Manuel, Oleksiak Tie for Olympic Record Victory in 100 Free

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)
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• Schedule & Results

In one of the most shocking outcomes in Olympic swimming history, 20 year-old American Simone Manuel and 16 year-old Canadian Penny Oleksiak tied to win the women’s 100 freestyle in an Olympic Record time of 52.70 Thursday night in Rio.

Australian Cate Campbell had previously set the Olympic Record in both prelims and semifinals Wednesday, with times of 52.78 and 52.71, respectively.

Comparative OR splits:
Campbell semis: 25.33/27.38
Manuel finals: 25.24/27.46
Oleksiak finals: 25.70/27.00

Tonight, Campbell stormed out in 24.77, but paid the price, splitting the back half in 28.47, a second slower than Manuel and almost 1.5 seconds slower than Oleksiak, and fading to 6th.  Meanwhile, Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden, who won gold in the 100 fly earlier this week, took the bronze in 52.99.

Cate Campbell had come into this week as the heavy favorite, based in part on her world record swim just a month ago.  Her sister, Bronte, is also a sprint star, and the two sisters give Australia a 1-2 punch that earned them the gold medal in the 4×100 free relay Saturday, and that many prognosticators and commenters expected to vie for two of the three podium spots in the individual 100 free.  But the Australian women in general have been having largely lackluster performances since Saturday’s victory, and tonight was no exception.

Instead, Manuel and Oleksiak found themselves forever linked in swimming lore with their respective swims tonight.  While they weren’t considered heavy favorites for podium spots, much less gold, neither swimmer came totally out of nowhere.  Many swim fans have long considered Manuel as part of the future of women’s sprinting for the USA, as she earned multiple national age group records as a teenager.  Oleksiak came into Rio as the official World Junior Record holder in the 100 free, broke that record again in her first Olympic swim, and has been pretty much lights-out for the Canadian team all week.

Their joint victory was the first tie in this event since 1984, when Americans Nancy Hogshead and Carrie Steinseifer both touched the wall in 55.92.  That was also the last time that an American woman took gold in the 100 free at an Olympic Games.

Tonight’s tie was also the first tie for a gold medal in any Olympic event since the year 2000, when American swimmers Anthony Ervin and Gary Hall Jr., tied in the 50 freestyle.  Sixteen years later, Ervin will go for his second gold medal in the finals of the 50 free tomorrow night.