2016 Rio Olympic Games: Day Four Prelims Live Recap

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)

After three nights of swimming here in Rio the Americans took charge, but this morning their Australian rivals have the upper hand in two of the individual events while the Yanks have the top-gun in one.

The first event is the 100m freestyle, one where Australian dominance is fierce right now. Cameron McEvoy of Australia looks to be the man to beat after dropping a 47.04 in the 100m freestyle at the Australian Olympic trials. There seems to be a trend of Aussies swimming fast at trials and not repeating at these games so far, but if that’s not the case the event should be his. Reigning Olympic champion Nathan Adrian might disagree.

Madeline Groves is the next Aussie to claim the top spot in an event. Her 2:05.41 seed in the 200m butterfly puts somewhat of a target on her back. She’s going to have to contend with Miriea Belmonte Garcia of Spain in the lane next to her this morning and Natsumi Hoshi of Japan in the heat before her.

Josh Prenot is the sole American to own the fastest seed in an individual event this morning. He was electric at trials with a 2:07-low performance that established him as a medal threat at his first Olympic Games. There are several major players this race and although Prenot has the fastest time, he’s still somewhat of an underdog. If he can repeat his performances however, he’s in striking distance of an Olympic medal.

The 4x200m freestyle relay heats will take place following the individual events. The Americans are the ones to beat in this event come finals. Right now, many countries will feature prelim-only swimmers just to get a lane in finals before the real racing begins tonight.

MEN’S 100m FREESTYLE

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 47.04 – Cameron McEvoy – Australia
World Record: 46.91 (2009) – Cesar Cielo – Brazil
JR World Record: 48.03 – Kyle Chalmers – Australia
Olympic Record: 47.05 (2008) – Eamon Sullivan – Australia
2012 Olympic Champion: 47.52 – Nathan Adrian – USA

Kyle Chalmers of Australia and Caeleb Dressel of the United States proved that the future of sprint freestyle is in their hands with stunning performances of 47.90 and 47.91 to lead the heats.

The two first time Olympians were the only swimmers under 48-seconds this morning, racing side-by-side with Chalmers getting the eventual touch.

Duncan Scott of Great Britain had a fantastic race, claiming his heat win with a 48.01 which breaks the previous British record in the event. Scott goes into tonight’s semifinals as the third seed.

Another Australian qualified for the finals as Cameron McEvoy, who’s 47.04 season best makes him the favorite to win the gold here in Rio, swam a time of 48.12 to easily qualify in fourth overall.

Fourth place finisher in this event at last year’s world championships, Santo Condorelli of Canada, was fifth overall. Condorelli won his heat, beating both Joseph Schooling of Singapore and Vlad Morozov of Russia with a time of 48.22. Schooling qualified sixth behind him with his 48.27. Morozov qualified in eighth.

Defending Olympic champion Nathan Adrian almost missed the semifinals, finishing 16th overall in 48.58. He made the final by just three one-hundredths of a second.

Last summer’s world championship bronze medallist Frederico Grabich of Argentina wasn’t so lucky, missing the final clocking in at 48.78.

TOP 16

1. Kyle Chalmers – Australia – 47.90
2. Caeleb Dressel – USA – 47.91
3. Duncan Scott – Britain – 48.01
4. Cameron McEvoy – Australia – 48.12
5. Santo Condorelli – Canada – 48.22
6. Joseph Schooling – Singapore – 48.27
7. Damian Vierling – Germany – 48.35
8. Vlad Morozov – Russia – 48.39
9. Pieter Timmers – Belgium – 48.46
10. Luca Dotto – Italy – 48.47
11. Yuri Kisil – Canada – 48.49
12. Sebastiaan Verschuren – Netherlands – 48.51
13. Marcelo Chierighini – Brazil – 48.53
14. Ning Zetao – China – 48.57
15. Clement Mignon – France – 48.57
16. Nathan Adrian – USA – 48.58

WOMEN’S 200m BUTTERFLY

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 2:05.41 – Madeline Groves – Australia
World Record: 2:01.81 (2009) – Liu Zige – China
JR World Record: 2:06.51 – Zhang Yufei – China
Olympic Record: 2:04.06 (2012) – Jiao Liuyang  – Chinga
2012 Olympic Champion: 2:04.06 – Jiao Liuyang  – Chinga

Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain made her mark on the 200m butterfly prelims, recording the fastest time with a 2:06.64. Right with her in her heat was American Hali Flickinger.

Flickinger dropped a 2:06.67 for second overall. Her time tied her with Cammile Adams. Adams won her own heat taking out last summer’s world champion Natsumi Hoshi. Hoshi finished way back in 2:07.37, she will also advance to the final.

Hoshi’s performance gave her the seventh overall head heading into tonight’s semifinals.

Madeline Groves of Australia had the top seed heading into the Games, however only managed to finish fifth overall this morning. She took her swim out hard, fading towards the end in order to put up a 2:07.02.

1. Mireia Belmonte Garcia – Spain – 2:06.64
2. Cammile Adams – USA – 2:06.67
3. Hali Flickinger – USA – 2:06.67
4. Liliana Szilagy – Hungary – 2:06.99
5. Madeline Groves – Australia – 2:07.02
6. Hasegawa Suzuka – Japan – 2:07.35
7. Hoshi Natsumi – Japan – 2:07.37
8. Zhang Yufei – China – 2:07.55
9. Fransiska Hentke – Germany – 2:07.59
10. Brianna Throssell – Australia  2:07.76
11. Martina Van Berkel – Switzerland – 2:08.00
12. Zhou Yilin – China – 2:08.21
13. An Sehyeon – South Korea – 2:08.42
14. Anja Klinar – Slovenia – 2:08.43
15. Alessia Polierii – Italy – 2:08.95
16. Audrey Lacroix – Canada  – 2:09.21

MEN’S 200m BREASTSTROKE

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 2:07.17 – Josh Prenot – USA
World Record: 2:07.01 (2012) – Yamaguchi Akihiro – Japan
JR World Record: 2:09.64 – Anton Chupkov – Russia
Olympic Record: 2:07.28 (2012) – Daniel Gyurta – Hungary
2012 Olympic Champion: 2:07.28 – Daniel Gyurta – Hungary

Russia’s Anton Chupkov blew by both Kevin Cordes and Josh Prenot of the United States this morning in order to win the final heat of the men’s 200m breaststroke and break the Russian national record with a 2:07.93.

Chupkov was the only swimmer under 2:08 this morning, separating himself greatly from the remainder of the field. The second fastest qualifier was Yasuhiro Koseki of Japan. Koseki touched in at 2:08.61 in his heat this morning.

Great Britain’s Andrew Willis showed speed, qualifying third in 2:08.92. Marco Koch of Germany who has previously showed dominance in the breaststroke events was fifth overall in 2:08.98.

Both Americans managed to advance after losing to Chupkov. Cordes, who took things out fast, finished seventh in 2:09.30. Prenot qualified 10th in 2:09.91.

1. Anton Chupkov – Russia – 2:07.93
2. Yasuhiro Koseki – Japan -2:08.61
3. Andrew Willis – Great Britain – 2:08.92
4. Ilya Khomenko – Russia – 2:08.94
5. Marco Koch – Germany – 2:08.98
6. Dmitriy Balandin – Kazakhstan – 2:09.00
7. Kevin Cordes – USA – 2:09.30
8. Ippei Watanabe – Japan – 2:09.63
9. Mao Feiian – China – 2:09.80
10. Josh Prenot – USA – 2:09.91
11. Matti Mattson – Finland – 2:10.09
12. Erik Persson – Sweden – 2:10.15
13. Li Xiang – China – 2:10.17
14. Carlos Claverie – Venezuela – 2:10.35
15. Craig Benson – Great Britain – 2:11.19
16. Luca Pizzini – Italy – 2:11.26

MEN’S 4x200m FREESTYLE RELAY

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 7:04.33 – Great Britain
World Record: 6:58.56 (2008) – USA
JR World Record: 7:13.76 – USA
Olympic Record: 6:58.56 (2008) – USA
2012 Olympic Champion: 6:59.70 – USA

The British were the fastest team this morning in the heats of the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay, setting up a battle tonight against the Americans.

The USA qualified second in 7:06.74 to Britain’s 7:06.31.

Tonight most teams will substitute plenty of their relay swimmers for fresh swimmers making the final significantly faster and more competitive.

The Americans are the heavy favorites heading into the final.

1. Great Britain – 7:06.31
2. USA – 7:06.74
3. Russia – 7:06.81
4. Germany – 7:07.66
5. Japan – 7:07.68
6. Australia – 7:07.98
7. Belgium – 7:08.72
8. Netherlands – 7:09.16