Olympic Women’s Water Polo: Australia Tops U.S. in Shootout to End Four-Peat Quest
Gabriella Palm of Australia faces a shot from the United States’ Maddie Musselman during a women’s water polo semifinal match on Thursday; Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
by MATTHEW DE GEORGE – SENIOR WRITER
08 August 2024, 11:57am
Olympic Women’s Water Polo: Australia Tops U.S. in Shootout to End Four-Peat Quest
The American quest for four straight gold medals in women’s water polo is over.
Gabriella Palm stopped Maddie Musselman in the sixth round of the penalty shootout at the Paris La Defense Arena Thursday, sending Australia to a 14-13 win in the semifinals.
The Aussies will face Spain, which survived a 19-18 decision with the Netherlands in penalties in the earlier semifinal, for gold. The Dutch and Americans will faceoff for bronze.
The first 11 shooters converted in penalties, with Zoe Arancini beating Ashleigh Johnson for a second time in the sixth round. Palm, who had been subbed out after the first three penalties, came back in and denied Musselman’s attempt to her right to set off the green-and-gold celebrations.
Olympic Women’s Water Polo Group Stage Day 1 Recap
Olympic Women’s Water Polo Group Stage Day 2 Recap
Olympic Women’s Water Polo Group Stage Day 3 Recap
Olympic Women’s Water Polo Quarterfinals Recap
Arancini and Bronte Halligan scored three times each for Australia. Abby Andrews led the way with five goals on a day where Alice Williams, the tournament’s leading scorer, was held scoreless after picking up three exclusion fouls. Palm was one better than Johnson on the day, with 13 saves. Johnson had 12.
It was a dour ending for Musselman, who was excellent with three goals and two assists. Jenna Flynn scored three times for the U.S.
The Americans, coming off a 5-4 win over Hungary in the quarterfinals, tried to keep it low-scoring again. They led 5-2 at the half, thanks in large part to six saves from Johnson.
Musselman scored two of the game’s first four goals, one on a five-meter penalty.
The Aussies were playing most of the way without Williams, who picked up two exclusion fouls on the same possession in the first quarter. She committed her third just 30 seconds into the fourth quarter, drawn by a dogged Musselman.
The American youth gave it some breathing room late in the second quarter. After Palm turned aside Ryann Neushul, Jovana Sekulic was first to the ball at two meters and deposited the rebound. A block of an Arancini shot with 25 seconds left led to a Jewel Roemer outlet that found Emily Ausmus, who took her space and beat Palm in close to set the halftime edge.
Australia respond out of the break, Andrews taking the lead. She scored four times in the third quarter, ripping home a pair of goals in the first two minutes to get Australia within one. Johnson got her hand to the last one and briefly stemmed the tide with a save on Halligan on the next possession. But Andrews tied the game at 5 with a rip from distance, then when Flynn scored off a Jordan Raney dish, Andrews took a Sienna Hearn feed and picked out a corner on the power play to knot it at 6.
Maggie Steffens, vying to become the first individual to win four straight gold medals, scored her first goal of the game off a Musselman feed to make it 7-6 at the end of the third, but the Americans’ offensive execution abandoned them in the fourth, with five turnovers.
Musselman set up Fattal to make it 8-6 early in the fourth, but Halligan got it right back. Halligan tied the game at 2:54, and two saves by Johnson got the game to the shootout, with Palm denying Musselman with 2:30 to play and Raney hitting the crossbar late on.
Rowdy Gaines Reveals 2028 Olympics Will Be His Last as NBC Sports Color Commentator
Rowdy Gaines — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
08 August 2024, 07:59am
Rowdy Gaines Reveals 2028 Olympics Will Be His Last as NBC Sports Color Commentator
For generations, Rowdy Gaines has been the voice of swimming in the United States, the excitable analyst joining Dan Hicks in the NBC Sports broadcast both for every Olympic Games going back to 1996 in Atlanta. Hicks and Gaines have called all the Olympic races for Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and every other star for the past three decades.
Gaines has also been the color commentator for nearly every other national and international-level meet, including the World Championships, national championships, NCAA Championships, conference championship meets and Pro Swim Series meets.
But that run will be done after the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Following the conclusion of nine days of action in the pool at the Paris Games, Gaines revealed on social media this week that he will leave his roles after calling a ninth Games alongside Hicks four years from now. Gaines chose LA as his final Games because he will be returning to the city where he won three Olympic gold medals, including in the 100 freestyle, at the 1984 Games.
Perhaps the most memorable call the excitable Gaines offered the world came at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing during the men’s 400 freestyle relay. With American anchor Jason Lezak trailing France’s Alain Bernard, Gaines told the world, “I don’t think he can do it, Dan,” but when Lezak began closing the gap in the final 25 meters, Gaines screamed, “There’s no doubt that he’s tightening up!” That gave way to Hicks’ call of perhaps the greatest comeback in the sport’s history.
In recent Games, NBC Sports has set up a “Rowdy Cam” so fans can see Gaines’ enthusiasm during the races and his nerves as American swimmers battle for Olympic gold. Most recently, NBC revealed the “Rowdy Cam” footage of the mixed 400 medley relay Olympic final, when the U.S. team edged out China down the stretch.
Olympic Men’s Water Polo: Greece, Spain Win Groups; U.S. Tops Croatia for Third
Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
by Matthew De George – Senior Writer
06 August 2024
Olympic Men’s Water Polo: Greece, Spain Win Groups; U.S. Tops Croatia for Third
Greece and Spain wrapped up their groups in the final round-robin day of Olympic men’s water polo play Monday, while the U.S. scored a 14-11 win over Croatia to finish third in its group.
Quarterfinals are set for Wednesday, with Croatia taking on Spain and Greece taking on Serbia. The U.S. will battle with Australia – which lost a shocker, 14-13, to Japan to wrap up the group – and Ital will take on Hungary in the nightcap.
The U.S. roared out to a 10-5 lead at half to get the better of Croatia. It shot 14-for-24 (58 percent) from the field. Hannes Daube scored three goals to go with three assists. Max Irving had three goals and two helpers, and Ryder Dodd and Alex Bowen had two goals and one assist each. Adrian Weinberg had nine saves.
Croatia got as close as two goals in the final 90 seconds, but Bowen scored with 1:10 left to restore a three-goal lead and put the game away.
Konstantin Kharkov led Croatia with five goals. Loren Fatovic had three goals and one assist.
Paris Olympic Men’s Water Polo Hub
Paris Olympic Men’s Water Polo Day 1 Recap
Paris Olympic Men’s Water Polo Day 2 Recap
Paris Olympic Men’s Water Polo Day 3 Recap
Paris Olympic Men’s Water Polo Day 4 Recap
Spain ended France’s chances of a medal with a 10-8 win, Spain scoring the first three goals of the fourth quarter to break a 7-7 tie.
Bernat Sanahuja had one of those, part of a hat trick. Alberto Munarriz scored three times, and Alvaro Granados paired two goals with two assists. Unai Aguirre was sensational with 17 saves.
Ugo Crousillat tallied a hat trick for France. Thomas Vernoux paired a goal with four assists. Hugo Fontani stopped 11 shots. France was held to just 4-for-26 (15 percent) on action shots.
Hungary won a wild one with Serbia, 17-13, thanks to a 13-5 edge in the middle two quarters. Gergo Zalanki and Gergo Fekete scored four times each. Vince Vigvari paired a goal with three assists. Denes Varga had two and three. Fourteen of the 17 goals were assisted.
Dusan Mandic scored five times for Serbia. Milos Cuk paired three goals with two assists.
Vlado Popadic had six assists plus a goal to lead Serbia to a 10-7 win over Romania. Marko Mrsic scored three times. Tudor-Andrei Fulea had three goals for Romania.
A goal by Seiya Adachi with 11 seconds left gave Japan a consolation win over Australia despite missing the quarterfinals. Adachi scored three times. Yusuke Inaba dominated with six goals and three assists. Taiyo Watanabe had a goal and five assists. Kastuyuki Tanamura stopped nine shots.
Milos Maksimovic had a hat trick for the Aussies.
A power-play goal by Ioannis Fountoulis with 2:56 left was the difference in Greece’s 9-8 win over Italy in what could well be a medal preview. Fountoulis scored twice. Stylianos Argyropoulos led the way with four goals and two assists. Emmanouil Zerdevas tallied 12 saves.
Lorenzo Bruni and Francesco Condemi had three goals each for Italy.
Paris Olympics: China Finishes 1-2 in Dominating Women’s 10-Meter Diving
Hongchan Quan of China competes in the Diving Women’s 10m Platform Semifinal during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Aquatics Centre in Paris (France), August 05, 2024.
by Dan D’Addona — Swimming World Managing Editor
06 August 2024, 09:07am
Paris Olympics: China Finishes 1-2 in Dominating Women’s 10-Meter Diving
China continued its diving dominance at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a 1-2 finish in the women’s 10-meter platform competition.
The gold medal went to Quan Hongchan, who finished with a score of 425.60, leading from start to finish in the competition.
Teammate Chen Yuxi took the silver medal with a score of 420.70. She was second behind Quan in the preliminaries and semifinals and was the only other diver within striking distance of the top spot.
The bronze medal at the Paris Olympics went to Korea’s Mi Rae Kim, who used a late rise to earn the third spot. After preliminaries, she was 10th only to rise to fourth after semifinals and finish third with a score of 372.10.
Canada’s Caeli McKey just missed out on the podium with a fourth-place finish of 364.50.
Mexico’s Gabriella Agundez took fifth with a score or 350.40 and teammate Alejandra Orozco Loza took eighth with a 320.60, giving Mexico two in the top eight.
Great Britain’s Andrea Spendolini Sirieix took sixth with a score of 345.50 and Australia’s Ellie Cole was seventh with a 333.30.
There were 29 divers in the field at the Olympics, which was narrowed to 18 for the semifinals, then 12 in the finals.
USA’s Delaney Schnell finished 15th (270.95) and teammate Daryn Wright took 19th, just missing the semis.
Silent Auction items needed! ISHOF asking for your help!
It is that time of the year~the ISHOF 59th Annual Honoree Induction Ceremony is around the corner! We have a GREAT class of Honorees this year, as well as a Masters Class (MISHOF) of Inductees as well. This year’s event will be October 4-5, 2024 at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach ~ the old Yankee Trader.
As it is the biggest fund raiser of the year for ISHOF, we are looking for SILENT AUCTION ITEMS from any and all friends and fans of ISHOF, swimming, aquatics, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming, etc. Having just watched the Olympic Games, you know what great sports we have! Help us preserve the history and celebrate the stories of these incredible athletes!!! Without your support it is just not possible! Our Hall of Fame would just not survive.
I am looking for any type of items for our silent auction, hotel stays, restaurant gift cards, trips, sporting events, airline tickets, sporting memorabilia, you name it…if you would like to bid on it, so would someone else!
Contact me at: meg@ishof.org or call me at 570.594.4367
If you do not have an item, but would like to help, consider a donation, click here:https://ishof.org/donate/
#ISHOF #CityofFortLauderdale #WorldAquatics #USASwimming #SwimmingWorld #USMS #AquaCal
Paris Olympics: World Aquatics Cancel Marathon Swimming Training Due To Poor Water Quality
Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / NOC San Marino / Deepbluemedia
by LIZ BYRNES – EUROPE CORRESPONDENT
06 August 2024, 06:07am
Paris Olympics: World Aquatics Cancel Marathon Swimming Training Due To Poor Water Quality
Open water swimming at Paris 2024 is coming under ever-increasing scrutiny after World Aquatics cancelled a training session in the River Seine due to water quality concerns.
While, E. coli levels were acceptable, the levels of the Enterrococci bacteria exceeded World Aquatics’ maximum thresholds.
The women’s and men’s 10k races are scheduled to take place on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 August races at Pont Alexandre III but preparations have been beset with difficulties ever since the test event was cancelled on this day last year because of the water quality in the River Seine.
Belgium’s squad for the triathlon mixed relay was forced to withdraw from Monday’s competition after team member Claire Michel became sick after swimming in the river during the women’s triathlon competition. Belgian media have reported that Michel was hospitalized and diagnosed with E. coli after competing in the Seine, which has come under scrutiny for its poor conditions.
World Aquatics said in a statemtent:
“PARIS—Earlier today, World Aquatics made the decision to cancel the 6 August Marathon Swimming familiarisation due to water quality concerns. The athlete training session was due to take place from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., but following a 4:00 a.m. coordination meeting, the decision was taken by the governing body in collaboration with Paris 2024.
“The water quality review showed E. coli levels ranged from 326 to 517 (considered “very good” to “good”) at the four collection points taken on 5 August between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m.
“However, Enterococci levels exceeded World Aquatics maximum thresholds during the morning review. The latest Enterococci samples (taken between 12:30 and 13:20 on 4 August) showed levels exceeding the maximum acceptable World Aquatics thresholds.
“Laboratory analysis of the Seine’s Enterococci levels for 5 August was available at 11:00 a.m. today. These most recent Enterococci results demonstrate an improvement in the Seine’s water quality, but one of the four tests still did not meet acceptable World Aquatics water quality standards.
“A second familiarisation swimming session at the Pont Alexandre III competition venue is scheduled for 7 August from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. A water quality review session will be held at 4:00 a.m. on 7 August, where World Aquatics will decide whether the familiarisation session for 7 August can be held.
“With a favourable weather forecast and forward-looking analysis, World Aquatics and Paris 2024 remain confident that the Marathon Swimming competitions on 8 and 9 August will proceed as planned.
“World Aquatics decisions on water quality for the Marathon Swimming events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are made in consultation with World Aquatics Technical Delegates, World Aquatics Medical Delegates, Paris 2024 Organising Committee, Météo France, DRIEAT, the City of Paris, and the Prefecture of the Île-de-France Region which carried out the water quality tests.”
ISHOF inducts it’s first ever Relay Team: Women’s 1976 USA Gold Medal winning 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay ~ Sterkel, Boglioli, Peyton & Babashoff
The 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal featured a pair of dominant team performances. There was the excellence of the American men, who claimed victory in 12 of the 13 events. There was also the dominance of the women from the German Democratic Republic, who won 11 of the 13 events.
There was a distinct difference in how the U.S. men and East German women arrived at their success, however. While the American onslaught was fueled by hard work and pure talent, East Germany benefited – as official records eventually revealed – from a systematic-doping program.
Despite the illicit approach by the GDR, one U.S. women’s relay was not going to be denied.
When the 400-meter freestyle relay rolled around as the final women’s event of the Olympic program, few individuals believed Team USA had a chance at the gold medal. After all, East Germany had routed the competition for days, and boasted the gold and silver medalists from the 100 freestyle.
How could the United States possibly contend? It came down to a matter of belief.
Yet, the quartet of Kim Peyton, Wendy Boglioli, Jill Sterkel and Shirley Babashoff convinced itself that a magical moment was possible. The athletes were determined to end the competition on a high note.
The story ends with the United States beating East Germany by .68 and establishing a world record of 3:44.82, breaking the former mark by four seconds. One of the biggest upsets in Olympic history had been registered, and four women demonstrated what belief and teamwork can do.
Come join the 1976 Women’s Gold Medal Relay and find out just how “The Last Gold” actually happened! And share the stories of the rest of this year’s Class of 2024 in Fort Lauderdale.
If you cannot join us, please consider making a donation.
To make a donation, click here: https://ishof.org/donate/
This year’s International Swimming Hall of Fame Honorees include:
Honor Swimmers:
Lars Frölander (SWE)
Daniel Gyurta (HUN)
Dana Vollmer (USA)
1976 Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Gold Medal Relay Team (USA)
(Includes Shirley Babashoff, Wendy Boglioli, Kim Peyton*, Jill Sterkel)
Honor Divers:
Alexandre Despatie (CAN)
Yulia Pakhalina (RUS)
Wu Minxia (CHN) 2023
Honor Artistic Swimmer:
Virginie Dedieu (FRA)
Honor Water Polo Players:
Carmela “Lilli” Allucci (ITA)
Vladimir Akimov* (USSR)
Honor Coach:
Dennis Pursley (USA)
Honor Contributor:
Dale Neuburger (USA)
ISHOF 59th Annual Honoree Induction weekend
~ HOTEL INFORMATION ~
Host Hotel: Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort & Spa
To make reservations click here: https://book.passkey.com/e/50757008
321 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 467-1111. Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $229 per night,
Additional Hotel Option:
Courtyard Marriott Fort Lauderdale Beach
Book your group rate for Honoree Ceremony
440 Seabreeze Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 524-8733
Special ISHOF Guest Rate of $169 – $199 per night
~ TICKET INFORMATION ~
Friday, October 4, 2024: Includes:
The Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame (MISHOF) Induction Ceremony
The ISHOF Aquatic Awards presented by AquaCal and
The ISHOF Specialty Awards
Click here to purchase tickets: MISHOF/AWARDS
Saturday, October 5, 2024: Includes
The 59th Annual International Swimming Hall of Fame Honoree Induction Ceremony
The Al Schoenfield Media Award and
The 2024 ISHOF Gold Medallion Award
Click here to purchase tickets: INDUCTION
#ISHOF #WorldAquatics #CityofFortLauderdale #USASwimming #AquaCal #Olympics #SwimmingHallofFame #SwimmingWorld #2024Paris
FLASH! Bobby Finke Crushes 1500 Free World Record In 14:30.67; WJR For Kuzey Tuncelli
Bobby Finke: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia
by Liz Byrnes – Europe Correspondent
04 August 2024, 10:02am
FLASH! Bobby Finke Crushes 1500 Free World Record In 14:30.67; WJR For Kuzey Tuncelli
Bobby Finke set a new 1500 free world record of 14:30.67, 12 years to the day since Sun Yang set the previous mark at London 2012.
The American was 0.94 inside Sun’s WR at 1450 and came home in 26.27 to take 0.35 off the Chinese athlete’s long-standing mark and defend the title he won in Tokyo three years ago.
Finke, coached by Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida, becomes the fourth man to win back-to-back titles in the longest race in the pool, joining fellow American Mike Burton (1968/1972) and Australian great Kieren Perkins (1992/1996) and Grant Hackett (2000/2004).
Vladimir Salnikov also won two titles but eight years apart in 1980 and 1988.
Gregorio Paltrinieri, Bobby Finke & Daniel Wiffen: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemeida
Gregorio Paltrinieri was second in 14:34.55, adding silver to his Rio 2016 gold, with Daniel Wiffen adding bronze to his 800 title in 14:39.63.
David Betlehem of Hungary was fourth in 14:40.91 while also of note was Kuzey Tuncelli who lowered his WJR to 14:41.22, as the 16-year-old finished fifth.
The Turkish teenager demolished the previous record last month when he went 14:41.89 at the European Junior Championships to take 4.2secs off the previous standard of 14:46.09 held by Croatian Franko Grgic since 2019.
Ahmed Jaouadi of Tunisia was sixth in 14:43.35 followed by French pair David Aubry (14:44.66) and Damien Joly (14:52.61)
World Record: Sun Yang, CHN – 14:31.02 (2012)
Olympic Record: Sun Yang, CHN – 14:31.02 (2012)
Tokyo Olympic Champion: Bobby Finke, USA – 14:39.65
One reason Sun’s record stood the test of time was the Chinese athlete’s final 100 where he split 27.81/25.68 for an eye-watering 53.49.
To put that into some kind of context, Paltrinieri was 2.81 inside the WR at 1400 at the Budapest worlds in 2022 but his final 100 was 4.59secs slower as he finished 2.78secs outside in 14:32.80, a European record.
No other man had broken 14:32 until Ahmed Hafnaoui touched out Finke for the 2023 world title in 14:31:54 to 14:31.59.
Finke is noted for her trademark late charge but the 24-year-old struck out from the first stroke and seemed to take the rest of the field by surprise, such was his scorching pace and subsequent clear water.
He reached 400 in 3:50.38 ahead of Paltrinieri (3:52.05) and Wiffen (3:53.30) before the Italian ate into the deficit to move within 0.69 at the 600m mark with the Irishman more than a further 2secs adrift.
Paltrinieri reduced the deficit to 0.6 at the halfway mark as Finke reached 750 in 7:15.88 to 7:16.48.
The American picked up the pace again however and at 1000m was 1.38 inside WR pace. Paltrinieri attacked again but Finke’s turns and underwaters gave him an advantage every time.
Come the 1400m mark and Finke turned in 13:35.33 – 1.16 ahead of Paltrinieri with Wiffen a further 4.68secs adrift – and 2.20secs inside the WR.
At 1450, that had been reduced to 0.94 and it appeared the record may elude Finke given Sun’s blistering final 50 of 25.68 in London all those years ago.
Finke, however, turned on the turbo to come home and consign Sun’s record to history.
Bobby Finke: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
As he broke the duck for the US male swimmers in Paris, they avoided the fate of being the first team to not have an individual male title since Athens 1896.
“I knew,” said Finke. “I was reading all the articles and all the comments and everything. I like reading that stuff. It kind of motivates me inside.
“The world’s getting faster, and I think it’s a really good thing. It’s a really healthy thing for the sport. If one country is always dominating, I can’t really sit there and say the sport is growing. As much as it sucks that we’re not dominating any more, I think it’s good for the sport, and it shows how far the sport has come. Like what Michael Phelps has been able to do for the sport and potentially what Leon Marchand’s going to be able to do for the sport.”
Going out fast, he said, enabled him to build up a lead that wasn’t threatened.
“That really was not my strategy to go into the race. I didn’t know how the race was going to play out, so I kind of saw I had a pretty decent lead at the 300 and I knew I kind of just had to keep going and hopefully try and make the guys hurt a little bit trying to catch up to me. They started catching up to me, and I was getting a little worried, but I knew I just had to keep pushing him. As long as I could keep a little bit of a distance, I knew I was in good shape.”
He added:” I could see the world-record line on the board a couple of times, it wasn’t like I was trying to see it, I just happened to see it.”
Paltrinieri now has five Olympic medals from the last three Games – one gold, two silvers and two bronzes including a third-placed finish in the 8 in Paris.
Paris 2024 was the Italian’s fourth Games, 12 years after making his Olympic debut at London 2012 where he finished fifth aged 17.
Up next is the open water in which he won bronze in Tokyo as well as world and European titles.
His is a career of longevity, but the hunger remains.
“It will be always there,” he said. “If I quit today, tomorrow I will miss it. I have always longed to compete. I started without feeling nervous. I feel the same every time I compete, for the European championships, the worlds, the Olympic Games.”
Neither is he looking too far ahead nor pondering retirement with the Italian turning 30 next month.
Gregorio Paltrinieri: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini/Deepbluemedia
“I tried not to think about it over the past months, because I was thinking about the present, the moment. These could have been my last events in the pool. The open water might allow me to keep going, but I am not getting my head around medals, I am thinking more about my desire. I might even carry on (swimming) in the pool.
“I could even try to get on other podiums, but I am thinking more about what I like doing. In this moment, the pool has become very tiring for me. Let’s see.”
Wiffen has had an astonishing 2024 so far with double gold at the Doha worlds followed by gold and bronze in the French capital.
The 23-year-old has almost single-handedly pulled Irish swimming out of the shadow that had been cast by Michelle Smith, who won triple gold at Atlanta 1996 only to be banned for tampering with a doping sample two years later.
Wiffen’s time was his fourth-fastest and matched the time that secured Ryan Cochrane silver behind Sun 12 years ago.
Wiffen, who is coached by Andi Manley at Loughborough Performance Centre, had mixed feelings, saying: “To get a bronze medal in this, I’m sure if I said it at the start of the week, people would be very happy with it. But obviously, becoming an Olympic champion on the third day then finishing it off on the ninth day, it’s a little bit sad.”
After qualifying first from the prelims, Wiffen set his sights on the WR although he ‘knew’ that Finke would change his tactics and instead it was the American who wrote a new line in the history books.
“I said to Gregorio before the race that I knew that was going to happen,” he said. “And the only problem was I didn’t see it. I was looking that way, but I got body-blocked by Greg. Maybe that was the same what happened to Bobby in the 800 but I didn’t see Bobby go and by the time I noticed, I saw this leg kick, and I was like, oh, okay, now with this it’s going to be a very painful 1,500 for me.”
He added: “I was trying to dig deep, trying to push it on. I was catching in the middle. And then, to be honest, I just got blew up because it was probably a bit too much today to catch.”
Wiffen had studied Sun’s 2012 race many times and in an interview with Swimming World last year, he identified Finke as the only swimmer who could possibly come back in a 53, adding somewhat prophetically: “I‘m not going to lie, I think you just have to hold a pace that’s way under the WR so you’ve got that leeway on the last 100 so you probably need to be three seconds faster than him going into the last 100.”
He said in Paris: “I’m happy for it to go. It was a record that needs to be off the books. And I’m very pleased with Bobby. He’s a great competitor, and everybody’s very friendly in the field, which maybe you don’t get in a lot of events. And I’m very happy that all three of us shared the podium again, maybe different order this time than the 800, but it’s going to be a long, long couple of years of battling it out for who gets the top spot.”
Paris Olympics: Au Revoir Emma McKeon As Aussie Girls Make One Final Splash After Record Breaking Week
ONE LAST SPLASH: Australia’s silver medal-winning 4x100m medley relay team (L-R) Mollie O’Callaghan, Emma McKeon, Jenna Strauch and Kaylee McKeown Photo: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
by Ian Hanson – Oceania Correspondent
05 August 2024, 01:31am
Paris Olympics: Au Revoir Emma McKeon Aussie Girls Make One Final Splash After Record Breaking Week In The Pool.
In an emotionally charged finale, Australia’s women have swum their way into the Olympic record books, celebrating with a collective “bomb” to finish off a spectacular week in the pool at the Paris La Defense Arena.
After collecting their silver medals in the 4x100m medley relay and with a typical show of Aussie larrikinism, and with our greatest Olympic larrikin, golden girl Dawn Fraser in the grandstand, the Aussie girls, Kaylee McKeown, Emma McKeon, Mollie O’Callaghan and Jenna Strauch launched themselves into the pool – with a flying leap, tracksuits and all.
FINAL DUNKING: Emma McKeon and the AUS 4x100m medley relay team Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia)
Urged on by McKeown the spur of the moment plunge, was not only to let off some steam after a pressure-cooker week that saw the Australian girls with a Midas touch, but also to celebrate the career of Australia’s greatest Olympic medal winner, McKeon.
The 30-year-old triple Olympian from Rio, Tokyo and Paris swam her final laps in the butterfly leg of the medley relay – the silver taking her overall medal tally to 14 (six gold, three silver and five bronze) – the most by any Australian athlete in the history of the Games – adding gold, silver and bronze from her Paris campaign.
And the smile said it all on McKeon’s face as she celebrated her stellar career alongside backstroking golden girl McKeown who finished the Games with five medals (two gold, one silver and two bronze) taking her overall Games tally to eight medals (five gold, one silver and two bronze).
McKeown sitting on top of the most individual gold medal list with four from her 100-200m backstroke double-double from Tokyo and Paris – ahead of fellow swimmers Ariarne Titmus, Ian Thorpe, Shane Gould, Dawn Fraser and Murray Rose, kayaker Jess Fox and track athlete Betty Cuthbert all with three each.
Titmus carving her own slice of history defending her 400m freestyle crown from Tokyo, winning her second gold with O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister and Bri Throssell (Shayna Jack and Jamie Perkins) in the women’s 4×200 and silvers in the 200 and 800m freestyles – taking her overall Olympic individual medal tally to six – three gold and three silver and her overall medal tally to eight.
O’Callaghan joined Titmus, Gould and Susie O’Neill when she won the 200m freestyle from world record holder Titmus – chiming in with golds in the 4x100m and 4x200m free relays;, silver in the 4x100m medley and bronze in the 4x100m mixed medley -a total of five medals in Paris from three gold, one silver and one bronze.
The 20-year-old has an overall Olympic medal total of eight adding in her three relay medals as a heat swimmer (two gold and one bronze) from Tokyo.
And it was O’Callaghan’s anchor leg with a sizzling split of 51.83, swimming the Australians past China and Canada, that took the girls from fourth into the silver medal position – maintaining Australia’s podium record in the relay for the last eight Games since Atlanta in 1996 with three gold and five silver v the USA five gold and three silvers.
The US taking Paris gold in a new world record with China the bronze –breaking the gold medal deadlock, taking the USA to eight gold after Bobby Finke’s amazing world record in the 1500m levelled the two teams on seven golds a piece.
The Americans saving their best till last after the Australians had given the world’s No 1 team something to chase – and the fright of their lives.
And in one of the most inspiring individual medal swims of the meet, Queenslander, Meg Harris, legally deaf after a childhood accident, produced the swim of her life to take the silver in the 50 metres freestyle behind world record holder, Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem.
WHEN SILVER IS GOLD: Meg Harris after her silver medal-winning 50m freestyle Paris 24. Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia)
Harris clocking her personal best time of 23.97 – history’s 11th fastest performer with Cate Campbell,McKeon, and Libby Trickett the only Australians ever to swim faster, admitting because of her deafness, she’s had to improve her starts.
McKeon won gold in 2020 in Tokyo, Campbell the bronze in Beijing in 2008 and Trickett the bronze in 2004 in Athens.
“I’ve always had to work on my start -I have a stronger finish so I had to make sure I was actually focusing on my race – about a great break out, a great swim and it all came together in the moment and I felt pretty good in the water,” said Harris, who also told Eddie McGuire on Channel 9 how she manages her starts with her hearing impairment.
“I have learnt for a while now, swimming for so long, I’ve had to train myself and listen to ‘take your marks and the go’ and with an incredible crowd like that it’s always hard but they have ‘take your marks’ coming from the speaker in the blocks and I have trained my self to go and I have a pretty good reaction, when (the field goes). I was very happy with the start and my time which was the first time under 24 seconds….”
SHOW MEDALS: Meg Harris of Australia, silver, Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden, gold, Yufei Zhang of China, bronze show the medals after competing in the swimming 50m Freestyle Women Final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena. Photo Courtesy (DeepBlueMedia)
AU REVOIR FROM PARIS 2024: Kaylee McKeown, Jenna Strauch, Emma McKeon and Mollie O’Callaghan with one final Au Revoir after winning silver in the 4x100m medley relay at Paris La Defense Arena. Photo Courtesy (DeepBlueMedia)
Paris Olympics, Day 9 Finals: American Women Blast World Record in 400 Medley Relay to Finish Meet With Gold
Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske crushed the world record in the women’s 400 medley relay — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
by David Rieder – Senior Writer
04 August 2024, 10:51am
Paris Olympics, Day 9 Finals: American Women Blast World Record in 400 Medley Relay to Finish Meet With Gold
The United States women’s team has largely impressed in Paris, winning medals in 11 out of 14 individual events and missing the podium by one hundredth in two others. Torri Huske (100 butterfly) and Kate Douglass (200 breaststroke) won individual gold medals while Regan Smith claimed silver in three individual races. Only Australian might in freestyle and backstroke and the presence of Canadian teenage star Summer McIntosh prevented an even-higher output of gold.
Australia was unbeatable in the freestyle relays earlier this week, but the Dolphins did not have the balance across the 100-meter events to match up with the U.S. in the women’s 400 medley relay. Consider the first three swimmers in American lineup: 100 backstroke world-record holder Smith, 100 breaststroke world-record holder Lilly King and 100 butterfly world-record holder Gretchen Walsh.
Walsh was actually not the top-performing American in the 100 fly this week, with Torri Huske edging her out for gold, but Huske was needed on the freestyle leg in this event after blasting a time of 52.29, the fastest time by an American in five years, to win silver in the individual event this week. And with those four elite legs, the world record set by an American team five years that included Smith and King was definitely under fire.
Indeed, the team led wire-to-wire, creating an insurmountable, three-second advantage on King’s breaststroke leg. The foursome smashed the global standard by three-quarters of a second, with Huske powering to the wall in 1:49.63.
World Record: United States (Smith, King, Dahlia, Manuel) – 3:50.40 (2019)
Olympic Record: Australia (McKeown, Hodges, McKeon, Campbell) – 3:51.60 (2021)
Tokyo Olympic Champion: Australia (McKeown, Hodges, McKeon, Campbell) – 3:51.60
Regan Smith — Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
On the opening leg, Smith faced Kaylee McKeown, the swimmer who beat her out for individual gold in the 100 back. This time, though. Smith got the better of the Aussie, completing her 100 meters in 57.28 to break the Olympic record McKeown set on the way to gold five days earlier. The time ranks No. 2 in history, behind the 57.13 Smith clocked at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month.
King dove in for what she professes to be her final Olympic swim and came through with a 1:04.90 split, the quickest in the field and a whopping 2.41 seconds clear of Australia’s Jenna Strauch. Walsh fired off a 55.03 split, tying the fastest-ever for the 100 fly, allowing Huske to cruise home in 52.42 to secure gold and the first-ever performance under three minutes, 50 seconds.
“I was thinking what was that record before we broke it,” King said, harkening back to her presence on record-breaking squads in both 2017 and 2019. “We brought the record down a lot. It’s really cool to continue be a part of that relay and watch it get faster and faster and faster with pretty much the same people. It was an awesome way to cap off the meet.”
Australia’s team of McKeown, Strauch, Emma McKeon and Mollie O’Callaghan took silver in 3:53.11, with O’Callaghan anchoring in 51.83 to move the Aussies from fourth to second place. China’s Wen Letian, Tang Qianting, Zhang Yufei and Yang Junxuan secured bronze in 3:53.23, leaving a valiant Canadian team in fourth place (3:53.91).
The gold medal was the Americans’ eighth in the pool at the Olympics, the team’s lowest total since 1988, but a late surge of four golds in the final two days of competition allowed them to overtake and pass Australia, been stuck at seven since the conclusion of Friday night’s finals.
Smith and King both said they did not know the team’s medal count prior to the relay, but Walsh admitted, “I knew that Bobby (Finke) had tied the gold medal count,” referring to the American distance ace’s world-record-setting swim in the 1500 free. “Bobby’s swim was electric. It got my energy going,” Walsh said.
Following the race, Smith stood on the top step of the podium for the first time in her career. Her first six Olympic medals, three in Tokyo and three individual races in Paris, included five silvers and one bronze. She claimed her first gold medal by virtue of her prelims leg on the mixed 400 medley relay, and this win brought a second gold, this time with Smith playing a much more central role.
“It feels amazing,” Smith said in an NBC Sports post-race interview. “These three have done incredible. They’ve had such great careers and been amazing at these Games. They’ve all heard the anthem on the podium, and I haven’t yet, so I’m so excited to up there with them this time.”
Huske finished as the highest-performing American this week, winning 100 butterfly gold and 100 freestyle silver while also claiming three relay medals (two gold and one silver). “This week was absolutely amazing, and there’s no better way to end a week,” Huske said in her NBC interview. “These girls had such a big lead. It kind of took the pressure off me. I would have had to mess up real bad. I’m just so thankful for Team USA and for these ladies next to me.
Walsh claimed her second relay gold medal and fourth overall medal of the week, which included an individual silver in the 100 fly behind Huske and a 50 free finals appearance where she missed the top-three by one hundredth. Among the American foursome, King was the only swimmer who had yet to win a medal this week, finishing fourth in the 100 breast by one hundredth and eighth in the 200 breast, and she blasted by far her best swim of the meet.
Australia’s team featured the swimmer who edged out Smith for Olympic gold in the 100 and 200 back, McKeown, leading off the squad while 200 free gold medalist O’Callaghan would anchor. McKeon, one of the greatest relay swimmers ever, was expected to vastly out-perform her individual times on the butterfly leg. But breaststroke would doom the Australians, with Strauch having finished 22nd in the 100 breast in 1:07.27. Strauch tried to stick with King in the first half of her swim but faded badly down the stretch.
Notably, the silver medal marked the 14th podium finish of McKeon’s career. In her final Olympic swim, she moved into a tie with Katie Ledecky for the most medals career medals among female swimmers.
China also had a dynamite group, with individual medalists in Tang and Zhang while Yang was coming off a 51.96 split anchoring the country’s mixed 400 medley relay Saturday, but backstroke would put the Chinese team more than two seconds behind the Americans and Australians, a deficit the last three swimmers could not overcome.
Canada brought in McIntosh for her 13th swim of the week, and after winning three individual gold medals and a silver, she dove in with Canada holding down second place following Maggie Mac Neil’s 55.79 butterfly split, but McIntosh could only manage a 53.29 split as O’Callaghan and Yang sprinted ahead.