2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Swimming: August 6-13
- Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
- Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
- SwimSwam previews
- Day 1 Schedule & Results
- Live Stream (NBC)
Tonight, the final showdown between two American swimming legends, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, will take place as they each try to grab one last gold and get the upper hand on each other in the final of the men’s 200m IM.
Before their epic battle takes place four events will be contested. The first of which is the 50m freestyle. Andrii Govorov of Ukraine set a national record this morning to take the top seed heading into semifinals. He’s joined by the two Americans, Nathan Adrian and Anthony Ervin, as the fastest competitors this morning.
The women’s 200m breaststroke final will take place right after. This race is going to be one of the tightest races on the Olympic schedule. All qualifiers posted very similar times in the heats led by Taylor McKeown of Australia in 2:21.69.
Ryan Murphy of the United States will attempt to win the first gold of the evening for the Americans shortly after in the men’s 200m backstroke final. Evgeny Rylov of Russia is the top seed, but Murphy already proved he has what it takes to be an Olympic champion winning the 100 back gold earlier on.
Missy Franklin will have a shot to get into the women’s 200m backstroke final during her semifinal tonight. The fastest time this morning was done by 100 back champion Katinka Hosszu. Look for defending world champ Emily Seebohm of Australia to also be in the mix.
Phelps and Lochte will race in the final showdown shortly after. Lochte, the world record holder, will try to dismantle Phelps dream of becoming the first swimmer to win four consecutive Olympic golds in the same event. Phelps will be looking for one last win over his greatest competitor in order to cap off an incredible career as the greatest swimmer of all time.
Cate Campbell of Australia has the potential to win her first Olympic gold in an individual event this evening in the women’s 100m freestyle. She broke the Olympic record in the heats and previously broke the world record at an in-season meet. Penny Oleksiak of Canada is in the mix for a medal at just 16-years-old. Both Bronte Campbell and Sarah Sjostrom are going to try to take Oleksiak down in hopes of getting on the podium.
Phelps will be back in action again in the semifinals of the men’s 100m butterfly. He’ll be competing not long after his 200m IM final. The 100m butterfly is another event where he could potentially four-peat.
MEN’S 50m FREESTYLE SEMIFINALS
Start List: click here
Top Seed: 21.49– Andrii Govorov – Ukraine
World Record: 20.91 (2009) – Cesar Cielo (Brazil)
JR World Record: 22.00 – Yu Hexin – China
Olympic Record: 21.30 (2008) – Cesar Cielo – Brazil
2012 Olympic Champion: 21.34 – Florent Manaudou – France
Defending Olympic champion Florent Manaudou was off like a rocket in the first semifinal of the men’s 50m freestyle, defeating Nathan Adrian of the United States with a time of 21.32.
Adrian finished second to Manaudou in 21.47, securing his spot in the final qualifying fourth overall. Ahead of Adrian were Andrii Govorov of Ukraine and Anthony Ervin of the United States.
Govorov took another three one-hundredths off the Ukranian national record in order to claim the victory in the second semifinal in a dead heat with Ervin.
Ervin and Govorov both clocked in at 21.46 and will take the second and third overall seeds respectively. Ervin was very slow off the blocks but managed to eat up the lead to tie Govorov.
- Florent Manaudou – France – 21.32
- Anthony Ervin – USA – 21.46 TIE
- Andrii Govorov – Ukraine – 21.46 TIE
- Nathan Adrian – USA – 21.47
- Benjamin Proud – Great Britain – 21.54
- Bruno Fratus – Brazil – 21.71 TIE
- Simonas Bilis – Lithuania – 21.71 TIE
- Brad Tandy – South Africa – 21.80
WOMEN’S 200m BREASTSTROKE FINAL
Start List: click here
Top Seed: 2:21.69 – Taylor McKeown – Australia
World Record: 2:19.11 (2013) – Rikke Moller Pedersen – Denmark
JR World Record: 2:19.64 – Viktoria Gunes – Turkey
Olympic Record: 2:19.59 (2012) – Rebecca Soni – USA
2012 Olympic Champion: 2:19.59 – Rebecca Soni – USA
Rie Kaneto of Japan managed to earn herself the gold medal taking down the world record holder Rikke Moller Pedersen and Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova as she approached the wall to touch first.
Kaneto came close to the magic 2:20 range with a very dominant 2:20.30 performance. She was well ahead of silver medallist Efimova who made a late charge as per usual to claim the silver in a time of 2:21.97.
Efimova beat Shi Jinglin of China to the wall. Jinglin finished fourth in the 100m breaststroke earlier this week, finally getting a medal with her 2:22.28 performance. Just six one-hundredths out of a medal position was Chloe Tutton of Great Britain.
Taylor McKeown who had the most dominant semifinal swim faded to fifth after turning first at the 100-meter mark. She clocked in at 2:22.43, fighting towards the will with Jinglin and Tutton but ultimately getting the worst finish of the bunch.
Pedersen of Denmark finished eight in the final.
1. Rie Kaneto – Japan – 2:20.30
MEN’S 200m BACKSTROKE FINAL
Start List: click here
Top Seed: 1:54.45 – Evgeny Rylov – Russia
World Record: 1:51.92 (2009) – Aaron Peirsol – USA
JR World Record: 1:56.79 – Li Guangyuan – China
Olympic Record: 1:53.41 (2012) – Tyler Clary – USA
2012 Olympic Champion: 1:53.41 – Tyler Clary – USA
Ryan Murphy of the United States managed to hold on with a strong finish to sweep the backstroke and continue a sixth straight Olympic title in the event for an American man. Murphy was a 1:53.62 at the wall, beating his own best time to take down the defending world champion Mitch Larkin of Australia.
Larkin finished just over three-tenths of a second behind Murphy with a time of 1:53.96, fading towards the end as Murphy established himself as the clear leader heading into the wall.
Behind both Murphy and Larkin was Evgeny Rylov of Russia who was the top seed after both the prelims and semifinals but couldn’t hold on to the streak, instead settling for the bronze in a time of 1:53.97.
The top three were well ahead of everyone else as Xu Jiayu of China finished fourth in 1:55.16, over a second behind Rylov of Russia. Jacob Pebley of the United States was fifth in 1:55.52, ahead of world junior record holder Li Guanyuan of China. Guanyuan was a 1:55.89 for sixth overall.
Ryosuke Irie of Japan touched eighth with a time of 1:56.36.
1. Ryan Murphy – USA – 1:53.62
WOMEN’S 200m BACKSTROKE SEMIFINALS
Start List: click here
Top Seed: 2:06.09 – Katinka Hosszu – Hungary
World Record: 2:04.06 (2012) – Missy Franklin -USA
JR World Record: 2:07.43 – Daria Ustinova – Russia
Olympic Record: 2:04.06 (2012) – Missy Franklin – USA
2012 Olympic Champion: 2:04.06 – Missy Franklin – USA
Katinka Hosszu of Hungary re-broke her Hungarian national record of 2:06.09 that she set this morning in the heats of the 200m backstroke with a 2:06.03 performance in her semifinal tonight.
Hosszu was electric, giving herself a gigantic lead ahead of the remainder of the field, establishing herself as the clear threat for gold going into tomorrow night’s final.
She’ll likely be challenged by Hilary Caldwell of Canada who won the first of the two semifinals in a time of 2:07.17. She’s been very consistant after a great swim this morning which also ranked her second behind Hosszu.
Maya DiRado of the United States was third overall, putting up a time of 2:07.53. That time was precisely one one-hundredth of a second faster than Liu Yaxin of China who rocked a 2:07.54 at the touch.
World junior record holder Daria Ustinova of Russia managed to squeeze into the final, tying for seventh with Eyglo Gustafsdottir as the two of them both managed to make the final.
Defending Olympic champion and world record holder Missy Franklin of the United States finished seventh in the second semifinal and did not advance to the next round.
1. Katinka Hosszu – Hungary – 2:06.03
MEN’S 200m IM FINAL
Start List: click here
Top Seed: 1:55.78 – Michael Phelps – USA
World Record: 1:54.00 (2011) – Ryan Lochte – USA
Olympic Record: 1:54.23 (2008) – Michael Phelps – USA
2012 Olympic Champion: 1:54.27 – Michael Phelps – USA
In the last historic showdown between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte of the United States, the winningest Olympian of all time came up with yet another win as Lochte faded on the final 50 to finish off the podium.
Thiago Pereira of Brazil turned first at the 50-meter mark followed closely by both Phelps and Lochte. Heading into the halfway point Lochte edged the two leaders out heading into the wall, turning first after the backstroke as the three leaders all turned onto the front.
With a huge move on the breaststroke Phelps took the lead. Pereira passed Lochte as they turned for home in that order.
Coming off the final wall Phelps only extended his lead, surging in front of some of his biggest rivals from his career in order to establish a body-length lead.
At the wall it was all Phelps as he stretched in to win his 22nd Olympic gold medal and 26th Olympic medal. The win made Phelps the first swimmer to ever win four consecutive golds in the same event at the Olympic Games. Phelps time of 1:54.66 was just 0.66 seconds off Lochte’s world record.
Both Lochte and Pereira faded on the last 50 as Kosuke Hagino of Japan and Wang Shun of China both edged out in front of the two veterans. Hagino claimed silver in 1:56.61 as Shun took the bronze in 1:57.05.
Lochte ended up fifth in 1:57.47, falling just about half a second back of a podium finish. Pereira faded even harder, finishing seventh in 1:58.02.
1.Michael Phelps – USA – 1:54.66
WOMEN’S 100m FREESTYLE FINAL
Start List: click here
Top Seed: 52.71 – Cate Campbell – Australia
World Record: 52.06 (2016) – Cate Campbell – Australia
JR World Record: 52.72 – Penny Oleksiak – Canada
Olympic Record: 52.71 (2016) – Cate Campbell – Australia
2012 Olympic Champion: 53.00 – Ranomi Kromowidjojo – Netherlands
In one of the most unexpected results of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games both Simone Manuel of the United States and Penny Oleksiak of Canada both touched the wall in a dead heat for gold.
Cate Campbell of Australia was out fast, turning under world record pace at the 50-meter mark as the entire field turned for home tightly bunched behind her. Oleksiak turned seventh at the 50, well behind but began to charge out in front with Manuel of the United States.
Also with the front pack was Sarah Sjostrom of the Sweden. With 25-meters to go Oleksiak and Manuel began to move forward as Manuel was clearly in the lead. With a huge last 15-meters, Oleksiak began to surge forward, touching the wall simultaneously with Manuel in 52.70.
Oleksiak and Manuel both broke the Olympic record, and Oleksiak broke her own world junior record and Canadian record. Oleksiak’s gold also makes her the first Canadian swimmer to ever win four medals at one Olympic Games.
Sjostrom finished third in 52.99. Campbell faded to sixth in 53.24.
1. Simone Manuel – USA – 52.70
1. Penny Oleksiak – Canada – 52.70
MEN’S 100m BUTTERFLY SEMIFINALS
Start List: click here
Top Seed: 51.41 – Joseph Schooling – Singapore
World Record: 49.82 (2009) – Michael Phelps – USA
JR World Record: 51.33 – Li Zhuhao – China
Olympic Record: 50.58 (2008) – Michael Phelps – USA
2012 Olympic Champion: 51.21 – Michael Phelps – USA
Tomorrow’s 100m butterfly final is going to be another grudge match involving Michael Phelps where he’ll be fighting for his final individual Olympic gold of his career.
Qualifying first was Joseph Schooling of Singapore well ahead of everyone else in 50.83. That time broke the Singaporean national record. Schooling was the only swimmer this evening under 51-seconds.
Chad le Clos of South Africa qualified second overall in 51.43 followed by Li Zhuhao of China and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary. Both le Clos and Cseh earned individual hardware in this event at last year’s world championships.
Phelps qualified fifth in 51.58 ahead of fellow American Tom Shields in 51.61.
1. Joseph Schooling – Singapore – 50.83
Last night was one of the if not the most exciting night so far. GOAT was GOAT. Simone and Penny! Two for two for Ryan Murphy. Combine that with what happened in gymnastics and it was almost too much for me.
I’m only commenting so we can break the record for most comments on a Swimswam post.
Can you imagine if Katie had swam in the 100 meter with her time from the 400 meter relay team, she could have had a chance of winning in 100meter freestyle. She would cover almost all of the freestyle events except 50 meter.
I wonder how many downvotes for this I will get but does anyone have the suspicion that Phelps could be doping? He reminds me of Lance Armstrong back in the day (I.E. doing things that seem out of this world then repeating them, and faking the look of being tired along with trying to fake cry on the medal stands) Something just doesn’t add up in my eyes. I might just be a cynic nowadays but still.
Yeah, I’ll downvote that. I don’t want to be cynical
Phelps is one of the most tested Olympians, especially since Beijing. He’s under such scrutiny for his achievements that I feel if he were a doper it would have come out already in this day and age. Doping allegations surrounded Armstrong almost from his first Tour win; that’s why he eventually got caught. You haven’t seen the same type of consistent questioning around Phelps. Someone in the swimming community wout him. Also, Phelps has been so good from an early age, that like Ledecky I just feel they’re those rare special althletes who have the talent, will, and discipline combo.
I’d love to know how other countries besides the USA trained and preped for Rio. Some countries seem to be firing on all cylinders (USA, Canada, GB), others have some swimmers on fire and some not hitting their stried (Hungary, Japan), and some some are really missing their goals (Aussies). Everyone had their qualification meets at different times, I wonder if it’s atmosphere or training style or something else.
For the Brits they had their training camp in Brazil instead of travelling to America like alot of other countries to have their holding camps no messing about i guess just straight into competition mode
Who will the Aussies use for their medley relay?
That entire section on the women’s 100m freestyle is riddled with mistakes. Oleksiak has won four medals at this Olympics but only one of them was gold. And last time I checked, Sarah Sjostrom swam for Sweeden not the United States.
Kevin Durant was in the stands the other night. Maybe after a brief conversation with him, Sarah Sjostrom opted to switch teams to the USA?
Still in absolute shock i cant believe someone who has as much experience as Cate could buckle under the pressure when she leading at the 50m i thought wow this going to be so easy for her and then with 25 to go she just frozen and collapsed.
Both sisters jacked up and ill not have the excuse of the missing their taper they went 52.15 and 51.97 in the 4×100 , i have no idea what has happened to the Australians by Day 6 the Americans have more golds(11) then the Aussies have medals (8).
C1 and C2 will be fine. I can’t think of a better time to have a sibling that also swims. They will comfort each other and come back even stronger.