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2020 TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
- When: Pool swimming: Saturday, July 24 – Sunday, August 1, 2021
- Open Water swimming: Wednesday, August 4 – Thursday, August 5, 2021
- Where: Olympic Aquatics Centre / Tokyo, Japan
- Heats: 7 PM / Semifinals & Finals: 10:30 AM (Local time)
- Full aquatics schedule
- SwimSwam Event Previews
- Start Lists & Results
Men’s 100 freestyle
- World Record: Cesar Cielo (BRA) – 46.91 (2009)
- Olympic Record: Eamon Sullivan (AUS) – 47.05 (2008)
- World Junior Record: Andrei Minakov (RUS) – 47.57 (2020)
- 2016 Olympic Champion: Kyle Chalmers (AUS) – 47.58
The men’s 100 freestyle is amongst the most highly anticipated races of the entire Olympic Games, featuring a clash between the reigning World Champion and the reigning Olympic Champion, who also happen to be two of the fastest men to ever swim in a textile suit.
The Champions
Caeleb Dressel (photo: Jack Spitser)
Caeleb Dressel: In 2016, Dressel qualified for his first US Olympic team coming off of a breakout NCAA campaign. Dressel only qualified to swim the 100 freestyle individually, placing sixth in the final with a time of 48.02. However, in 2017, Dressel exploded to win the World Championship title in the event, swimming a final time of 47.17, shattering the American Record in the process. Although he faced an off year in 2018 after a motorcycle accident, Dressel came back at the 2019 World Championships by holding off Olympic Champion Kyle Chalmers to defend his title in a time of 46.96. With his time at those Championships, Dressel became the fastest performer to ever swim the race in a textile suit, coming within .05 of the world record. This season, Dressel has already posted a time of 47.39 at the US Olympic Trials, putting him in a prime position to claim his first individual Olympic title.
Kyle Chalmers (photo: Mike Lewis)
Kyle Chalmers: As previously mentioned, Chalmers is the defending Olympic Champion in the 100 freestyle, after winning the Olympic title in 2016. In Rio, Chalmers, who was just 18-years-old at the time, surprised the field by posting a time of 47.58 en route to his gold medal performance. After a great performance in Rio, Chalmers looked to be the favorite for gold at the 2017 World Championships. However, he withdrew from the competition due to heart surgery to treat a condition known as Supraventricular Tachycardia, which he was diagnosed with as a child, leaving Dressel to claim the title. At the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships, Chalmers beat Dressel head-to-head for the first time since Rio, winning gold in a time of 48.00. Then, at the 2019 World Championships, Chalmers narrowly missed the gold medal, coming in with a time of 47.08. Chalmers’ time from those championships ranks him as the 3rd fastest textile performer in history, only behind Dressel and teammate Cameron McEvoy. At the Australian Olympic Trials, Chalmers won the event in a time of 47.59, setting himself up for a great battle with Dressel once again.
Other Contenders:
Behind Dressel and Chalmers, the field looks relatively open. However, there are several big names who will push the pair in an effort to win a medal.
KOLESNIKOV Kliment RUS
50m Backstroke Men Semi-Final
Swimming
Budapest – Hungary 17/5/2021
Duna Arena
XXXV LEN European Aquatic Championships
Photo Giorgio Perottino / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Russian Kliment Kolesnikov went on a tear during the recent European Championships, setting a new championship record in the event with his time of 47.37. Kolesnikov has been as fast as 47.31 in the event, a time he posted at the 2021 Russian Championships, which booked him his ticket to Rio and currently stands as the fastest time in the world this season. However, at the European Championships, Kolesnikov failed to final in the 100m backstroke following his 100 freestyle performance. Seeing as he holds the world record in the 50m backstroke, Kolesnikov may place more of his focus upon the backstroke events in Tokyo, where he is a clear medal threat. He’s not swimming for Russia in the 200 backstroke (Evgeny Rylov and Grigory Tarasevich are their two representatives in that event), which eliminates a big potential scheduling conflict for him.
Behind Kolesnikov, Russia has a strong-hold over the 100 freestyle, holding 4 of the top 10 times in the world for 2021. Andrei Minakov currently sits at #6 in the world with his time of 47.74 from the 2021 European Championships. Minakov, like many others, deferred his enrollment at Stanford University to train for the Olympic Games, spending the last year training full-time. At such a young age, Minakov still holds a lot of potential for big time drops, especially considering his training circumstances.
At the European Championships, Italian Alessandro Miressi placed second to Kolesnikov, swimming an Italian record of 47.45. Miressi, who is 22-years-old, is at the age that most consider to be “prime time” for swimmers. With this, it is likely that he could chop more time off of his personal best and move up to challenge for a medal.
Zach Apple (photo: Jack Spitser)
Zach Apple will be the other US representative in the event following his runner-up performance at the 2021 US Olympic Trials. At the trials, Apple posted a time of 47.72, finishing second to Dressel. Apple has been as fast as 46.86 off of a relay start, and should be in the mix in Tokyo.
Like Apple, Duncan Scott is another name who has posted some blazing relay splits in the 100 freestyle. At the 2019 World Championships, Scott ran down American Nathan Adrian on the anchor leg of the 400 medley relay, splitting 46.14. Scott’s split currently stands as the second fastest 100 freestyle split in history, only behind Jason Lezak’s 46.06 from the 2008 Olympics. Although Scott would definitely be a medal threat here, he will not be entering the race in Tokyo. Instead, Scott will focus on the 200 IM and 4×200 freestyle relay, which both conflict with the 100 freestyle.
Duncan Scott: Courtesy of Mine Kasapoglu for ISL With permission
The other British representative in Tokyo is 18-year-old Matthew Richards. Richards has been a fast-rising star in his country, having a breakout meet at the 2020 European Championships where he won a gold medal and two silvers as a relay swimmer. At the British Swimming Selection Trials, Richards surprised the field by placing second in a time of 48.23, a rise similar to that of the aforementioned Chalmers. Given his trajectory, Richards certainly may be a threat for the final in Tokyo.
Other contenders in the event include Brazilians Gabriel Santos and Pedro Spajari, Canadian Joshua Liendo, France’s Maxime Grousset, and Australian Matthew Temple.
SwimSwam’s Picks:
| Place | Swimmer | Country |
Best Time Since 2016 Olympics
|
| 1 | Caeleb Dressel | United States | 46.96 |
| 2 | Kyle Chalmers | Australia | 47.08 |
| 3 | Andrei Minakov | Russia | 47.74 |
| 4 | Zach Apple | United States | 47.69 |
| 5 | Alessandro Miressi | Italy | 47.45 |
| 6 | Kliment Kolesnikov | Russia | 47.31 |
| 7 | Maxime Grousset | France | 47.89 |
| 8 | Matthew Temple | Australia | 48.23 |
Dark Horse: David Popovici (ROM) – Romania’s Popovici has become a rising force in the sprint freestyle events, placing 6th at the 2021 European Championships in the 100 freestyle. At only 16-years-old, Popovici has already been as fast at 48.08 in the event, which is the fastest time ever posted by someone his age worldwide. With his trajectory, Popovici could challenge for a spot in the final in Tokyo.
My mind says :
The likes of Andrei Minakov, Maxime Grousset fail to reach the final, upset by the South Korean teenager.
My prediction :
Dressel, Kolesnikov and David Popovici will be leading in the 1st 50m. Then, as usual, Chalmers will start to accelerate in the last 50m. Seeing that Popovici is also good in 200m free, I think he is the one who will hold off Chalmers.
I am a fan of long, low stroke rate; so I will be glad seeing Popovici win the gold with his long, low stroke rate, like Alexander The Great Popov.
Remove Mathew Temple, replace with Nandor Nemeth (47.84) and Hwang Sunwoo (48.04) to the list.
These time’s allow using the butter fly kick which should not be allowed
Really, we still don’t know how Dressel will cope with the pressure.
He is the deserved favourite but time and time again we see the favourite take it out hard in the 100 freestyle and get mowed down by a competitor
Schoeman in Athens
Sullivan in Beijing
Maggie in the last 15m of London
Then Adrian in Rio
The first 50 of an Olympic final is always so so fast. Which helps the athletes with a strong 2nd 50 as they get to rest on the drag of the competitors
Dressel has the class and ability to win no doubt. Chalmers is already an Olympic champion, he is the only one currently in the race… Read more »
Going into the 2008 Olympic, Eamon Sullivan was not the single favorite, esp in 100m free. He was the WR holder for 50m free, while 100m WR belonged to Alain Bernard who did it twice in Euro 2008.
But then at the Olympic, we saw Sullivan broke the 100m WR in relay with 47.24. A few days later, Alain Bernard responded with 47.20 in semifinal 1, before Sullivan retaking his WR in semifinal 2 with 47.05.
In the final, I was not certain who would win : Sullivan or Bernard, esp after seeing how Lezak did his thing in relay before. I wanted Sullivan to win with another WR, but Bernard seemed to get motivated to redeem his… Read more »
Most of the predictions are backward looking rather than forward looking. They are assuming that the “old guys” , Chalmers and Dressel will continue to improve the same speed while the youngsters (Kolesnikov, Minakov, Miressi) won’t be able to do the same “jump” as the olders did in their time. Hence my prediction:
1. Kolesnikov
2. Minakov
The third will be a battle between Dressel, Chalmers and Miressi…
This might be one of the worst takes we see in the comments this Olympic season. It’s certainly an early strong contender.
Have you seen teamdressel’s predictions for Ledecky’s times in the article about her? He thinks she’ll take seconds off the WR in all four events. It’s probably the most ridiculous prediction I’ve seen
She can easily do that if she is on her game. Ledecky wants redemption from 2019 worlds and she will do everything in her power to prove that she’s the best mid distance and distance swimmer ever.
I’m not going to say it’s impossible, because anything is possible when it comes to Olympic swimming, but there’s absolutely no evidence to support any of your predictions. Your only points are “she wasn’t tapered at trials” and “she really wants it”, which probably applies to huge number of swimmers.
She hasn’t swum anywhere near her best times since Rio, so it would be very surprising to see her break any of her records really. It might happen, but your predictions are just not supported by the current evidence at all.
If I were to guess, Dressel has spent a lot of time lengthening his 100m free stroke (this is something a swimswam analysis back in 2019 showed comparing his 2017-2019 swims). This would both help his over-the-water speed, especially towards the end of his races, and translate well into the 200free. If he had felt comfortable throwing his name in for the 4×2 relay in 2019, he probably would have. The fact that he’s talking about it now probably means that he has made significant progress.
I would read his willingness to talk about the 200free as a sign of confidence in the progress in his 100free. Given the way he swims his races, he will probably aim to go… Read more »
Kyle will win by about a foot!
Only foot Chalmers is going to win is a fruit by the foot. Only cowards go out in 23+ in an Olympic final