Co Down’s Jack McMillan was on top form to help Great Britain qualify for tonight’s 4x200m freestyle Final as they set the fastest time of the afternoon heats at the Paris La Defense Arena.
The Belfast man, along with team-mates Tom Dean, James Guy and Kieran Bird, recorded a time of 7:05.11, holding off a late comeback from Australia to win the second heat by just 0.53 seconds.
Olympic debutant McMillan was second in for Great Britain, following on from a strong swim by Guy who swam the fastest leg in either heat to give them a strong early lead, and the Northern Irishman would only extend their lead with a brilliant swim of his own.
Guy would post the quickest time of the quartet, doing his leg in 1:45.04 which was the fastest leg of any swimmer in the two heats, but McMillan’s pace of 1:45.68 was second fastest on the team, with Dean doing the final leg in 1:46.71 and Bird’s third leg a 1:47.68.
Australia fought back in the second half of the race, two sub-1:46 legs from Flynn Southam and Thomas Neill taking them from fourth to second and pushing GB to the wall, with China taking third 2.61 seconds adrift and Italy claiming fourth.
Great Britain will now progress to tonight’s Final, which is scheduled to take place just after 9pm, and they will do so as the favourites to claim gold after setting the fastest time of the heats.
The United States look to also have a good bid after winning the first heat in a time of 7:05.57, with hosts France also in the mix having narrowly finished second in that heat by touching up in 7:05.61 thanks to Roman Fuchs’ strong 1:45.22 final leg.
However, despite his impressive performance, McMillan may not race in the decider as teams are allowed to change competitors between the heats and Final, and the consensus appears to be that the Northern Irishman will make way for another swimmer, though this is yet to be confirmed.
Matt Richards and Duncan Scott, who eased to gold at the Tokyo Olympics alongside Dean and Guy, were rested for the heats after competing in the individual event on Monday night and are expected to come back in for the Final.
In the event that McMillan did drop out for the Final and Great Britain won gold, the 24-year-old would still take home a medal for helping the team win their heat.