2024 Paris Olympics DATA DIVE (Day 1 Prelims)

At long last, the Olympic games in Paris have finally begun. Starting off strong with some very exciting swims, upsets, and some new names topping the leaderboards, the event we’ve been waiting three years for is finally here. With the sport of swimming being so intrinsically data-driven, I decided to dive into the numbers, taking a peek at the prelims swims, national records, and fastest splits from the morning events. 

PRELIMS SWIMS

WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY

 Top 16:

1. Zhang Yufei, China (56.50)
2. Mizuki Hirai, Japan (56.71)
3. Torri Huske, United States (56.72)
4. Gretchen Walsh, United States (56.75)
5. Emma McKeon, Australia (56.79)
6. Angelina Köhler, Germany (56.90)
7. Maggie MacNeil, Canada (57.00)
8. Alexandria Perkins, Australia (57.46)
9. Barbora Seemanova, Czech Republic (57.50)
10. Marie Wattel, France/Roos Vanotterdijk, Belgium (57.54)
11. (tie for tenth)
12. Louise Hansson, Sweden (57.57)
13. Erin Gallagher, South Africa (57.80)
14. Rikako Ikee, Japan (57.82)
15. Tessa Giele, Netherlands (57.89)
16. Keanna Macinnes, Great Britain (57.90)

• Time to Qualify: 57.90
• Time to Qualify (Tokyo): 58.08
• Time to Qualify (Rio): 58.15

This group of 16 women started off the games strong, with six swimmers going under the 57 second mark including world record holder Gretchen Walsh. A solid mix of both veterans and newcomers, seven swimmers (in bold) made it to the semifinal round in previous games, either Tokyo or Rio. The time it took to advance (57.90) is the fastest time needed to qualify in Olympic history, with swimmers needing a sub-58 swim. Countries sending both of their swimmers to semis include the United States, Australia, and Japan. Five continents and 13 nations are represented.

WOMEN’S 400 FREESTYLE

Top 8:

1. Katie Ledecky, United States (4:02.19)
2. Ariarne Titmus, Australia (4:02.46)
3. Erika Fairweather, New Zealand (4:02.55)
4. Summer McIntosh, Canada (4:02.65)
5. Jamie Perkins, Australia (4:03.30)
6. Paige Madden, United States (4:03.34)
7. Maria Costa, Brazil (4:03.47)
8. Isabel Gose, Germany (4:03.83)

• Time to Qualify: 4:03.83
• Time to Qualify (Tokyo): 4:04.07
• Time to Qualify (Rio): 4:04.36

One of the most-anticipated races of the meet started off this morning with some excitement, seeing Erika Fairweather throw her hat in the ring with a heat two victory over Summer McIntosh. Fairweather, McIntosh, Katie Ledecky and world record holder Ariarne Titmus all are within half a second of each other, each swimming a healthy bit away from their personal bests, building up to an exciting final. Six swimmers (in bold) who competed in the Tokyo final will compete in this one. Like the 100 butterfly, this batch of swimmers also contributed to the fastest final qualification time in the event’s Olympic history, requiring swimmers to go under 4:04. Countries sending both of their swimmers to the final include the United States and Australia. Four continents and four nations are represented.

MEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE
Top 16: 

1. 1. Caspar Corbeau, Netherlands (59.04)
   2. Adam Peaty, Great Britain (59.18)
   3. Ilya Shymanovich, Neutral Athlete Team (59.25)
   4. Nicolo Martinenghi, Italy (59.72)
   5. Arno Kamminga, Netherlands (59.39)
   6. James Wilby, Great Britain (59.40)
   7. Melvin Imoudou, Germany (59.49)
   8. Lucas Matzerath, Germany (59.52)
   9. Qin Haiyang, China (59.58)
   10. Nic Fink, United States (59.66)
   11. Bernard Reitshammer, Austria (59.68)
   12. Joshua Yong, Australia (59.75)
   13. Evgenii Somov, Neutral Athlete Team (59.83)
   14. Charlie Swanson, United States (59.92)
   15. Ludovico Viberti, Italy (59.27)
   16. Ron Polonsky, Israel (1:00.00)

• Time to Qualify: 1:00.00
• Time to Qualify (Tokyo): 59.68
• Time to Qualify (Rio): 1:00.26

All 16 of the semifinalists in the men’s 100 breaststroke have prelim swims within a second of each other, each swimming their race in a minute or faster. Both athletes competing as neutrals, Ilya Shymanovich and Evgenii Somov, advanced to the next round, alongside the entire podium from both the Tokyo games (world record holder Adam Peaty, Arno Kamminga, Nicolo Martinenghi) and the Fukuoka World Championships (Qin Haiyang, Nic Fink/Peaty/Kamminga).  Countries sending both of their swimmers to the semifinal include the Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany, the United States, and Italy. Four continents and nine nations (Neutral athletes omitted) are represented. 

MEN’S 400 FREESTYLE

Top 8:

1. 1. Lukas Martens, Germany (3:44.13)
   2. Guilherme Costa, Brazil (3:44.23)
   3. Fei Liwei, China (3:44.60)
   4. Elijah Winnington, Australia (3:44.87)
   5. Sam Short, Australia (3:44.88)
   6. Aaron Shackell, United States (3:45.45)
   7. Woomin Kim, South Korea (3:45.52)
   8. Oliver Klemet, Germany (3:45.75)

• Time to Qualify: 3:45.75
• Time to Qualify (Tokyo): 3:45.68
• Time to Qualify (Rio): 3:45.43

The men’s individual event returns only one finalist from Tokyo, Elijah Winnington. Two other finalists, Austria’s Felix Aubock and 2020 bronze medalist Kieran Smith competed this year, but did not advance to the next round. With no members of the Tokyo podium returning to defend their medals and a tight fight to the top, it appears to be anyone’s race. The eighth place times from the past three games have all been within less than a third of a second from each other, which speaks to the consistency of this event. Countries sending both of their swimmers to the final include Australia and Germany. Five continents and six nations are represented. 

WOMEN’S 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY

Top 8:

1. Australia (3:31.57)
2. United States (3:33.39)
3. China (3:34.31)
4. Sweden (3:34.35)
5. France (3:35.25)
6. Canada (3:35.29)
7. Great Britain (3:36.13)
8. Italy (3:36.28)

• Time to Qualify: 3:36.28
• Time to Qualify (Tokyo): 3:35.93
• Time to Qualify (Rio): 3:36.85

The women’s first relay started off quickly this morning, with a whopping 26 women under the 54 second barrier. This eighth place marker was not quite where it was for the Tokyo games, but prelims swims can be somewhat unpredictable and not indicative of much, as some of the fastest 100 freestylers like Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Torri Huske, and Gretchen Walsh are all saving their talents for finals. Four continents are represented across the eight countries that qualified. 

MEN’s 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY

Top 8:

1. 1. China (3:11.62)
   2. Australia (3:12.25)
   3. Great Britain (3:12.49)
   4. United States (3:12.61)
   5. Canada (3:12.77)
   6. Italy (3:12.94)
   7. Hungary (3:12.96)
   8. Germany (3:13.15)

• Time to Qualify: 3:13.15
• Time to Qualify (Tokyo): 3:13.13
• Time to Qualify (Rio): 3:14.17

The final event of tonight’s session will be one of the most exciting of an already jam-packed program, with multiple countries in the running for a gold medal. The United States, without their top two in Jack Alexy and Chris Giuliano is seeded fourth, behind solid Australian and British teams. The current top-seeded Chinese team boasts current 100 freestyle world record holder Pan Zhanle (who looks on form to have a great meet, after splitting 46.98 in prelims). With the fun (and madness) of Olympic relays, this is surely one that you don’t want to miss. Four continents are represented across the eight countries that qualified. 

FASTEST SPLITS

WOMEN’s 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY

1. Emma McKeon, Australia: 51.94
2. Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden: 51.99
3. Meg Harris, Australia: 52.23
4. Marrit Steenbergen, Netherlands: 52.42
5. Yang Junxuan, China: 52.47
6. Kate Douglass, United States: 52.63

MEN’s 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY

1. Pan Zhanle, China: 46.98
2. Josh Liendo, Canada: 47.25
3. Kyle Chalmers, Australia: 47.44
4. Andrej Barna, Serbia: 47.48
5. Hunter Armstrong, United States: 47.50
6. Manuel Frigo, Italy: 47.80

NATIONAL RECORDS

Varsenik Manucharyan, Armenia, 100 butterfly: 1:01.24

• Armenia’s national record of 1:01.48, set in June at the European Championships, was broken in the first heat of the Paris Olympics, with Manucharyan breaking her own record in a time of 1:01.24.

Barbora Seemanova, Czech Republic, 100 butterfly: 57.50

• Seemanova lowered her own Czech national record of 57.75, set at the Rotterdam Qualification Meet last December, by a quarter of a second. Seemanova will have a chance to drop more time later today.

Ron Polonsky, Israel, 100 breaststroke: 1:00.00

• Polonsky set the Israeli national record at the 2024 European Championships with a time of 1:00.07. The Stanford swimmer knocked 0.07 off of his own record, lowering it to a minute exactly. Polonsky will swim in the semifinal round later today.

Raekwon Noel, Guyana, 400 freestyle: 4:02.29

• The 18-year-old Indiana commit from Guyana shaved over a second off of his previous national record of 4:03.57, which he set at the CARIFTA championships in 2023. 

Eduardo Cisternas, Chile, 400 freestyle: 3:51.29

• Cisternas set the Chilean record at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka with a time of 3:53.80, which he shattered this morning with a 3:51.29, taking over two and a half seconds off. 

Hungary, Women’s 4×100 freestyle relay: 3:37.33

• Petra Senanszky (54.91), Lilla Abraham (54.36), Panna Ugrai (54.25), and Nikolett Padar (53.81) contributed to a historic relay for their country, breaking the old Hungarian record of 3:37.64 set 15 years ago in 2009 at the World Championships in Rome (AKA supersuit worlds). 

Germany, Men’s 4×100 freestyle relay: 3:13.15

• Germany’s Joshua Salchow (48.56), Rafael Miroslaw (47.87), Luca Armbruster (48.29), and Peter Varjasi (48.43) all combined to take down the German national record of 3:13.51, set at the London 2012 games. The Germans will get the chance to better their record tonight, seeded eighth in the final.

Spain, Men’s 4×100 freestyle relay: 3:13.19

• The Spanish team of Sergio de Celis Montalban (48.84), Luis Dominguez (48.27), Cesar Castro Valle (47.91), and Mario Molla Yanes (48.17) broke the previous national record of 3:13.73 set at the European Championships in 2022. They were just short of making the final, missing by 0.04 seconds.