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Brits finish fifth after rollercoaster open water relay

Great Britain’s Mixed 5km Open Water Relay team finished fifth after a rollercoaster race in Lake Balaton, Hungary.

The all-English quartet were lying in first place after the second and third legs before ultimately coming home 20 seconds off bronze in 54:51.1.

Danielle Huskisson started the team off with a 14:24.8 split for her 1.25km leg.

With Loughborough University pair Tobias Robinson and Timothy Shuttleworth in the middle two legs, the Brits surged into the lead.

Shuttleworth, who won 5km bronze on the opening day in Hungary, handed over to another Loughborough swimmer, World Junior 10km champion Alice Dearing for the final leg.

But while the 20-year old had more than 37 seconds in hand on the field for her leg, she was racing against some of the finest male swimmers in the world.

World 10km bronze medallist Marc-Antoine Olivier overtook the Brit to win gold for France in 54:05.9 while male swimmers from USA, Italy and Australia also found a way past Dearing.

But the young British quartet emerged with plenty of credit from the race, particularly in the absence of Jack Burnell, who had finished fourth in the individual 10km two days earlier.

  • Click here for full results from the 2017 World Championships.
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