2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
We’ve made it to day 2 of swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Today marks the first appearance of France’s Léon Marchand, expected to become a breakout star of these home games. This morning, he’ll contest the prelims of the 400 IM where he is the world record holder. Last summer, Marchand took down Michael Phelps‘ legendary record under the tutelage of Bob Bowman, Phelps’ coach.
There are only two heats of the men’s 400 IM, and eight lanes in the final. Other major players include the U.S.’s Carson Foster, Japan’s Daiya Seto, and reigning Olympic champion Chase Kalisz also of the USA.
But first, Romania’s David Popovici will take to the water in the men’s 200 freestyle. He’s the third fastest performer in history, and the only athlete to dip into the 1:42s outside of the supersuit era. We’ll also see last night’s 400 free gold medalist Lukas Maertens hit the water, as well as Great Britain’s Duncan Scott and Matt Richards who swam the relay last night.
The women’s 100 breaststroke will feature world record holder Lilly King, but she isn’t the favorite in this race. Instead, that honor goes to China’s Tang Qianting, whose best time from this season is just a quarter of a second behind King’s 2017 record. Keep an eye out for Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania, who in recent years has staged a heroic comeback after breaking out with Olympic gold in this event at just 15-years-old in 2012. There’s also Olympic record holder Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker), who will look to improve on her Tokyo silver.
With Russian athletes out of the field, it seemed the road was wide open for American Ryan Murphy to reclaim the 100 back title. However, after dropping the second-fastest split on the 4×100 freestyle last night, teammate Hunter Armstrong will be one to watch out for. There’s also world record holder Thomas Ceccon to contend with; he had Italy’s second-fastest split on their bronze medal relay last night.
Finally, the session will conclude with the Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan show in the women’s 200 free. They are in a league of their own after dropping the fastest two times in history at Australian Trials. Both athletes have already earned gold so far at these Games; Titmus in the 400 free and O’Callaghan in the 4×100 free relay. The frontrunners for bronze are Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, the defending silver medalist, and Yang Junxuan of China, fresh off an Asian record in the 100 free.
All in all, it promises to be an exciting session where we’ll see many more athletes in action.
Men’s 200-Meter Freestyle – Prelims
- World Record: 1:42.00 – Paul Biedermann, GER (2009)
- World Junior Record: 1:42.97 – David Popovici, ROU (2022)
- Olympic Record: 1:42.96 – Michael Phelps, USA (2008)
- 2021 Winning Time: 1:44.22 – Tom Dean, GBR
- 2021 Time to Advance to Semis: 1:46.69
The field looked incredibly close as heat 2 entered the water. Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto had the lead at the 100, splitting 51.62, but couldn’t hold off a storming Maximilian Giuliani or Matthew Richards. Giuliani used a big third 50 (27.07) to get the edge over Richards, as they finished in 1:46.15 and 1:46:19 respectively to take over the top two times of the morning.
Felix Auboeck was a no-show in heat 2.
Velimir Stjepanovic of Serbia grabbed an early lead in the first heat and didn’t look back, finishing two seconds back of his national record in 1:47.56.
Men’s 400-Meter Individual Medley – Prelims
- World Record: 4:02.50 – Leon Marchand, FRA (2023)
- World Junior Record: 4:10.02 – Ilya Borodin, RUS (2021)
- Olympic Record: 4:03.84 – Michael Phelps, USA (2008)
- 2021 Winning Time: 4:09.42 – Chase Kalisz, USA
- 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 4:10.20
Women’s 100-Meter Breaststroke – Prelims
- World Record: 1:04.13 – Lilly King, USA (2017)
- World Junior Record: 1:04.35 – Ruta Meilutyte, LTU (2013)
- Olympic Record: 1:04.82 – Tatjana Smith (Schoenmaker), RSA (2021)
- 2021 Winning Time: 1:04.95 – Lydia Jacoby, USA
- 2021 Time to Advance to Semis: 1:06.96
Men’s 100-Meter Backstroke – Prelims
- World Record: 51.60 – Thomas Ceccon, ITA (2022)
- World Junior Record: 52.34 – Miron Lifintsev, RUS (2024)
- Olympic Record: 51.85 – Ryan Murphy, USA (2016)
- 2021 Winning Time: 51.98 – Evgeny Rylov, ROC
- 2021 Time to Advance to Semis: 53.77
Women’s 200-Meter Freestyle – Prelims
- World Record: 1:52.23 – Ariarne Titmus, AUS (2024)
- World Junior Record: 1:53.65 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2023)
- Olympic Record: 11:53.50 – Ariarne Titmus, AUS (2021)
- 2021 Winning Time: 1:53.50 – Ariarne Titmus, AUS
- 2021 Time to Advance to Semis: 1:58.33