Editing Relay race (section)

==Relays in swimming==
[[File:Swimming relay exchange.jpg|thumb|right|Swimmers about to make the pass during a relay race]]
A swimming relay of four swimmers usually follows this strategy: second-fastest, third-fastest, slowest, then fastest (anchor). However, it is not uncommon to see either the slowest swimmer racing in the second slot (creating an order of second-fastest, slowest, third-fastest, and then fastest), or an order from slowest to fastest (an order of slowest, third-fastest, second-fastest, fastest).{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}

[[FINA]] rules require that a foot of the second, third or fourth swimmer must be contacting the platform while (and before) the incoming teammate is touching the wall; the starting swimmer may already be in motion, however, which saves 0.6–1.0 seconds compared to a regular start. Besides, many swimmers perform better in a relay than in an individual race owing to a team spirit atmosphere. As a result, relay times are typically 2–3 seconds faster than the sum of best times of individual swimmers.<ref name="Maglischo2003">{{cite book| first=Ernest W.| last=Maglischo| title=Swimming Fastest| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSSW4RhZOiwC&pg=PA279| year=2003| publisher=Human Kinetics| isbn=978-0-7360-3180-6| pages=279–| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214151246/https://books.google.com/books?id=cSSW4RhZOiwC&pg=PA279| archive-date=2017-12-14}}</ref>

In [[medley swimming]], each swimmer uses a different stroke (in this order): [[backstroke]], [[breaststroke]], [[butterfly stroke|butterfly]], and [[freestyle swimming|freestyle]], with the added limitation that the freestyle swimmer cannot use any of the first three strokes. At competitive levels, essentially all freestyle swimmers use the [[front crawl]]. Note that this order is different from that for the individual medley, in which a single swimmer swims butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle in a single race, in that order.

The three standard relays raced at the Olympics are the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and 4 × 100 m medley relay.

Mixed-gendered relays were introduced at the [[2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)]] (4 × 50 m freestyle and medley) and the [[2015 World Aquatics Championships]] (4 × 100 m freestyle and medley). The event debuted at the [[2020 Summer Olympics]] (4 × 100 m medley).

In [[open water swimming]], mixed-gendered relays were introduced at the [[2011 World Aquatics Championships]] (4 × 1250 m).

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