By David Williams
Matt Richards had hardly had his latest, second, gold medal hung around his neck before Wales’ greatest swimmer in history was talking about a third.
Richards, James Guy, Tom Dean and Duncan Scott retained their men’s 4×200 metres freestyle relay title to give Team GB their first Olympic gold of the Paris Games in the pool.
In winning, the quartet became the first four swimmers ever to retain an Olympic relay title.
Current world champion Richards had come within two-hundredths of a second of winning the individual event, settling instead for silver, as did Adam Peaty, who lost by an identical margin in the men’s 100 metres breaststroke.
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But there was no need for a photo finish on Tuesday evening as, while Team GB led by just half a second after the final exchange, Scott pulled away on the anchor leg to seal an ultimately comfortable win.
A time of six minutes and 59.43 seconds was 1.35 secs ahead of runners-up the United States while bronze medallists Australia were a further 1.2 seconds back.
A second Team Wales Commonwealth Games swimmer – Kieran Bird – also picked up a gold medal after being part of the squad. Bird swam in the heats earlier in the day.
“It’s a privilege and an honour to be a part of that team with those four boys,” Richards said.
“We are the first team in history in any relay event at the Olympics to defend the title with the same four people and that’s pretty special.
“Who knows about the other boys but let’s go for the three-peat.”
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Scott’s leg of 1min 43.95 secs was the race’s fastest and would have won him gold in the individual event on Monday, when he finished a disappointing fourth, just 0.08s off bronze and 0.15s off top spot.
In being part of the first swimming team in history to defend an Olympic relay title with the same quartet, Scott joined fellow Scot Sir Chris Hoy on seven Olympic medals – only Sir Bradley Wiggins and Sir Jason Kenny have more.
“I’m nowhere near the level of athlete Chris Hoy has been, I think that’s taking away from what he’s achieved,” said Scott, who has won two golds to Hoy’s six.
“I don’t think I should ever be compared to Sir Chris Hoy. He’s well above what I’ve achieved. It’s pretty cool in terms of numbers but he’s got quite a few better colours than I do.
“I’ve had so many medals won by relay team-mates, I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done. They put me in a phenomenal position like they always do.”
Guy has six – all in relay events – while Dean celebrated his third, all of them gold, with Richards on three as well after Team GB justified their billing as red-hot favourites for top spot.
They have an embarrassment of riches in the 200m distance, so much so that Dean was unable to defend his individual title from Tokyo 2020 after losing it in qualifying to Richards and Scott.
“I don’t think it will ever make up for (not being able to compete individually),” Dean said. “But that was four months ago and I’ve had four months to get my head round it.
“It feels different because the last three years haven’t been a straight line for anyone – me, Jimmy, Matt, Duncan. There have been a lot of changes but we stepped up again in an Olympic year and that’s what’s really special.”
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Jack McMillan, who represented Ireland at the last Olympics, and Bird deputised ably for Richards and Scott in the morning heats as Team GB qualified fastest, nearly half a second quicker than the USA.
They brought back their big guns for the showpiece to bring back together the quartet who won in Tokyo.
Guy, who won a lifetime best in the morning, once again got their noses in front and Dean kept them there despite a wobble mid-swim – where Team GB slipped to fourth at one stage.
Richards then handed over the baton to Scott and he rubberstamped the win to give Team GB their fourth Gold of these Games.
Guy added: “To be crowned Olympic champions again with the same quartet is pretty special. We will have to do four more years and beat the United States on their home turf (in Los Angeles in 2028).”