2016 Rio Olympic Games: Day Five Finals 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)

There’s plenty of action in the pool tonight with four gold medals on the line. Japan is favored to snag one, the Australians one, then the Americans a potential two.

The first final of the night is the men’s 100m breaststroke where Ippei Watanabe of Japan demonstrated that he was the clear favorite with a huge 2:07.22 in the semifinals to smash the previous Olympic record. There are several others in the field that could compete with him including Josh Prenot of the United States who owns the second fastest personal best of all time, and the fastest personal best of the entire field.

Following the hype of the 200m breaststroke the women’s 100m freestyle and men’s 200m backstroke semifinals will take place. Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell will be looking to continue their dominance on the sprint freestyle as American Ryan Murphy keeps motoring home in hopes of setting himself up for another gold medal tomorrow night.

The women’s 200m butterfly will be a match between Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain and Madeline Groves of Australia. The two have been trading blows with Groves getting the last punch in with a 2:05.66 performance in the semifinals. With a few others in the mix this should shape up into a very competitive race.

Swimming’s blue ribbon event will give way to a Aussie-American duel with a Canadian somewhere in the middle. Kyle Chalmers and Cameron McEvoy of Australia will be trying to take down both Nathan Adrian and Caeleb Dressel of the United States. Also in the mix is Santo Condorelli of Canada who swam a personal best in order to get into the final.

Rikke Moller Pedersen will have the opportunity to establish herself further tonight in the semifinals of the 200m breaststroke. Pedersen is the world record holder in the event and the favorite to win gold. There are several swimmers in the 2:19-2:22 range in the event that could challenge her with the silver and bronze medal positions looking like they could go to a variety of applicable candidates.

Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps will have what will likely be their second-ever head-to-head race in the men’s 200m IM tonight. The two Americans will be in the second semifinal right beside each other, both looking to take the lead heading into tomorrow’s final. Lochte is the world record holder, Phelps the three time Olympic champ in this event.

The night will cap off with the 4×200 freestyle relay where the Americans are favorites to win gold.

MEN’S 200m BREASTSTROKE FINAL

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 2:07.22 – Ippei  Watanabe – Japan
World Record: 2:07.01 (2012) – Yamaguchi Akihiro – Japan
JR World Record: 2:09.64 – Anton Chupkov – Russia
Olympic Record: 2:07.22(2016) – Ippei Watanabe – Japan
2012 Olympic Champion: 2:07.28 – Daniel Gyurta – Hungary

Outside smoke. Dmitriy Balandin of Kazakhstan won their first ever medal in swimming with a gutsy performance, pushing towards the end and getting his hands on the wall first to take home his first Olympic gold medal.

Yasuhiro Koseki of Japan took things out hard, leading the way by a large margin heading into the first 100. At the 100 wall it was Koseki in first at 1:00.86, precisely 0.86 seconds under world record pace.

Behind Koseki was Balandin in second followed by Josh Prenot of the United States. The three leaders carried on that way through the next 50, turning in the same order at the final wall as they turned for home.

Koseki began to fade as Balandin from the outside lane and Prenot began to surge forward. Both were charging to the wall, but Balandin managed to get his hands on it first, touching in at 2:07.46 to win his first Olympic medal, and his countries first in the pool.

Prenot touched second just seven one-hundredths behind him in 2:07.53. Anton Chupkov of Russia managed to make his way into the top three, putting up a time of 2:07.70 to win the bronze.

Koseki faded to fifth in 2:07.80, just one-tenth of a second off a podium finish.

1. Dmitriy Balandin – Kazakhstan – 2:07.46
2. Josh Prenot – USA – 2:07.53
3. Anton Chupkov – Russia – 2:07.70
4. Andrew Willis – Great Britain – 2:07.78
5. Yasuhiro Koseki – Japan – 2:07.80
6. Ippei Watanabe – Japan – 2:07.87
7. Marco Koch – Germany – 2:08.00
8. Kevin Cordes – USA – 2:08.34

WOMEN’S 100m FREESTYLE SEMIFINALS

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 52.78 – Cate Campbell – Australia
World Record: 52.06 (2016) – Cate Campbell – Australia
JR World Record: 53.31 – Penny Oleksiak – Canada
Olympic Record: 52.78 (2016) – Cate Campbell – Australia
2012 Olympic Champion: 53.00 – Ranomi Kromowidjojo – Netherlands

In the same heat right next to each other Cate Campbell of Australia and Penny Oleksiak of Canada broke the Olympic record and world junior records respectively in order to take the top two spots heading into tomorrow’s finals.

Racing in the second semifinal, Campbell and Oleksiak managed to emerge in front of the rest of the competitors. A huge surge at the end for Oleksiak had her reaching into the wall right with Campbell, clocking in at 52.72 to Campbell’s 52.71.

That time for Oleksiak smashed her own world junior record of 53.31, and Campbell’s time broke her own Olympic record that she set this morning. Both swimmers were the only two to get under 53-seconds in either semifinal.

Sarah Sjostrom finished third in that semifinal with a time of 53.16, taking the fourth overall seed behind American Simone Manuel.

Manuel put a scare on the American record, taking down Bronte Campbell in the first semifinal with a time of 53.11. That qualifies her third overall. Bronte was second in their semifinal in 53.29, Jeanette Ottesen was third in 53.35. Both will advance to tomorrow’s final.

1. Cate Campbell – Australia – 52.71 OR
2. Penny Oleksiak – Canada – 52.72 WJR
3. Simone Manuel – USA – 53.11
4. Sarah Sjostrom – Sweden – 53.16
5. Bronte Campbell – Australia – 53.29
6. Jeanette Ottesen – Denmark – 53.35
7. Ranomi Kromowidjojo – Netherlands – 53.42
8. Abbey Weitzeil – USA – USA – 53.53

MEN’S 200m BACKSTROKE SEMIFINALS

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 1:55.02 – Evgeny Rylov – Russia
World Record: 1:51.92 (2009) – Aaron Peirsol – USA
JR World Record: 1:56.79 – Li Guangyuan – China
Olympic Record: 1:53.41 (2012) – Tyler Clary – USA
2012 Olympic Champion: 1:53.41 – Tyler Clary – USA

The second semifinal of the men’s 200m backstroke was significantly faster than the first, featuring three sub 1:55 swims as Evgeny Rylov once again leads the hunt for gold heading into tomorrow’s final.

Rylov was a 1:54.45 to take down both Mitchell Larkin of Australia and Jacob Pebley of the United States. The three were tightly bundled as the defending world champion Larkin clocked in at 1:54.73, and Pebley was a 1:54.92.

Those three took the top three qualifying spots overall with the United States’ Ryan Murphy grabbing the fourth spot in 1:55.15. Murphy swam an extremely casual easy win in the first 200 in order to qualify for the final. He won the 100m backstroke earlier in the meet and is the heavy favorite to sweep the events here in Rio.

China’s Xu Jiayu was fifth in 1:55.66, touching in second behind Murphy in the fist of the two semifinals. World junior record holder Li Guanyuan of China also earned a spot in the final, finishing sixth overall in 1:55.92.

1. Evgeny Rylov – Russia – 1:54.45
2. Mitchell Larkin – Australia – 1:54.73
3. Jacob Pebley – USA – 1:54.93
4. Ryan Murphy– USA – 1:55.15
5. Xu Jiayu – China – 1:55.66
6. Li Guangyuan – China – 1:55.92
7. Ryosuke Irie – Japan – 1:56.31
8. Christian Diener – Germany – 1:56.37

WOMEN’S 200m BUTTERFLY FINAL

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 2:05.66 – 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  – China

Right from the get-go it was Madeline Groves of Australia who took things out hard, leading Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain by an entire body length.

After 75-meters, Belmonte began to close the gap between herself and Groves, turning second just slightly behind. Groves began to push hard but Belmonte began to establish herself as the leader.

Also in the mix was Natsumi Hoshi of Japan as the three swimmers churned for the wall on the final 25-meters it appeared as though it was anybodies race. Groves began to close on Belmonte slowly but surely, and as they approached the wall it was too close to call.

Belmonte managed to take the win in a time of 2:04.85 as Groves had to settle for second just three one-hundredths back in 2:04.88. Hoshi held on for the bronze medal with a 2:05.20 performance.

1. Mireia Belmonte Garcia – Spain – 2:04.85
2. Madeline Groves – Australia – Australia – 2:04.88
3. Natsumi Hoshi – Japan – 2:05.20
4. Cammile Adams – USA – 2:05.90
5. Zhou Jilin – China – 2:07.37
6. Zhang Yufei – China – 2:07.40
7. Hali Flickinger – USA – 2:07.71
8. Brianna Throssell – Australia – 2:07.87

MEN’S 100m FREESTYLE FINAL

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 47.83 – Nathan Adrian – USA
World Record: 46.91 (2009) – Cesar Cielo – Brazil
JR World Record: 47.88 – Kyle Chalmers – Australia
Olympic Record: 47.05 (2008) – Eamon Sullivan – Australia
2012 Olympic Champion: 47.52 – Nathan Adrian – USA

In an amazing turn of events towards the end of the race Australian Kyle Chalmers got his hand on the wall first to become Australia’s first 100m freestyle Olympic champion in 48-years at just 18-years-old.

Santo Condorelli of Canada rocketed to the lead off the start, turning in first well ahead of the rest of the field and just shy of world record pace. Coming off the wall Condorelli was still in the lead with both the Australians and the defending Olympic champion Nathan Adrian hot on his trail.

Kyle Chalmers of Australia and Adrian began to churn forward, catching up to Condorelli. Joined by Peiter Timmers of Belgium, the four swimmers all approached the wall with 10-meters to go.

Chalmers managed to create a solid lead in the last 10-meters, surpassing Adrian of the United States in order to get his hand on the wall first. Chalmers time of 47.58 broke his own world junior record in the event.

Also getting past Adrian was Timmers, dropping a 47.80 to pick up the silver medal. Adrian had to settle for bronze in 47.85.

Condorelli finished just three one-hundredths of a second off a podium performance, sporting a 47.88 to finish fourth behind Adrian. Cameron McEvoy of Australia, who posted a season best of 47.04 at the Australian Olympic trials, was seventh.

1. Kyle Chalmers – Australia – 47.58
2. Pieter Timmers – Belgium – 47.80
3. Nathan Adrian – USA – 47.85
4. Santo Condorelli – Canada – 47.88
5. Duncan Scott – Great Britain-  48.01
6. Caeleb Dressel – USA – 48.02
7. Cameron McEovy – Australia – 48.12
8. Marcelo Chierighini – Brazil – 48.41

WOMEN’S 200m BREASTSTROKE SEMIFINALS

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 2:22.72 – Rikke Moller Pedersen – Denmark
World Record: 2:19.11 (2013) – Rikke Moller Pedersen – Denmark
JR World Record: 2:19.64 – Viktoria Gunes – Turkey
Olympic Record: 2:19.59 (2012) – Rebecca Soni – USA
2012 Olympic Champion: 2:19.59 – Rebecca Soni – USA

Following the two semifinal heats of the women’s 200m breaststroke an extremely tight bunch of swimmers was revealed making tomorrow night’s final one of the most competitive overall at these Games.

Leading the hunt for gold will be Taylor McKeown of Australia. She’s the only swimmer who has been under 2:22 so far at these games. Tonight she won the second semifinal with a 2:21.69. Molly Renshaw of Great Britain was behind her in 2:22.33.

That time for Renshaw was the third fastest overall. Semifinal one winner Rie Kaneto of Japan dropped a 2:22.11 which qualified her second overall. Renshaw’s time ranks her third going into the final.

Shi Jinglin of China who touched third to Renshaw in semifinal two was fourth overall in 2:22.37.

World record holder Rikke Moller Pedersen of Denmark squeezed into the fifth spot, clocking at at 2:22.45, just slightly faster than the time she swam this morning. Controversial swimmer Yulia Efimova of Russia claimed the sixth seed in 2:22.52.

Chloe Tutton of Great Britain and Kierra Smith of Canada round out the top eight.

1. Taylor McKeown – Australia – 2:21.69
2. Rie Kaneto – Japan – 2:22.11
3. Molly Renshaw – Great Britain – 2:22.33
4. Shi Jinglin – China – 2:22.37
5. Rikke Moller Pedersen – Denmark – 2:22.45
6. Yulia Efimova – Russia – 2:22.52
7. Chloe Tutton – Great Britain – 2:22.71
8. Kierra Smith – Canada – 2:22.87

MEN’S 200m IM SEMIFINALS

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 1:57.28 – Ryan Lochte – USA
World Record: 1:54.00 (2011) – Ryan Lochte – USA
Olympic Record: 1:54.23 (2008) – Michael Phelps – USA
2012 Olympic Champion: 1:54.27 – Michael Phelps – USA

Tomorrow’s 200m IM is going to be one for the books as Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte will face off one last time from the middle lanes, each attempting to get the better of the other in their final showdown.

Tonight was Phelps victory, taking down Lochte in the second semifinal where they raced side-by-side. Phelps turned third at the 50-wall, and both he ad Lochte surged way out in front of the field on the backstroke.

Turning together on the back, Phelps began to push ahead of Lochte on the breaststroke, solidifying a clear lead by the 150-meter wall. Coming off that wall it was all Phelps and Lochte. Lochte began to move up on Phelps who was breathing to his right and couldn’t see him, but Phelps kept him at bay.

At the touch Phelps clocked in a 1:55.78 to Lochte’s 1:56.28. Thiago Pereira of Brazil was third in 1:57.11. Amazingly, the three fastest times all came from swimmers over 30-years-old.

Coming in fourth overall was Kosuke Hagino of Japan who won the 400m IM on night one. Hagino managed to turn in a time of 1:57.38.

1. Michael Phelps – USA – 1:55.78
2. Ryan Lochte – USA – 1:56.28
3. Thiago Pereria – Brazil – 1:57.11
4. Kosuke Hagino – Japan – 1:57.38
5. Dan Wallace – Great Britain – 1:57.97
6. Wang Shun – China – 1:58.12
7. Hiromasa Fujimori – Japan – 1:58.20
8. Philip Heintz – Germany – 1:58.85

WOMEN’S 4x200m FREESTYLE RELAY FINAL

Start List: click here
Top Seed: 7:47.77 – USA
World Record: 7:42.08 (2009) – China
JR World Record: 7:56.68 – Australia
Olympic Record: 7:42.92 (2012) – USA
2012 Olympic Champion: 742.92 – USA

The Chinese took it out quickly in the 4x200m freestyle but towards the end of the race it was clear that it was between the United States, Australia, Sweden and Canada.

Led by Katie Ledecky on the anchor leg, the United States managed to pass the Aussies who had 17-year-old Tamsin Cook anchoring their team. Ledecky created a large lead for the Americans, making the real battle for the silver medal.

A great third leg by Canada’s Brittany MacLean put them right in the mix as Penny Oleksiak dove in to anchor the Canadian team. She began to close on Australia’s cook, but wasn’t able to entirely close the gap.

Ledecky touched first for the Americans, Cook touched second for the Australians, and Oleksiak touched third for the Canadians.