The two historically best swimming nations have renewed their rivalry with the resumption of the original Duel in the Pool on Friday.
But there was no pool on day one.
Famed Bondi Beach was the site, not the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre as Australia edged the U.S. 8-6 in the mixed 4x800m open water relay.
The Aussie team of Chelsea Gubecka, Kareena Lee, Kai Edwards and Kyle Lee carried the day for the home side. The relay was the first open water event in Duel in the Pool history.
“My team put me in a very good position,” Kyle Lee, the only non-Olympian said. “I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get them but I just tried to do my best.”
“It was so fun getting to swim a race in such an iconic place like Bondi Beach,” said Charlie Clark of Team USA. “It is honestly a dream come true to do this.”
The Duel in the Pool began in 2003 as a friendly competition between Australia and the U.S. The two countries dominated international swimming competitions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They would face off again in 2005 and 2007, with the U.S. winning each time. From 2009 to 2015 the U.S. team faced a European All-Star team. The U.S. won all four of those events as well. The series then took a break until the resumption of the original Australia v. USA format Down Under this year.
Could this be the year the U.S. finally meets their match? So far, so good for Team Australia but there are still 39 events to go. All of them will be in the pool in Sydney. No more beach time.
A full schedule of the event as well as scoring can be found here.