Maaike de Waard did not make it with 27.77 (tenth).
Earlier this World Cup, Toussaint already reached the final of the 100-meter backstroke. In it, the 28-year-old Dutch finished sixth. The world title went to the American Regan Smith.
Kira Toussaint.
ANP/HH
Canadian Kylie Masse set the best time in the second semifinal with 27.22. Toussaint finished fourth in that race. De Waard had become fifth in the first semifinal, which was won by 20-year-old Smith (27.29).
At the European Championship short course in Kazan at the end of last year, Toussaint took gold in the 50, 100 and 200 meters backstroke.
Hungarian swimmer Milák takes world title again in world record
Hungarian swimmer Kristóf Milák has extended his world title in the 200-meter butterfly in a world record. In front of his own audience in Budapest, 22-year-old Milák took the gold in 1.50.34. With that he was almost four tenths of a second faster than three years ago at the World Cup in South Korea, when he also became world champion in a world record (1.50.73).
“This is my home, this is my pool and lane 4 is mine,” said Milák. “There are four thousand wonderful people here in the stands who come to see me. I couldn’t disappoint them.”
With his world record, the Hungarian not only earned a bonus of 50,000 dollars (converted more than 47,000 euros), but he also receives a personalized NFT. That is a digital token that is worth money online.
The American top swimmer Caeleb Dressel withdrew for “medical reasons” from the semifinals of the 100 free and the final of the mixed relay (individual medley). Dressel, 25, won no less than five Olympic golds at the Tokyo Games last year and increased his number of world titles to fifteen in recent days in Budapest. It is not known whether he will return to the Hungarian 50-meter pool later this week.