2024 Paris, Euro Recap: European Men Have Won Every Individual Event Through Three Days

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
  • Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024
• La Défense Arena — Paris, France
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Swimming Schedule
• SwimSwam Preview Index
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• How To Watch
• Live Results
• European Recap, Day 1: Lukas Märtens Doesn’t “Give A Shit” About 400 Free WR As He Wins Gold
• European Recap, Day 2: Leon Marchand Answers The Hype With An Olympic Record

Through three days of competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Europeans have won every individual men’s event on offer. Lukas Märtens kicked things off with the 400 freestyle win on night one and the Europeans have just kept rolling every day since, winning the five individual men’s events that have been contested in Paris.

Men’s Individual Event Winners Thru Day 3

• Men’s 400 freestyle: Lukas Märtens, Germany — 3:41.78
• Men’s 400 IM: Leon Marchand, France — 4:02.95 (Olympic record)
• Men’s 100 breaststroke: Nicolo Martinenghi, Italy — 59.03
• Men’s 200 freestyle: David Popovici, Romania — 1:44.72
• Men’s 100 backstroke: Thomas Ceccon, Italy — 52.00

The only men’s event not won by a European is the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay, which the United States dominated for gold. The men can keep their streak alive tomorrow in the 800 freestyle. There, Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen, the reigning world champion, looks to win his first Olympic medal. Wiffen is the fastest qualifier through the heats (7:41.53) and will face tough competition from Bobby Finke as well as four other Europeans (Gregorio Paltrinieri, Sven Schwarz, Luca de Tullio, and David Aubry). There’s also the men’s 4×200 freestyle relay, where the Brits are the favorites.

Making Olympic History

Romania

David Popovici got the European Olympic history ball rolling in the first men’s final of the night. The 19-year-old lived up to all the hype that’s followed him for the last three years and became an Olympic champion in the men’s 200 freestyle relay. His win marks the first time that a Romanian man has won gold in the pool at the Olympic Games. He’s the first Romanian to earn a medal of any color since 2004 when Camelia Potec won gold in the women’s 200 freestyle and Razvan Florea grabbed bronze in the men’s 200 backstroke.

David Popovici (photo: Jack Spitser)

The third-fastest performer in the history of this event, Popovici did not lead until the end of the race. He was second at the final turn, .37 seconds behind 400 free champion Lukas Märtens. Popovici used his long arms to his advantage at the finish, getting the better of Matt Richards, Luke Hobson, and Duncan Scott as all four charged over a chaotic final 50 meters. All four logged a 26.7 on the final lap, with Popovici’s field-best 26.74 making the difference for him as he out-touched Richards by .02 seconds.

It’s a huge return to form on the international stage for the Romanian. He’s been faster in this event this season, but as this Olympics is currently proving, it’s not about the time but the race. At the 2023 World Championships, Popovici led through the entire race but faded to 4th and didn’t make the podium following his 2022 win. Today, he showed that was just a blip as he went head-to-head with the other best closers in the world and came out on top.

It’s beautiful, it’s a dream come true,” he said after the race. “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s so simple, yet so beautiful.”

Italy

Thomas Ceccon (photo: Jack Spitser)

“This is proof that sometimes you can lose, but you can learn from that,” Thomas Ceccon said after making his first individual Olympic medal gold with a win in the men’s 100 backstroke. Ceccon is referring to the 2023 World Championships, where he didn’t defend his gold from the 2022 Worlds (when he set the current world record) and took silver behind Ryan Murphy after being “a bit slow and [making] a few mistakes, even during warmups.”

But as Ceccon also said, he didn’t make those same mistakes this time. As a result, he earned Italy’s first medal in the men’s 100 backstroke. He rocketed to a 52.00 for the win ahead of Xu Jiayu and Murphy, which is the third-fastest swim of his career.

It’s Ceccon’s fourth Olympic medal as he’s earned one silver and two bronzes swimming on the Italian relays. His win gives a huge boost to the Italian men’s medley relay for the end of the meet. Now, the first half of their relay are the newly minted Olympic champions since Nicolo Martinenghi won gold in the 100 breaststroke yesterday. Ceccon and Martinenghi also won their respective 100s of stroke at the 2022 World Championships, where they closed out the meet by defeating the U.S. in the medley relay.

Ireland

Mona McSharry (photo: Jack Spitser)

Mona McSharry became Ireland’s first Olympic medalist since 1996 by taking bronze in the women’s 100 breaststroke. McSharry was the second-fastest qualifier for the final after breaking her Irish record of 1:05.51 during the semifinals. She just missed that mark in the final, turning in a 1:05.59 to win her first Olympic medal.

“Those moments when I thought I was done really put into perspective what I really do this for,” McSharry said after her race. “This is a huge bonus but there are so many other things that come as a part of this, like training and watching my friends compete, and being able to see myself progress and get better. And then you have a bonus like this when you get to stand up on the podium and watch your flag being raised at the Olympic Games.”

The 23-year-old has become a consistent presence in the senior international women’s 100 breaststroke field. She made the Olympic final in Tokyo and has finished 5th at the past two World Championships. She trains at the University of Tennessee and won bronze in the 100 breaststroke at the 2021 SCM World Championships. While she’s made plenty of senior international finals before, this is her first senior international long-course medal.

Day 2 Quick Hits

• Matt Richards earned his first individual Olympic medal, taking silver in the men’s 200 freestyle. Richards broke out at the 2023 World Championships, winning the 200 freestyle title in his first individual Worlds final. And now, he’s followed up with Olympic silver. Richards was in podium position throughout the race; he turned third at the 150-meter mark but put in a 26.75 close to take silver in 1:44.74, .02 seconds behind Popovici. The Brits had yet another close miss at these Games as Duncan Scott finished 4th in the 200 free, finishing .08 seconds behind Hobson in 1:44.87. Freya Colbert was also 4th in the women’s 400 IM after being passed by Emma Weyant in the final 100m. Colbert touched in 4:35.67.
• Both French women made their way into the women’s 100 backstroke final. Beryl Gastaldello and Emma Terebo qualified for the final in 7th and 8th, meaning the French crowd will be very loud during the first two walkouts in tomorrow night’s final. Gastaldello swam 59.29, and Terebo clocked 59.50 to secure lane 8.
• After not automatically qualifying for the British team, Angharad Evans was a discretionary pick for these Games by the British coaches. Today, she finished 6th in 1:05.85. Evans, 21, was third at the turn (30.61) and split 35.24 on the back half, finishing .57 seconds behind  Tatjana Schoenmaker, the gold medalist.

Day 2 Continental and National Records

• Lucas Henveaux continues to rewrite the Belgian record board. After resetting his 200 freestyle national record yesterday, Henveaux lowered his 800 free record during the heats today. He swam 7:51.51 for 19th place, lowering his mark from 7:52.10 which he swam earlier this year at the 2024 World Championships.
• In prelims of the women’s 100 backstroke, Carmen Weiler Sastre swam a Spanish record of 59.57. She got under the old record by .19 seconds and qualified for the semifinals, where she finished 9th and just missed qualifying for the final.

European Medal Table Thru Day 3