2024 Paris Olympics: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
  • Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024
• La Défense Arena — Paris, France
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• Prelims Live Recaps: Day 1
• Finals Live Recaps: Day 1

Day 2 Prelims Heat Sheet

We’ve made it to day 2 of swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Today marks the first appearance of France’s Léon Marchand, expected to become a breakout star of these home games. This morning, he’ll contest the prelims of the 400 IM where he is the world record holder. Last summer, Marchand took down Michael Phelps‘ legendary record under the tutelage of Bob Bowman, Phelps’ coach.

There are only two heats of the men’s 400 IM, and eight lanes in the final. Other major players include the U.S.’s Carson Foster, Japan’s Daiya Seto, and reigning Olympic champion Chase Kalisz also of the USA.

But first, Romania’s David Popovici will take to the water in the men’s 200 freestyle. He’s the third fastest performer in history, and the only athlete to dip into the 1:42s outside of the supersuit era. We’ll also see last night’s 400 free gold medalist Lukas Maertens hit the water, as well as Great Britain’s Duncan Scott and Matt Richards who swam the relay last night.

The women’s 100 breaststroke will feature world record holder Lilly King, but she isn’t the favorite in this race. Instead, that honor goes to China’s Tang Qianting, whose best time from this season is just a quarter of a second behind King’s 2017 record. Keep an eye out for Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania, who in recent years has staged a heroic comeback after breaking out with Olympic gold in this event at just 15-years-old in 2012. There’s also Olympic record holder Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker), who will look to improve on her Tokyo silver.

With Russian athletes out of the field, it seemed the road was wide open for American Ryan Murphy to reclaim the 100 back title. However, after dropping the second-fastest split on the 4×100 freestyle last night, teammate Hunter Armstrong will be one to watch out for. There’s also world record holder Thomas Ceccon to contend with; he had Italy’s second-fastest split on their bronze medal relay last night.

Finally, the session will conclude with the Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan show in the women’s 200 free. They are in a league of their own after dropping the fastest two times in history at Australian Trials. Both athletes have already earned gold so far at these Games; Titmus in the 400 free and O’Callaghan in the 4×100 free relay. The frontrunners for bronze are Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, the defending silver medalist, and Yang Junxuan of China, fresh off an Asian record in the 100 free.

All in all, it promises to be an exciting session where we’ll see many more athletes in action.

Men’s 200-Meter Freestyle – Prelims

• World Record: 1:42.00 – Paul Biedermann, GER (2009)
• World Junior Record: 1:42.97 – David Popovici, ROU (2022)
• Olympic Record: 1:42.96 – Michael Phelps, USA (2008)
• 2021 Winning Time: 1:44.22 – Tom Dean, GBR
• 2021 Time to Advance to Semis: 1:46.69

1. David Popovici (Romania) – 1:45.65
2. Danas Rapsys (Lithuania) – 1:45.91
3. Lucas Henveuax (Belgium) – 1:46.04
4. Hwang Sunwoo (South Korea) – 1:46.13
5. Maximillian Giuliani (Australia) – 1:46.15
6. Matt Richards (Great Britain) – 1:46.19
7. Katsuhiro Matsumoto (Japan) – 1:46.23
8. Luke Hobson (USA) – 1:46.23
9. Thomas Neill (Australia) – 1:46.27
10. Lukas Maertens (Germany) – 1:46.33
11. Duncan Scott (Great Britain) – 1:46.34
12. Kim Woomin (South Korea) – 1:46.64
13. Rafael Miroslaw (Germany) – 1:46.81
14. Denis Loktev (Israel) – 1:47.01
15. Alessandro Ragaini (Italy) – 1:47.31
16. Filippo Megli (Italy) – 1:47.39

David Popovici entered the water for the first time at these Games and took the lead and didn’t look back. Hwang Sunwoo and Luke Hobson were hanging in 2nd and 3rd up until the last 50, when Lucas Henveaux showed some great closing speed out of lane 8 to rise to 2nd. Popovici posted the top time of the morning, but only the second sub-1:46 time (1:45.65).

Three leaders separated themselves in heat 3: Duncan Scott, Danas Rapsys, and last night’s 400 free gold medalist Lukas Maertens. Though Maertens led the first three laps, Rapsys dug deep to close in 26.81 to Maertens’ 27.39, posting the first sub-1:46 swim of the morning (1:45.91).

The field looked incredibly close as heat 2 entered the water. Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto had the lead at the 100, splitting 51.62, but couldn’t hold off a storming Maximilian Giuliani or Matthew Richards. Giuliani used a big third 50 (27.07) to get the edge over Richards, as they finished in 1:46.15 and 1:46:19 respectively to take over the top two times of the morning.

Velimir Stjepanovic of Serbia grabbed an early lead in the first heat and didn’t look back, finishing two seconds back of his national record in 1:47.56.

There were three no-shows this morning: Felix Auboeck (Austria), Nandor Nemeth (Hungary), and Guilherme Costa (Brazil).

Men’s 400-Meter Individual Medley – Prelims

• World Record: 4:02.50 – Leon Marchand, FRA (2023)
• World Junior Record: 4:10.02 – Ilya Borodin, RUS (2021)
• Olympic Record: 4:03.84 – Michael Phelps, USA (2008)
• 2021 Winning Time: 4:09.42 – Chase Kalisz, USA
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 4:10.20

1. Leon Marchand (France) – 4:08.30
2. Max Litchfield (Great Britain) – 4:09.51
3. Daiya Seto (Japan) – 4:10.92
4. Carson Foster (USA) – 4:11.07
5. Tomoyuki Matsushita (Japan) – 4:11.18
6. Alberto Raxzeetti (Italy)/Lewis Clareburt (New Zealand)/Cedric Buessing (Germany) – 4:11.52 (TIE)
7. —
8. —

With only 16 entrants, there were only two heats of the men’s 400 IM vying for a finals berth this morning.

The first heat was all Carson Foster, who grabbed hold of the lead at the 100 and didn’t relinquish it. Italy’s Alberto Razzetti was riding in 2nd up until the freestyle leg, when Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita dropped the fastest split of the field (58.04) to lift himself from 4th to 2nd. Razzetti settled for 3rd.

No one in the first heat was under the time it took to make finals in Tokyo, which stands at a stiff 4:10.20.

Léon Marchand made his first appearance in heat 2 to the delight of the crowd, but it was Daiya Seto who held the lead after the butterfly leg. After a heartbreaking 9th-place miss in Tokyo, Seto looked unwilling to make the same mistake again.

But as predicted in this race, it was all Marchand after after that. The Frenchman took over the the lead on the backstroke leg, and then dropped a field-best breaststroke split to extend it.

As we saw in the first heat, the 2nd-place finisher used a strong closing split to secure their place. This time, it was Great Britain’s Max Litchfield, who passed Seto to secure 2nd.

Only Marchand and Litchfield were under the time it took to qualify in Tokyo.

Among those missing out was the defending Olympic Champion Chase Kalisz of the U.S.

Women’s 100-Meter Breaststroke – Prelims

• World Record: 1:04.13 – Lilly King, USA (2017)
• World Junior Record: 1:04.35 – Ruta Meilutyte, LTU (2013)
• Olympic Record: 1:04.82 – Tatjana Smith (Schoenmaker), RSA (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 1:04.95 – Lydia Jacoby, USA
• 2021 Time to Advance to Semis: 1:06.96

1. Tatjana Smith (South Africa) – 1:05.00
2. Tang Qianting (China) – 1:05.63
3. Mona McSharry (Ireland) – 1:05.74
4. Satomi Suzuki (Japan) – 1:06.04
5. Lilly King (USA) – 1:06.10
6. Benedetta Pilato (Italy) – 1:06.19
7. Anastasia Gorbenko (Israel) – 1:06.22
8. Eneli Jefimova (Estonia) – 1:06.24
9. Lisa Angiolini (Italy) – 1:06.27
10. Ruta Meilutyte (Lithuania) – 1:06.34
11. Alina Zmushka (Individual Neutral Athlete) – 1:06.37
12. Angharad Evans (Great Britain) – 1:06.38
13. Sophie Hansson (Sweden) – 1:06.66
14. Tes Schouten (Netherlands) – 1:06.69
15. Kotryna Teterevkova (Lithuania) – 1:06.76
16. Macarena Ceballos (Argentina) – 1:06.89

The fastest woman in the world this season, Tang Qianting, led from wire-to-wire in the final heat. Tang split 30.45/35.18 to turn in the second 1:05 effort of the morning. Ireland’s Mona McSharry added just two tenths from seed for 2nd (1:05.74).

Ruta Meilutye and Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker) featured in the second circle-seeded heat. Meilutyte showed some strong early speed, splitting 30.18 at the 50. But Smith dropped the hammer coming homing, turning in the fastest closing 50 of the field to clock 1:05.00 and win the heat by over a second. Meilutyte settled for 3rd (1:06.34) while Satomi Suzuki got in-between them for 2nd (1:06.04).

Anna Elendt was first to the wall in the first circle-seeded heat, turning in a split of 30.71. World record holder Lilly King was right there with her (30.77). Elendt paid for her opening speed coming home, slipping all the way to 6th (1:07.00), while King held strong for the win (1:06.10). Anastasia Gorbenko took advantage to take 3rd in the heat, turning in a 1:06.22 effort.

Malaysia’s Tan Ruoxin won heat 1, adding just over a second to her entry time (1:12.50). Heat 2 went to Australia’s Jenna Strauch, who was less than 0.5-seconds off her entry time in 1:07.27.

The women’s 100 breast was the first event of the morning to require a faster time that Tokyo to make semifinals, though it was only by seven-hundredths of a second.

Men’s 100-Meter Backstroke – Prelims

• World Record: 51.60 – Thomas Ceccon, ITA (2022)
• World Junior Record: 52.34 – Miron Lifintsev, RUS (2024)
• Olympic Record: 51.85 – Ryan Murphy, USA (2016)
• 2021 Winning Time: 51.98 – Evgeny Rylov, ROC
• 2021 Time to Advance to Semis: 53.77

1. Hubert Kos (Hungary) – 52.78
2. Pieter Coetze (South Africa) – 52.90
3. Apostolos Christou (Greece) – 52.95
4. Ryan Murphy (USA) – 53.06
5. Ksawery Masuik (Poland) – 53.08
6. Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (France) – 53.20
7. Xu Jiayu (China) – 53.20
8. Evangelos Makrygiannis (Greece) – 53.24
9. Hunter Armstrong (USA) – 53.34
10. Miroslav Knedla (Czech Republic) – 53.41
11. Oliver Morgan (Great Britain) – 53.44
12. Thomas Ceccon (Italy) – 53.45
13. Mewen Tomax (France) – 53.51
14. Hugo Gonzalez (Spain) – 53.68
15. Blake Tierney (Canada) – 53.89
16. Jonny Marshall (Great Britain) – 53.93

Ksawery Masiuk of Poland posted the first 53-point swim of the morning, splitting 25.14/27.94 to lead wire-to-wire. France’s Yohann Ndoye-Brouard used a strong final 50 to move from 6th to 2nd, stopping the clock in 53.20.

Hubert Kos raised in the bar in heat 5, clocking a new Hungarian record and his first time breaking 53-seconds (52.78). He was only fourth at the 50, trailing Pieter Coetze, Hunter Armstrong, and Evangelos Makrygiannis, but passed them all down the stretch to take over the top time of the morning. Coetze also dipped under 53 seconds.

Kos’ time stood through the final heat, which saw Apostolos Christou of Greece lead Tokyo bronze medalist Ryan Murphy wire-to-wire. Christou hit the wall in 52.95, making it three sub-53s this morning.

Bermuda’s Jack Harvey won heat 1 (55.78). Maximillian Wilson of U.S. Virgin Islands hit a new personal best the win in heat 2 (54.49). Kai van Westering (Netherlands) won the final non-circle seeded heat, hitting the wall in 54.21.

This event continues the trend of the 16th place time being slower than it was in Tokyo.

Women’s 200-Meter Freestyle – Prelims

• World Record: 1:52.23 – Ariarne Titmus, AUS (2024)
• World Junior Record: 1:53.65 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2023)
• Olympic Record: 1:53.50 – Ariarne Titmus, AUS (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 1:53.50 – Ariarne Titmus, AUS
• 2021 Time to Advance to Semis: 1:58.33

1. Mollie O’Callaghan (Australia) – 1:55.79
2. Mary-Sophie Harvey (Canada) – 1:56.21
3. Ariarne Titmus (Australia) – 1:56.23
4. Li Bingjie (China) – 1:56.28
5. Siobhan Haughey (Hong Kong) – 1:56.38
6. Claire Weinstein (USA) – 1:56.48
7. Erika Fairweather (New Zealand) – 1:56.54
8. Maria Fernanda Costa (Brazil) – 1:56.65
9. Yang Junxuan (China) – 1:56.83
10. Barbora Seemanova (Czech Republic) – 1:57.02
11. Erin Gemmell (USA) – 1:57.23
12. Valentine Dumont (Belgian) – 1:57.50
13. Minna Abraham (Hungary) – 1:57.77
14. Aimee Canee (South Africa) – 1:57.81
15. Snaefridur Sol Jorunnardottir (Iceland) – 1:58.32
16. Rebecca-Aimme Diaconescu (Romania) – 1:59.29

There were only four heats of the women’s 200 free this morning, meaning after India’s Dhinidhi Desinghu took the first heat win (2:06.96) we moved right into the circle-seeded heats.

Tokyo silver medalist Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong hit the water for the first time this meet. She had great opening speed at the 100, turning in 56.59 to American Claire Weinstein‘s 56.90. Maria Fernanda Costa and Li Binjie were close behind. In a redemptive swim after missing the 400 free finals yesterday, Li split a field-best 29.34 on the way home to take the heat win (1:56.28). The next two finishers were separated by exactly a tenth each, as Haughey (1:56.38) and Weinstein (1:56.48) turned in the next two fastest performances.

It seems strange to say after she’s been such a force on the international stage, but Mollie O’Callaghan made her individual event debut at the Olympics in the penultimate heat. She was running 2nd at the 150 mark, just 0.14-seconds behind Erika Fairweather, but used her signature closing speed to post the fastest time of the morning (1:55.79). Based on how O’Callaghan swam that race (27.48/29.74/30.06/28.51), she looks to have a lot more in the tank. Fairweather’s splits also show she has a higher ceiling (27.57/29.52/30.05/29.40).

Finally, world record holder Ariarne Titmus took to the water in the final prelims heat of the morning. She led through the 150, but in a surprising twist was passed down the stretch by Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey (1:56.21) by just two-hundredths (1:56.23). Harvey’s time was less than a second off her time from Canadian Trials earlier this year. Titmus didn’t seem fazed by her place, and based on how she handled her 2nd seed yesterday in the 400 free, we shouldn’t read too much into her form from a prelims performance. Yang Junxuan, fresh off a Chinese record in the 100 free, finished 3rd in 1:56.83.

The Americans got a second representative into semis as Erin Gemmell hung on for 4th in the final heat. Gemmell was a surprise entrant in the event after both Katie Ledecky and Paige Madden turned down an individual spot.

Keeping in theme with the rest of the morning, the time to make 16th was over a second slower than Tokyo.

Hungary’s Nikolett Padar was disqualified in heat 3. The reason is currently not published on the results, though it appears that she flinched at the start.