The men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships was held on 1 August 2025 at the World Aquatics Championships Arena at the Singapore Sports Hub in Kallang, Singapore. Great Britain won the event with China second and Australia third. The United States team, considered a strong medal contender before the competition, finished fourth. British swimmers James Guy and Duncan Scott equalled the record of Michael Phelps of four gold medals in this event.
Background The event was expected to feature a close contest between Great Britain and the United States. Great Britain, defending Olympic and 2023 world champions, fielded James Guy, Duncan Scott, Matt Richards, and Tom Dean, who collectively held five of the top nine sub-1:44 relay splits in history. The United States, world record holders, featured Luke Hobson, who swam 1:43.73 that season, with Gabriel Jett, Henry McFadden, and possibly Carson Foster completing the lineup. South Korea, anchored by the individual 200-metre world champion Hwang Sun-woo, could challenge if all four swimmers matched their personal bests, while Australia, China, and Germany were considered podium threats. A sub-7:00 race was possible, with several teams approaching historical bests.
Qualification Each National Federation could enter one team in the relay. The team had to be composed of swimmers who were also competing in the individual events, along with relay only swimmers who had to have met a specific qualifying time for the corresponding stroke and distance they would be swimming in the relay. Federations were only allowed to enter two relay-only swimmers for each relay they entered, though they could also enter relay-only swimmers from other relays which did not count toward this limitation.
Records Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.
Heats The heats took place on 1 August at 11:49.
Rank Heat Lane Nation Swimmers Time Notes 1 2 4 Jack McMillan (1:45.28)James Guy (1:44.92)Evan Jones (1:47.43) Tom Dean (1:46.35) 7:03.98 Q 2 2 5 Edward Sommerville (1:46.86)Charlie Hawke (1:45.83)Kai Taylor (1:46.14) Maximillian Giuliani (1:45.49) 7:04.32 Q 3 2 6 Kim Young-beom (1:45.72)Kim Woo-min (1:46.09)Lee Ho-joon (1:46.76) Hwang Sun-woo (1:46.11) 7:04.68 Q 4 2 7 Carlos D’Ambrosio (1:45.89)Filippo Megli (1:46.37)Marco De Tullio (1:46.69) Stefano Di Cola (1:46.22) 7:05.17 Q 5 1 4 Chris Guiliano (1:46.57)Rex Maurer (1:46.11)Henry McFadden (1:45.51) Gabriel Jett (1:47.90) 7:06.09 Q 6 1 5 Fei Liwei (1:46.94)Ji Xinjie (1:46.09)Wang Shun (1:46.64) Zhang Zhanshuo (1:46.48) 7:06.15 Q 7 1 2 Denis Loktev (1:47.02)Yoav Romano (1:46.92)Alexey Glivinskiy (1:46.46) Daniel Krichevsky (1:45.89) 7:06.29 Q, NR 8 2 3 Roman Fuchs (1:46.98)Rafael Fente-Damers (1:46.43)Corentin Pouillart (1:47.69) Yann Le Goff (1:45.78) 7:06.88 Q 9 1 3 Lukas Märtens (1:45.65)Rafael Miroslaw (1:47.11)Jarno Bäschnitt (1:47.08) Timo Sorgius (1:47.70) 7:07.54 10 1 6 Tatsuya Murasa (1:45.58)Tomoyuki Matsushita (1:47.58)So Ogata (1:48.24) Asaki Nishikawa (1:47.77) 7:09.17 11 2 2 Tomas Lukminas (1:47.34)Danas Rapšys (1:47.03)Tajus Juška (1:48.27) Kristupas Trepočka (1:47.84) 7:10.48 12 2 1 Ethan Ekk (1:46.71)Antoine Sauve (1:48.16)Filip Senc-Samardzic (1:48.71) Jordi Vilchez (1:48.78) 7:12.36 13 1 7 Dimitrios Markos (1:46.37)Konstantinos Englezakis (1:46.93)Konstantinos Stamou (1:47.92) Apostolos Papastamos (1:52.38) 7:13.60 14 1 1 Evan Bailey (1:47.02)Cormac Rynn (1:49.51)Jack Cassin (1:50.07) John Shortt (1:50.10) 7:16.70 15 1 8 Glen Lim (1:49.76)Jonathan Tan (1:49.08)Ardi Azman (1:50.93) Jerald Lium (1:53.23) 7:23.00 16 2 8 Singh Chahal Arvin Shaun (1:50.03)Khiew Hoe Yean (1:48.01)Tan Khai Xin (1:52.26) Andrew Goh (1:59.00) 7:29.30 2 0 Did not start
Final The final took place on 1 August.
Rank Lane Nation Swimmers Time Notes 4 Matt Richards (1:45.37)James Guy (1:45.00)Jack McMillan (1:45.65)Duncan Scott (1:43.82) 6:59.84 7 Ji Xinjie (1:46.22)Pan Zhanle (1:44.41)Wang Shun (1:46.08)Zhang Zhanshuo (1:44.20) 7:00.91 AS 5 Flynn Southam (1:45.85)Charlie Hawke (1:45.57)Kai Taylor (1:44.64)Maximillian Giuliani (1:44.92) 7:00.98 4 2 Henry McFadden (1:46.09)Gabriel Jett (1:45.88)Luke Hobson (1:43.45)Rex Maurer (1:45.82) 7:01.24 5 3 Kim Young-beom (1:46.23)Kim Woo-min (1:44.66)Lee Ho-joon (1:46.14)Hwang Sun-woo (1:45.26) 7:02.29 6 8 Roman Fuchs (1:46.11)Yann Le Goff (1:46.38)Rafael Fente-Damers (1:46.86)Léon Marchand (1:44.34) 7:03.69 7 6 Carlos D’Ambrosio (1:45.75)Filippo Megli (1:45.91)Marco De Tullio (1:46.52)Stefano Di Cola (1:47.36) 7:05.54 8 1 Denis Loktev (1:46.73)Yoav Romano (1:47.01)Alexey Glivinskiy (1:47.42)Daniel Krichevsky (1:45.60) 7:06.76
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