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)
Jeanette Ottesen has been Denmark‘s sprint freestyle and butterfly leader of late, but it was Pernille Blume who showed up big this morning in the women’s 50 free prelims.
Blume, a sprinter herself, was the surprise leader after the 50 free prelims with a shiny new personal best and Danish record of 24.23. That’s seventeen hundredths faster than Ottesen’s 24.40 Danish record.
Blume topped a stacked field, featuring the Campbell sisters Bronte and Cate of Australia, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, Dutch sprint queen Ranomi Kromowidjojo, GBR’s Fran Halsall, the American pair, and many more. 24.23 is a quick time for prelims, and considering that it’ll take a 23-high or 24-low to win the race in the final, Blume could certainly contend for a podium spot.
After last night’s wild 100 free final, where Canadian 16-year-old Penny Oleksiak and Simone Manuel of the United States upset the Campbell sisters as well as Sjostrom for the gold, the 50 free is looking even harder to predict than usual.
Blume isn’t the only Danish woman to set a sprint record these Games– Ottesen, whose record Blume just broke, was 53.35 in the 100 free semifinals to break the 100 free national record two nights ago.
The 22-year-old Blume will take lane 4 in semifinal 2 of the 50 free tonight.