The mixed relay team won the bronze medal on Tuesday at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest. Kyra Toussaint, Arno Kamenga, Nils Korstanje and Marit Steenbergen finished third in the 4x100m medley, behind the United States and Australia.
At the Tokyo Olympics last year, the Netherlands took sixth place. At the time, the mixed relay team consisted of Toussaint, Kamenga, Korstangi, and Femke Heemskerk.
Toussaint, Kamenja, Korstanci and Steenbergen qualified for the final battle in the Hungarian capital with the second-fastest time. Other countries have allowed top swimmers to rest, so that the Netherlands is not counted among the medal candidates in advance.
The Netherlands started with the same four swimmers as in the semi-finals. The quad had been out of the top three for a long time, but thanks to a major final race by Korstanje and Steenbergen, Team Orange finished third. For a while, a second place for Australia (3.41.54) was still possible, but the Netherlands eventually fell two twenty off silver.
The United States acquired gold by force majeure (3.38.79). For the Netherlands it is the second medal in Budapest. Kamenga won the silver in the 100m breaststroke on Sunday.
Kira Toussaint qualified for the finals in the 50m backstroke.
Kira Toussaint qualified for the finals in the 50m backstroke.
picture: Getty Images
Toussaint sure of the final spot 50 meters back
Earlier in the evening, Toussaint qualified for the 50m backstroke final. The Dutch clocked a time of 27.69 seconds and finished seventh in the semi-finals. For Maaike de Waard (10th with a score of 27.77) the semi-finals were the final destination.
Toussaint won the gold medal in the 50 meters backstroke during the short session of the European Championships in Kazan last year, as well as the gold medal in the 100 and 200 meters backstroke, but many of the world’s best players did not participate in the tournament that was held in the Russian city. During that European Championships, De Ward placed third in the 50-meter backstroke and swam to win the silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke.
The final match for the 50-meter backstroke will be held at 6:30 pm on Wednesday.
