Team GB were not even intending to enter a team for the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay in Tokyo.
It was only when the quartet of Upton’s Freya Anderson, alongside Anna Hopkin, Abbie Wood and Lucy Hope set the British record on the way to the gold medal at the European Championships in May that this race suddenly became a realistic possibility.
In Tokyo, the four Olympic debutants have lowered that British record not once but twice, the latter in the final to finish fifth.
And with all four now up and running, the future looks bright for both the relay and its component parts, provided they can peak at the right moment.
Anderson, who will also compete here in the 100m and 200m freestyle, said: “It’s about preparing, it’s very hard to get back to the finals from the heats. In the finals it’s anyone’s game. It’s about being able to hit it at the right time.”
Wood added: “To come away with a best time as a relay team, we couldn’t have done much more. It was like a good start to the meet.
“It’s all our first Olympics, I feel like we just stepped up for our first Olympic final, we did ourselves proud coming away with a British record.
“We can build year by year as a team, it’s exciting knowing what’s to come. This is the third time we’ve raced together as us four, so it will be quite interesting to see if we get more experience, how far it will go.”
These Games represent a change in format to traditional swimming meets, with finals shifted to the mornings to fit in with the schedule of the American television networks.
That is quite a dramatic change for the swimmers, and has led to a few surprise results – not least 18-year-old Tunisian Ahmed Hafnaoui stunning everyone with 400m freestyle gold.
And Wood believes the results of the first finals session should give every swimmer in Tokyo hope.
Wood, who along with Anderson was broadcast live on Eurosport and Discovery+, added: “Now we’ve got a taste, we know what we’re dealing with, especially after watching all the other finals.
“We’ve just seen there’s a winner from lane eight. So it’s really a case of ‘If you’ve got a lane, you’ve got a chance’. The morning finals make it much more unpredictable and interesting.”
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