Mollie O’Callaghan Breaks Olympic Record With 1:53.27 200 Freestyle

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

WOMEN’S 200-METER FREESTYLE – FINALS

  1. Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS) – 1:53.27 (Olympic Record)
  2. Ariarne Titmus (AUS) – 1:53.81
  3. Siobhan Haughey (HGK) – 1:54.55
  4. Mary-Sophie Harvey (CAN) – 1:55.29
  5. Yang Junxuan (CHN) – 1:5.38
  6. Barbora Semanova (CZE) – 1:55.47
  7. Erika Fairweather (NZL) – 1:55.59
  8. Claire Weinstein (USA) – 1:56.60

Mollie O’Callaghan set a new Olympic Record en route to gold in the women’s 200 freestyle, clocking a 1:53.27. That broke the old Olympic Record of a 1:53.50 that Ariarne Titmus swam at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

O’Callaghan and Titmus went 1-2. O’Callaghan’s win also means that the 200 freestyle continues its stat that the no woman has ever won two titles in a row. Titmus won back in Tokyo at the 2020 Games but came up with silver here.

Split Comparison

O’Callaghan (2024) Titmus (2020)
50 27.01 27.04
100 29.06 28.81
150 29.22 28.85
200 27.98 28.8
1:53.27 1:53.50

In typical O’Callaghan fashion, she came home strong on the end and was almost a second faster than Titmus was back in Tokyo on the final 50. In fact, O’Callaghan was almost as fast on her final 50 as she was on the first 50 even with the start. O’Callaghan was 3rd at the 150 mark but her 27.98 was the fastest in the field by 0.23 seconds as Titmus closed in a 29.08 tonight.

O’Callaghan’s best time stands at a 1:52.48 from Australian Trials, when she came home in a 28.37.

The win for O’Callaghan also marks her first individual Olympic gold medal. She already has captured gold this week after helping the Australian women to gold in the 4×100 free relay. She also swam to two relay golds in Tokyo.

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Just Keep Swimming
36 minutes ago

If Titmus gets gold in the relay and silver or bronze in the 800, she will jump to 13th all time in Olympic medals. Gold in both and she jumps to 6th.

If Mollie gets at least 1 gold she’ll jump to 8th. 2 golds and she’ll jump to 4th. 3 golds and she’ll jump to 3rd.

Yozhik
1 hour ago

So happy for Mollie. The strongest and the most modest competitive swimmer Australia ever had.
For the first time saw Titmus heavy breathing after mediocre by her measures race time.

NotHimAgain
1 hour ago

Brilliant, assured swim by Mollie. She’s such a dichotomy when it comes to her swimming events. She often arrives on the blocks quivering like a field mouse cornered by a starving alley cat. You can see her hands trembling when she puts on her goggles. But then once she hits the water, she morphs into a tigress, coolly, methodically stalking her prey until it’s time to pounce.

I’m sorry in one respect that Arnie didn’t repeat her gold-medal double from Tokyo, but definitely not sorry that Mollie proved herself the worthiest of Olympic champions. I would not be betting against her in the 100m freestyle.

So much for the absurd scuttlebutt that Arnie and Mollie detest each other.

NB: Dean… Read more »

Just Keep Swimming
Reply to  NotHimAgain
49 minutes ago

Australia is topping the medal table and every single medal has been SPW individually or a relay with multiple SPW swimmers

jamie5678
2 hours ago

Suspect that Titmus would have had a better chance today if she hadn’t beaten Mollie at the Australian trials.

Two fabulous swimmers in any event.

VA Steve
2 hours ago

So born for the 200Free. Phenomenal talent.

Joel
2 hours ago

Mollie just interviewed – crying whilst talking about her parent’s sacrifices. Then said I better not cry as I have more races!

51/1:51
Reply to  Joel
2 hours ago

Arnie was emotional too, You can really tell how much pressure and hardship comes behind these moments.

Southerly Buster
2 hours ago

Mollie O’Callaghan. 20 year old and already…..

4 Gold medals at Olympics (probably 5 or 6 very soon)
8 Gold medals at long course World Championships
9 World Records
5 Gold medals at Commonwealth Games
3 Gold medals at Short Course Worlds

David S
2 hours ago

Her final 50 was nasty.
Nasty

About Anya Pelshaw

Anya Pelshaw

Anya has been with SwimSwam since June 2021 as both a writer and social media coordinator. She was in attendance at the 2022 and 2023 Women's NCAA Championships writing and doing social media for SwimSwam. Currently, Anya is pursuing her B.A. in Economics and a minor in Government & Law at …

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