2024 Paris Olympics Data Dive: Day 5 Prelims

On top of the five finals we’ll see later on today where we already know the swimmers, three more events now have their slate of athletes set for tonight. The women’s 200 breaststroke, men’s 200 backstroke, and women’s 200 butterfly will all showcase their semifinalists tonight, alongside the finals of the men’s and women’s 100 freestyle, men’s 200 butterfly, women’s 1500 freestyle, and men’s 200 breaststroke. This morning we got to see Olympic medalists and defending champions alike, alongside two newly-crowned national record holders. Here’s some information about this morning’s prelims.

PRELIMS SWIMS

WOMEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE

 Top 16:

1. Tatjana Smith, South Africa (2:21.57)
2. Tes Schouten, Netherlands (2:23.08)
3. Kate Douglass, United States (2:23.44)
4. Ye Shiwen, China (2:23.67)
5. Satomi Suzuki, Japan (2:23.80)
6. Kaylene Corbett, South Africa (2:23.85)
7. Mona McSharry, Ireland (2:23.98)
8. Jenna Strauch, Australia (2:24.38)
9. Jessica Vall Montero, Spain (2:24.52)
10. Kotryna Teterevkova, Lithuania (2:24.59)
11. Lilly King, United States (2:24.91)
12. Kelsey Wog, Canada (2:25.11)
13. Sydney Pickrem, Canada (2:25.45)
14. Ella Ramsay, Australia (2:25.61)
15. Francesca Fangio, Italy (2:25.85)
16. Kristyna Horska, Czech Republic (2:26.28)

• Time to Qualify: 2:26.28
• Time to Qualify (Tokyo): 2:24.27
• Time to Qualify (Rio): 2:26.58

Olympic record holder, defending gold medalist, and former world record holder Tatjana Smith (South Africa) looked really strong coming out of this morning’s prelims session, seeded a second and a half faster than the second seed, Tes Schouten (Netherlands). Three former medalists in this event from two different Olympics (2021 and 2012) will return to swim finals tonight, with Smith (Tokyo Gold), Lilly King (USA, Tokyo Silver) and veteran Satomi Suzuki (Japan, London Silver). The semifinal qualifying time was 0.30 seconds faster than the time from Rio, but was a full two seconds off of the qualifying time from Tokyo, consistent with what we’ve seen from many races at this meet. Something only seen very rarely, no swimmers from anywhere in the field dropped time from their seeded times. Countries sending both of their athletes back to semifinals include South Africa, the United States, Canada, and Australia. Five continents and 12 countries will be represented. 

MEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE

 Top 16:

1. Roman Mityukov, Switzerland (1:56.62)
2. Lukas Märtens, Germany (1:56.89)
3. Pieter Coetze, South Africa (1:56.92)
4. Hubert Kos, Hungary (1:57.01)
5. Ryan Murphy, United States (1:57.03)
6. Hugo Gonzalez, Spain (1:57.08)
7. Apostolos Christou, Greece (1:57.18)
8. Hidekazu Takehara, Japan (1:57.23)
9. Apostolos Siskos, Greece (1:57.26)
10. Lee Juho, South Korea (1:57.39)
11. Keaton Jones, United States (1:57.54)
12. Oliver Morgan, Great Britain (1:57.56)
13. Mewen Tomac, France, (1:57.62)
14. Thomas Ceccon, Italy (1:57.69)
15. Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, France (1:57.92)
16. Adam Telegdy, Hungary (1:57.98)

• Time to Qualify: 1:57.98
• Time to Qualify (Tokyo): 1:57.96
• Time to Qualify (Rio): 1:57.58

The men’s 200 backstroke has one of the most consistent semifinal qualifying times, with this year’s only 0.02 seconds slower than the Tokyo time and 0.40 seconds off of the Rio qualifying time. This race had some surprises this morning, with recent 100 backstroke silver medalist Xu Jiayu (China) no-showing the prelims. Another shock came from Tokyo bronze medalist Luke Greenbank (Great Britain) being disqualified, having gone underwater further than the 15-meter mark off of his start. With Greenbank’s DQ, the Rio gold medalist and Tokyo silver medalist, Ryan Murphy (USA), is the only Olympic medalist to return tonight for semifinals. Countries sending both of their swimmers to the semifinals tonight include Hungary, the United States, Greece, and France. Across these 16 swimmers, 12 countries and four continents are represented. 

WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY
Top 16 

1. Zhang Yufei, China (2:06.55)
2. Regan Smith, United States (2:06.99)
3. Abbey Connor, Australia (2:07.13)
4. Helena Bach, Denmark (2:07.34)
5. Alex Shackell, United States (2:07.49)
6. Summer McIntosh, Canada (2:07.70)
7. Keanna MacInnes, Great Britain (2:08.46)
8. Elizabeth Dekkers, Australia (2:08.97)
9. Airi Mitsui, Japan (2:09.12)
10. Boglarka Kapas, Hungary (2:09.28)
11. Chen Luying, China (2:09.31)
12. Lana Pudar, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2:09.32)
13. Georgia Damasioti, Greece (2:09.55)
14. Laura Stephens, Great Britain (2:10.46)
15. Hiroko Makino, Japan (2:10.79)
16. Laura Cabanes Garzas, Spain (2:10.82)

• Time to Qualify: 2:10.82
• Time to Qualify (Tokyo): 2:15.36
• Time to Qualify (Rio): 2:09.21

With only 19 swimmers appearing in this event (14 swimmers with the OQT of 2:08.43, one with the OCT of 2:09.07, and four Universality swimmers), this is one of the least-populated events we’ve seen at this meet, consistent what we saw with the event’s meager 17 swimmers in Tokyo. Defending gold medalist and olympic record holder Zhang Yufei (China) placed herself atop the standings after this morning’s session, with a strong 2:06.55. Zhang recently won a bronze medal in the 100 distance. Defending silver medalist from Tokyo, Regan Smith (USA) is back to the races after winning a silver medal in the 100 backstroke last night. Smith is seeded second going into tonight’s semifinal. The United States, Australia, China, Great Britain, and Japan are all sending both of their swimmers back to semifinals. Across this field, 11 countries and four continents are represented. 

NATIONAL RECORDS

Denilson Cyprianos, Zimbabwe: 200 backstroke (2:01.91)

• Cyprianos swam to a 2:01.91, shaving off 0.05 seconds from his previous best/national record time of 2:01.96, which he swam at the African games back in March. 

Georgia Damasioti, Greece: 200 butterfly (2:09.55)

• Damasioti took 0.19 seconds off of her own Greek record of 2:09.74 (swam at Sette Colli in 2023 in the 200 butterfly this morning, swimming a 2:09.55 to place her in tonight’s semifinal.