Kaylee McKeown embraces Emily Seebohm after winning gold. Image: Australian Olympic Team / Twitter
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Women’s 200m Freestyle Semis
Ariarne Titmus (AUS) backed up her gold medal performance yesterday by finishing first overall in the semis of the Women’s 200m Freestyle.
Despite Penny Oleksiak (CAN) leading at the first flip, and Siobhan Haughey (HKG) leading at the 100m and 150m, Titmus’ sensational charge of 28.9 for the final 50m secured her first place of her semi.
In the second semi final, Katie Ledecky (USA) touched the wall first, and finished third overall in the ranking leading into the Final.
Barbora Seemanova broke the Czech Republic record, previously set by herself of 1:56.27, finishing her semi with a time of 1:56.14.
The Final for the Women’s 200m Freestyle is at 11:41am, Wednesday, July 28.
| Swimmer | Time |
| Ariarne Titmus (AUS) | 1:54.82 |
| Siobhan Haughey (HKG) | 1:55.16 |
| Kathleen Ledecky (USA) | 1:55.34 |
| Yang Junxuan (CHN) | 1:55.98 |
| Barbora Seemanova (CZE) | 1:56.14 |
| Penny Oleksiak (CAN) | 1:56.39 |
| Federica Pellegrini (ITA) | 1:56.44 |
| Madison Wilson (AUS) | 1:56.58 |
Men’s 200m Freestyle – Final
Great Britain duo Tom Dean and Duncan Scott took home gold and silver in the Men’s 200m Freestyle. Heading into the race, they held the top two times in the world, and their come-from-behind win showed why that’s the case.
Dean broke the British record of 1:44.47 set by Scott at London 2012 with his swim of 1:44.22.
Fernando Scheffer (BRA) finished with bronze, and a new South American record.
| Swimmer | Medal |
| Tom Dean (GBR) | Gold |
| Duncan Scott (GBR) | Silver |
| Fernando Scheffer (BRA) | Bronze |
Women’s 100m Backstroke – Final
Her excitement said it all in her post-swim media conference with Channel 7, as Kaylee McKeown secured gold in the Women’s 100m Backstroke final.
Her performance of 57.47 saw the previous Olympic record set by Regan Smith (USA) earlier in the week of 57.86 fall. It is the fourth time this week the Olympic record has been broken.
At the turn, Kylie Masse led the way followed by Rhyan White (USA) and then McKeown.
With the swimmers battling it out right up until the wall, it was Masse finishing with silver and Regan Smith (USA) bumping White out for the bronze.
| Swimmer | Medal |
| Kaylee McKeown (AUS) | Gold (OR) |
| Kylie Masse (CAN) | Silver |
| Reagan Smith (USA) | Bronze |
Men’s 100m Backstroke – Final
In the fastest Olympic 100m Backstroke Final, the duo from ROC, Evgeny Rylov and Kilment Kolesnikov finished with gold and silver with times of 51.98 and 52.00 respectively.
It is the first ever gold medal for ROC/Russia in the race.
Ryan Murphy (USA) finished with the bronze medal, however it is the first time since 1980 that the United States did not place for the gold or silver in the 100m Backstroke.
Murphy was extremely lucky to place in the medals, with Thomas Ceccon pushing right until the very end, finishing .11 seconds behind Murphy.
| Swimmer | Medal |
| Evgeny Rylov (ROC) | Gold |
| Kilment Kolesnikov (ROC) | Silver |
| Ryan Murphy (USA) | Bronze |
Women’s 100m Breaststroke – Final
It was the upset of the session, as Lydia Jacoby (USA) came from behind to win gold in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke with a time of 1:04.95.
She is only the sixth swimmer in history to break 1:05.
Tatjana Schoenmaker (RSA), who broke the Olympic record in the heats finished with silver. She led the way in front of Jacoby and Lilly King (USA) but just fell short to Jacoby’s 34.21 split for the second 50m.
It was also South Africa’s first ever medal in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke thanks to Schoenmaker.
Defending champion King finished third, but was more than happy that her USA teammate kept the gold medal for their country.
| Swimmer | Medal |
| Lydia Jacoby (USA) | Gold |
| Tatjana Schoenmaker (RSA) | Silver |
| Lilly King (USA) | Bronze |
Men’s 200m Butterfly – Semis
Chad le Clos who claimed gold in the event at London 2012 took off firing in the first of the semis for the Men’s 200m Butterfly.
Current world record older Kristof Milak (HUN) one the second semi, and finished first overall with a time of 1:52.22, 2.45 seconds clear of Leonardo de Deus (BRA).
The Final for the Men’s 200m Butterfly is at 11:41am, Wednesday, July 28.
| Swimmer | Time |
| Kristof Milak (HUN) | 1:52.22 |
| Leonardo de Deus (BRA) | 1:54.97 |
| Chad le Clos (RSA) | 1:55.06 |
| Federico Burdisso (ITA) | 1:55.11 |
| Tamas Kenderesi (HUN) | 1:55.17 |
| Gunnar Bentz (USA) | 1:55.28 |
| Krzysztof Chmielewskin (POL) | 1:55.29 |
| Tomoru Honda (JPN) | 1:55.31 |
Women’s 200m Individual Medley – Semis
USA will go into the Women’s 200m Individual Medley favourites to take home a medal (or two) after Kate Douglass finished first overall in the semis .35 of a second clear of Abbie Wood (GBR)
Defending champion Katinka Hosszu (HUN) just scraps into the final, after finishing with a time of 2:10.22, four seconds off her Olympic record set at Rio 2016.
Australia’s Kaylee McKeown opted out of swimming the Individual Medley, proving to be the best decision after claiming her gold medal.
The Final for the Women’s 200m Individual Medley is at 12:45pm, Wednesday, July 28.
| Swimmer | Time |
| Kate Douglass (USA) | 2:09.21 |
| Abbie Wood (GBR) | 2:09.56 |
| Alex Walsh (USA) | 2:09.57 |
| Yu Yiting (CHN) | 2:09.72 |
| Yui Ohashi (JPN) | 2:09.79 |
| Sydney Pickrem (CAN) | 2:09.94 |
| Katinka Hosssu (HUN) | 2:10.22 |
| Alicia Wilson (GBR) | 2:10.59 |
Men’s 100m Freestyle – Heats
It’s one of the most anticipated swimming events; the Men’s 100m Freestyle kicked off a jam-packed night of heats on Day 4. Swimmers needed to finish among the top times of their heats, with nine heats swum for the event.
The final heat gave the Semi-Final three of the top five qualifiers in Thomas Ceccon (ITA), Caeleb Dressel (USA) and Alessandro Miressi (ITA). Kliment Kolesnikov (ROC) took an early overall first place in the heats, only for Kyle Chalmers (AUS) touching the wall on 47.77. He held the lead until the final heat.
Matthew Richards (GBR) was a no show to the event, preparing for the 4x 200m Freestyle Relay later in the evening.
Notable swimmers to have missed top 16 include Katsumi Nakamura (JPN), Mehdy Metella (FRA) and Cameron McEvoy (AUS).
The Semis for the Men’s 100m Freestyle begins at 11:30am, Wednesday, July 28.
| Swimmer | Time |
| Thomas Ceccon (ITA) | 47.71 |
| Caeleb Dressel (USA) | 47.73 |
| Kyle Chalmers (AUS) | 47.77 |
| Alessandro Miressi (ITA) | 47.83 |
| Kliment Kolesnikov (ROC) | 47.89 |
| Hwang Sunwoo (KOR) | 47.97 |
| Andrei Minakov (ROC) | 48.00 |
| David Popovici (ROU) | 48.03 |
| Nandor Nemeth (HUN) | 48.11 |
| Yuri Kisil (CAN) | 48.15 |
| Zach Apple (USA) | 48.16 |
| Maxime Grousset (FRA) | 48.25 |
| Andrej Barna (SRB) | 48.30 |
| Joshua Liendo Edwards (CAN) | 48.34 |
| Roman Mityukov (SUI) | 48.43 |
| Jacob Whittle (GBR) | 48.44 |
Women’s 200m Butterfly – Heats
With Katinka Hosszu (HUN) a no show to the Women’s 200m Butterfly, the remaining 16 swimmers automatically qualified for the Semi-Final, making for a casual swim with little stand-out times achieved.
China’s Zhang Yufei is the favourite to take home gold, after securing silver in the 100m Butterfly, and finished first overall in the heats.
Hali Flickinger (USA) came in at second overall, and finished with a better final split, 33.3, to Yufei’s 34.7.
China and USA look to be the countries to beat, with Yu Liyan (CHN) and Regan Smith (USA) finishing third and fourth respectively.
Australia will be represented in the Semi-Final by Brianna Throssell, who finished ninth overall.
The Semis for the Women’s 200m Butterfly begins at 11:57am, Wednesday, July 28.
| Swimmer | Time |
| Zhang Yufei (CHN) | 2:07.50 |
| Hali Flickinger (USA) | 2:08.31 |
| Yu Liyan (CHN) | 2:08.36 |
| Regan Smith (USA) | 2:08.46 |
| Boglarka Kapas (HUN) | 2:08.58 |
| Svetlana Chimrova (ROC) | 2:08.84 |
| Laura Stephens (GBR) | 2:09.00 |
| Alys Margaret Thomas (GBR) | 2:09.06 |
| Brianna Throssell (AUS) | 2:09.34 |
| Helena Bach (DEN) | 2:09.37 |
| Franziska Hentke (GER) | 2:09.98 |
| Defne Tacyildiz (JPN) | 2:10.00 |
| Suzuka Hasegawa (JPN) | 2:10.43 |
| Ana Monteiro (POR) | 2:11.45 |
| Remedy Rule (PHI) | 2:12.23 |
| Julimar Avila Manica (HND) | 2:15.36 |
Men’s 200m Breaststroke – Heats
The final heat of the Men’s 200m Breaststroke was the fastest overall of the evening, with six of its eight competitors advancing to the Semi-Final; Ireland’s Darragh Greene and China’s Haiyang Qin (disqualification) the only two to miss out.
In Heat Four, Izaac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) and Arno Kamminga (NED) drew touching the wall, their time the fastest across the five heats.
Andrew Wilson (USA) is the notable name to miss out on the semis, finishing 17th overall with a time of 2:09.97.
The Semis for the Men’s 200m Breaststroke begins at 12:21pm, Wednesday, July 28.
| Swimmer | Time |
| Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) | 2:07.37 |
| Arno Kamminga (NED) | 2:07.37 |
| Matti Mattson (FIN) | 2:08.44 |
| Nic Fink (USA) | 2:08.48 |
| Anton Chupkov (ROC) | 2:08.54 |
| Erik Persson (SWE) | 2:08.76 |
| Dmitriy Balandin (KAZ) | 2:08.99 |
| Ryuya Mura (JPN) | 2:09.00 |
| Kirill Prigoda (ROC) | 2:09.21 |
| Matt Wilson (AUS) | 2:09.29 |
| Shoma Sato (JPN) | 2:09.54 |
| Antoine Viquerat (FRA) | 2:09.54 |
| Andrius Sidlauskas (LTU) | 2:09.56 |
| Lyubomir Epitropov (BUL) | 2:09.68 |
| James Wilby (GBR) | 2:09.70 |
| Ross Murdoch (GBR) | 2:09.95 |
Men’s 4x 200m Freestyle Relay – Heats
The Great Britain 4x 200m Freestyle Relay look as deadly as Australia’s Women’s 4x 100m Relay… and whether you are a Great Britain fan or not, you are guaranteed an entertaining performance by the quartette.
Great Britain finished first overall heading into the Final by nearly two seconds, Australia coming in at second and Italy third. The Brits are tipped to swim an even faster Final, with Tom Dean splitting the heats with 1:46.7 but is expected to swim even faster in the final.
For Australia, Kyle Chalmers looks a likely inclusion, with Mack Horton’s split of 1:47.5, the fastest of the relay, looking like he’ll miss his spot in the Final.
The United States will consider a new side going into the Final after falling to fifth place overall, despite its dominance as a 4x 100m Freestyle Relay team. Blake Pieroni’s split of 1:46.2 looks like he’ll sit the Final out.
The Final for the Men’s 4x 200m Freestyle Relay is at 1:26pm, Wednesday, July 28.
| Team | Time |
| Great Britain | 7:03.25 |
| Australia | 7:05.00 |
| Italy | 7:05.05 |
| ROC | 7:05.16 |
| United States of America | 7:05.62 |
| Switzerland | 7:06.59 |
| Germany | 7:06.76 |
| Brazil | 7:07.73 |
Men’s 800m Freestyle – Heats
The debut of the Men’s 800m Freestyle saw five heats swum, with no Semi-Final to be raced.
An Olympic record was up for grabs too, decided it would be awarded at the conclusion of the heats, with Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) finishing first overall and claiming the record with a time of 7:41.28.
The top three in Romanchuk, Florian Wellbrock (GER) and Robert Finke (USA) look to be the swimmers to beat, their times three to four-seconds faster than fourth place.
Australia’s Jack McLoughlin finished with a time of 7:46.94 to place him sixth overall and heading off to the Final.
The Final for the Men’s 800m Freestyle is at 11:30m, Thursday, July 29.
| Team | Time |
| Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) | 7:41.28 (OR) |
| Florian Wellbrock (GER) | 7:41.77 |
| Robert Finke (USA) | 7:42.72 |
| Felix Auboeck (AUT) | 7:45.73 |
| Guilherme Costa (BRA) | 7:46.09 |
| Jack McLoughlin (AUS) | 7:46.94 |
| Serhil Frolov (UKR) | 7:47.67 |
| Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) | 7:47.73 |
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