Paris 2026: It wasn't long after Matt Richards handed over to Jack McMillan in the men's European 4x200m freestyle championship final that the decision was effectively taken.

Richards, 4x200 gold medallist at the past two Olympic Games, World 200m free champion in 2023 0.02sec ahead of of Olympic-champion teammate Tom Dean, Olympic silver medallist just 0.02sec shy of Romanian David Popovici at Paris 2024, and World 4x200m champion in 2023 and again in 2025, would withdraw from the 200m solo in Paris - and focus all his energies on relays.

One gold was in the bag, ahead of national records for France and Germany, with McMillan, James Guy and Duncan Scott, their day 1 victory in Paris marking yet another 4x200 free international title for Great Britain.

Richards and McMillan would go on to claim a second 4x200m gold, as members of the Mixed quartet with the two Freya's, Anderson and Colbert, in a championship record of 7mins 24.13, 1.3sec ahead of Germany.

They'd all played their part in Great Britain's medals-table-topping eight-golds outcome after seven days of racing, but while Richards celebrated those moments with mates, and was sincere in his praise of team and genuine happiness with the win, joy, delight and all their cousins were contained in a sealed box labelled past and future. This moment was not where he wanted to be, nor where her intends to get to. And that, for the second straight season.

At Singapore 2025 World titles, he'd finished 12th in 200m semis on 1:45.85. A year later, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow yielded silver linings in the 100 and 200m freestyle:

• joint silver for Wales, with training partner Guy, for England, on 1:45.72 in the 200m, outside smoker Kai Taylor the he-who-dares champion for Australia delivering home-nation upset in 1:45.22.
• silver in the 100m (47.64), ahead of a Dolphin sprint king humbled by a teammate for the first time in a decade: gold to Flynn Southam (47.13), bronze to Kyle Chalmers (47.74), the 2016 Olympic champion and silver medallist at the two Games that followed.

The Britain Bounce from Glasgow to Paris was on display from Day 1 in the Brit camp, but not for Richards. He put in a solid lead-off 1:45.44, but over in lane 1, Léon Marchand had clocked 1:43.76 leading France to what would end up in a silver lining for the French ace and his mates. The caution needed when not came to an injury best left to heal without the challenger of breaststroke clearly did not extend to any doubt about the fitness of the four-time Olympic champion and all-round hero of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Marchand is coached by Bob Bowman in Texas. In 2024, they wore French colours. It won't be the same at LA2028. The American mentor of Michael Phelps will certainly celebrate success from any of his international charges, and we'll applaud him for it, too. But his main mission will be "Home Games", the 4x200m free almost certain to be among ambitions he's working on after a period of the mighty USA having had to settle for second or, on some occasions, no podium at all, this decade.

The gold account since the 4x200 made the Games program in 1908

• Great Britain 3
• United States 17

Insight follows ...