2024 Paris Olympics: Day 4 Finals 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
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Swimming Schedule
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Pick ’em Contest
• How To Watch
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• Live Results
• Prelims Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
• Finals Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

DAY 4 Finals HEAT SHEET

Day 4 Relay Line-Ups

Bonsoir mes amis nageurs. La quatrième nuit de natation commence maintenant.
Et à ceux d’entre vous qui ne parlent pas français

Good Evening, my swim friends. The fourth night of swimming is about to commence, and it’s a busy one. There are four semifinals and three finals on the schedule for tonight.

DAY 4 FINALS SCHEDULE

• Men’s 100 Freestyle – Semifinals
• Men’s 200 Butterfly – Semifinals
• Women’s 100 Backstroke– Finals
• Men’s 800 Freestyle – Finals
• Women’s 100 Freestyle – Semifinals
• Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Semifinals
• Men’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay – Finals

It’s a great set of events tonight, as we have a good mix of sprints and longer distances. We start with two men’s semifinals, the men’s 100 free and the men’s 200 butterfly. In the sprint event, American Jack Alexy leads the field with his 47.57 from this morning’s prelims. But the American will be hard-pressed as Maxime Grousset will have the home crowd behind him as he leads out the first semifinal. World record holder Pan Zhanle snuck into the semifinals in a three-way tie for 13th place, and there could be some outside smoke. Last night’s 200 freestyle champion, David Popovici, finds himself as the 3rd seed and likely has much more left in the tank after swimming 47.92 this morning.

The 200 Fly sees World record holder Kristof Milak look to repeat as Olympic Champion as he leads the field in tonight’s semifinal. Posting a time of 1:53.92 this morning, the Hungarian sits just .14 ahead of Canada’s Ilya Kharun. Leon Marchand, the top seed, qualified 6th into the semifinal and likely played it conservatively this morning as he also had the prelims of the 200 breaststroke to swim.

It’s a lopsided evening as there are just two women’s events compared to the five for the men, but the women’s events certainly bring the star power. In tonight’s 100-back final, four of the five fastest performers take to the water and three World record holders. Regan Smith, the current holder, will take lane 4 this evening and will be flanked by rival Kaylee McKeown on one side and compatriot Katharine Berkoff on the other. It’s a unique final as just 4 nations are represented, and those three swimmers will be joined by McKeown’s fellow Australian Iona Anderson, two swimmers from Canada, including former WR holder Kylie Masse, and two from home nation France.

The second and only other individual final of the evening is up next as the men’s 800 free takes to the pool. Defending Olympic Champion Bobby Finke will look to add a third individual gold medal to his name, but first must overcome competition both new and old. Ahmed Jaouadi of Tunisian dropped a massive amount of time to place 2nd into the final, but will have his work cut out to try to run down top seed Daniel Wiffen. The Irishman is the defending World Champion in the event and also holds the SCM world record.

From the 800, we speed things up again with the women’s 100 free. It’s a world-class field led by WR holder Sarah Sjostrom, who swam the only sub-53 time this morning, stopping the clock in 52.99. Just behind her is the season’s fastest swimmer, Siobhan Haughey, who claimed a bronze in last night’s 200 freestyle. Beating the Hong Kong swimmer in that event was Mollie O’Callaghan, who claimed her first individual gold medal as the Olympics. The Australian, who was the 2023 World Champion in this event, sits 5th after prelims in a time of 53.27. The USA’s Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh will look to stay in contention for tomorrow’s final after posting the 7th and 8th fastest times this morning.

Leon Marchand concludes his double-double of individual 200s as he is the 3rd seed in the 200 breast. Korea’s Cho Sung Jae leads the field with his 2:09.45 but is just .04 ahead of Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook. ZSC fellow former world record holder Ippei Watanabe also safely moved through as the 5th seed, but its the present world record holder Qin Haiyang who looks to be in a spot of bother as he finished just 15th this morning. Also on the outside looking in are Americans Josh Matheny and Matt Fallon, who finished 10th and 11th this morning.

We conclude the evening with the men’s 4×200 freestyle relay, where defending Olympic Champion Great Britain finds itself in the middle lanes after posting the top time this morning. The USA and France will flank the Brits and will be hungry for a medal, as the Americans failed to get on the podium in 2021 and the French will look to give the home crowd something to cheer about. Great Britain returns their entire line-up from Tokyo but faces off against a re-vamped US team.

Watch along with SwimSwam’s Coleman Hodges and special guest stars Nathan Adrien and Katilin Sandeno

MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – Semifinals

• World Record: 46.80 – Pan Zhanle, CHN (2024)
• World Junior Record: 46.86 – David Popovici, ROU (2022)
• Olympic Record: 46.92 – Pan Zhanle, CHN (2024)
• 2021 Winning Time: 47.02 – Caeleb Dressel, USA
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 47.82

Top 8

1. Pan Zhanle (CHN) – 47.21
2. Kyle Chalmers (AUS) – 47.58
3. Nandor Nemeth (HUN) – 47.61
4. Maxime Grousset (FRA) – 47.63
5. David Popovici (ROU) – 47.66
6. Jack Alexy (USA) – 47.68
7. Chris Guiliano (USA) – 47.72
8. Josha Salchow (GER) – 47.94

The first semifinal saw France’s Maxime Grousset take the race out in 22.57 ahead of Nandor Nemeth’s 22.71. Grousset, urged on by a partisan Parisian crowd looked stong heading down the back 50, but Nemeth and 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Kyle Chalmers seemed to be gaining on the frenchmen with every stroke. Chalmers, who had to settle for the silver in 2021, was just 4th at the 50 turn, flipping in 22.91 turned on the after burners to get to the wall first.

Touching in 47.58, King Kyle, who closed in 22.91, showed off those long arms as he out-touched Nemeth by .03 and Grousset by .05. The USA Chris Guiliano, who the US Trials in 47,38 placed 4th in the heat in a time of  47.72. Matthew Richards of Great Britain was out in a speedy 22.87, touching 3rd, but fell away from the leaders to finish 6th in the heat in a time of 48.09.

Jack Alexy had the early lead taking the first 50 out in 22.58, .11 ahead of WR holder Pan Zhanle, who was 22.69. Pan had a rough swim this morning and was in a three-way tie for 13th and swam out of lane 8 this evening.

Pan had the fastest 2nd 50 of 24.52 and took the win from the bottom of the pool, ultimately touching in 47.21. This week Pan has been as fast as 46.92, when he broke the Olympic record in the event leading off China’s 4×100 free relay.

Much like Grousset in the previous heat, the early leader, Alexy, fell to 3rd at the finish, with Romania’s David Popovici also passing the tall American in the closing meters. Popovici, the winner of the 200 free, was 6th at the 50 turn (23.02) but surged home in 24.64 (Alexy was 25.10) to take second in 47.66, just .02 ahead of Alexy.

Kyle Chalmers taking the 2nd seed for the final tomorrow, may be a sign of good fortune to come, as the last five Olympic Champions in the event have come from lane 5. 

MEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – Semifinals

• World Record: 1:50.34 – Kristof Milak, HUN (2022)
• World Junior Record: 1:53.79 – Kristof Milak, HUN (2017)
• Olympic Record: 1:51.25 – Kristof Milak, HUN (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 1:51.25 – Kristof Milak, HUN
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 1:55.31

Top 8

1. Kristof Milak (HUN) – 1:52.72
2. Leon Marchand (FRA) -1:53.50
3. Ilya Kharun (CAN) – 1:54.01
4. Noe Ponti (SUI) – 1:54.14
5. Kregor Zirk (EST) – 1:54.22
6. Krysztof Chmielewski (POL) – 1:54.28
7. Alberto Razzetti (ITA) – 1:54.51
8. Martin Espernberger (AUT) – 1:54.62

The first semifinal was a masterclass on how to swim the 200 fly. France’s Leon Marchand, walking out to a massive cheer, never looked back and led the race from start to finish. The Frenchman, who is coached by Bob Bowman, was 53.17 at the 100 turn, more than half a second ahead of Estonia’s Kregor Zirk. By the 150 mark, the difference has opened to three quarters of second.

Marchand would ultimately touch in 1:53.50, but it was not Zirk who was second but Canadian Ilya Kharun. Kharun, who was training partners with Marchand at ASU, was 4th at the 100, hitting the wall in 53.98. He had slipped to 5th at the 150 turn but closed in swift 29.85 to take 2nd. His last split of 29.85 was the only sub-30 split of the semifinal, and Kharun put himself into good position to make the final tomorrow. Ultimately, he touched in 1:54.01, .05 of a second faster than this morning.

Heat 2 was a very similar story to the first heat. Kristof Milak, the defending Olympic Gold medalist and WR holder, led from start to finish. Out in 53.34, the Hungarian superstar had a lead of .85 over the young American Thomas Heilman.

Milak kept up the pressure, splitting 29.29 and 30.09 on the last two 50 to touch the wall in 1:52.72, more than a second faster than his prelims swim of 1:53.92 and the only swim under 1:53. Heilman who tried to keep in contact with Milak, slipped back to 6th in the semi, ultimately touching in 1:54.87.

Taking Heilman’s place behind Milak was Swiss star Noe Ponti. Ponti, who won bronze in the 100 fly in Tokyo, was just 4th at the 100 but surged on the backhalf and, like Kharun, closed in sub-30 (29.95) to touch in second behind the Hungarian in a time of 1:54.14.

It was not to be a family affair in the final tomorrow as brothers Krysztof Chmielewski and Michael Chmielewski finished 3rd and 5th in the 2nd semifinal, but Michal ended up 9th, .02 away from tying for 8th.

WOMEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE—FINALS

• World Record: 57.13 – Regan Smith, USA (2024
• World Junior Record: 57.57 – Regan Smith, USA (2019)
• Olympic Record: 57.47 – Kaylee McKeown, AUS (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 57.47 – Kaylee McKeown, AUS
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 58.05

Podium

1. Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 57.33 ***NEW OLYMPIC RECORD***
2. Regan Smith (USA) – 57.66
3. Katharine Berkoff (USA) -57.98
4. Kylie Masse (CAN) – 58.29
5. Iona Anderson (AUS) – 58.98
6. Ingrid Wilm (CAN) – 59.25
7. Emma Terebo (FRA) – 59.40
8. Beryl Gastaldello (FRA) – 59.80

The race lived up to the hype and, perhaps at the 50, was closer than expected. World Record holder Regan Smith, who had lane 4 in the final, took the race out in 28.02. Kylie Masse, a former World Record holder in the event, was equal on 28.02 with Smith. American Katharine Berkoff, who joined the sub-58 club this past June and had posted the fastest time in the field in the prelims, was 3rd in 28.05.

Australian star Kaylee McKeown was just 4th at the 50 but was just .06 back of the two leaders. As the quartet came off the wall, the trio of Berkoff, Smith, and McKeown, swimming in lanes 3 ,4, and 5, separated themselves from Masse and surged ahead. With about 25 meters to go, it looked like Berkoff was set to pull off the upset of the meet, but Smith and McKeown surged into another gear and commenced a drag race over the last 25.

McKeown, who has gotten the best of Smith in almost every race the two have competed in, would not be denied her back-to-back to victory. Increasing the tempo of her arms and pounding her kick, McKeown pulled away from Smith and won by a healthy margin of .33. Her time of 57.33 marks a new Olympic record, breaking her own mark from 2021 and tying her personal best. Smith would claim silver in the event in a time of 57.66, improving upon her bronze from 2021, while her compatriot Berkoff would post another sub-58 split to claim her first Olympic medal in a time of 57.98.

Men’s 800 Freestyle —Finals

• World Record: 7:32.12 — Zhang Lin, CHN (2009)
• World Junior Record: 7:43.37 — Lorenzo Galossi, ITA (2022)
• Olympic Record: 7:41.28 — Mykhailo Romanchuk, UKR (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 7:41.87 – Bobby Finke, USA
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 7:42.33

Podium

1. Daniel Wiffen (IRE) – 7:38.19 ***NEW OLYMPIC RECORD***
2. Bobby Finke (USA) – 7:38.75
3. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) – 7:39.38
4. Ahmed Jaouadi (TUN) – 7:42.83
5. Sven Schwarz (GER)/David Aubry (FRA) – 7:43.59
7. Luca de Tullio (ITA) – 7:46.16
8. Elijah Winnington (AUS) – 7:48.36

What a final. While not all of it was covered on American television, the race was certainly an entertaining one. Australia’s Elijah Winnington set the early pace leading up through the 350 mark. Winner of the silver medal in the 400 free on night one, Winnington started to slip back and by the 500 meter mark had slipped to 6th.

Taking Winnington’s place at the front of the field was Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen. Wiffern, who won this event in Doha the past February, was 3:48.82 at the 400 mark, leading out Bobby Finke (3:48.89) and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri (3:49.42). The trio, with Winnington falling back, would establish themselves as the one to beat as they traded positions atop the pack over the next 300 meters.

With the bell sounding and 100 meters left, Paltrinieri led the trio with a split of 6:42.08, ahead of Wiffen’s 6:42.86 and Finke’s 6:43.45. With just 50 meters left, the lead had closed to just .10 as the Irishman built speed into the final turn and exploded down the home straight. Finke attempted to employ his trademark last 50 but could only run down the Italian.

Wiffen closing in 26.94 would touch the wall first in 7:38.19, erasing both the Olympic and European records in the event. Finke, who closed in 26.47, had to settle for the silver in 7:38.75 and Paltrinieri the bronze in 7:39.38

WOMEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – Semifinals

• World Record: 51.71 – Sarah Sjostrom, SWE (2017)
• World Junior Record: 52.70 – Penny Oleksiak, CAN (2016)
• Olympic Record: 51.96 – Emma McKeon, AUS (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 51.96 – Emma McKeon, AUS
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 53.11

Top 8

1. Siobhan Haughey (HKG)- 52.64
2. Shayna Jack (AUS) – 52.72
3. Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS) – 52.75
4. Yang Junxuan (CHN) – 52.81
5. Marrit Steenbergen (NED) – 52.86
6. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 52.87
7. Torri Huske (USA) – 52.99
8. Gretchen Walsh (USA) – 53.18

The first semifinal was a battle of those with closing speed and those with early speed. The USA’s Gretchen Walsh led at the 50 in 25.05, ahead of Shayna Jack’s 25.18. Walsh, who won silver in the women’s 100 fly and is one of the greatest short course yards sprinters ever, would do her best to stay in front of the pack, but Siobhan Hauughy’s strength in the closing meters would reel her in.

Haughey was .45 back at the 50, but surged home in 27.14 to touch first in 52.64. Also employing an amazing last 50 was Dutch star Marrit Steenbergen. Despite being just 7th at the 50 turn and .67 back of Walsh equaled Haughey’s last 50 of 27.14 to pass four other swimmers, including Walsh to finish 3rd in 52.86. Australian Shayna Jack did not let up on the back half, coming home in 27.54 and touched in 2nd in 52.72, holding off Steenbergen by .14. Walsh would ultimately finish 4th in 53.18 and must wait nervously to see if its enough to make it back.

Walsh’s time was enough to earn her a spot in the final tomorrow as only four swimmers in the 2nd semifinal were faster than her. Much like the first heat, the US’s Torri Huske was out fast, flipping in second in 25.24, just .02 behind early leader Wu Qingfeng.

Much like in the first semi, the backhalf skills of Mollie O’Callaghan and Yang Junxuan propelled them to the forefront. The Australian was just 6th as the 50, flipping in 25.89, but pulled out the only sub-27 last 50 of the entire field to come home in 26.86 and win the heat in 52.75. Yang, the recent Chinese record holder in this event, was 4th at the 50 but pulled past Huske and Sarah Sjostrom to finish in 2nd in 52.81

Just .06 back of Yang was the WR holder, Sjostrom. The Swede initially made it clear that she would only contest the 50 free, but added the 100 late and has been rewarded with a spot in the final, as she finished 3rd in the heat in 52.87, ahead of Huske’s 52.99.

MEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – Semifinals

• World Record: 2:05.48 – Qin Haiyang, CHN (2023)
• World Junior Record: 2:07.94 – Dong Zhihao, CHN (2024)
• Olympic Record: 2:06.38 – Zac Stubblety-Cook, AUS (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 2:06.38 – Zac Stubblety-Cook, AUS
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 2:08.76

Top 8

1. Leon Marchand (FRA) – 2:08.11
2. Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) – 2:08.57
3. Dong Zhihao (CHN) – 2:08.99
4. Caspar Cobeau (NED) – 2:09.52
5. Ippei Watanabe (JPN) – 2:09.62
6. Josh Matheny (USA) – 2:09.70
7. Yu Hanaguruma (JPN) – 2:09.72
8. Joshua Yong (AUS) – 2:09.89

Zac Stubblety-Cook, the reigning Olympic champion in the event, swam the first semifinal in a very unusual way, at least for him. The Australian, known for a massive backhalf was 4th at the 100, splitting 1:02.64 but was only half a second back of the early lead. Stubblety-Cook, who is also a former world record holder in the event, moved up from 4th to 2nd by the 150 turns and, using a swift 32.55 last 50, his fastest 50 besides his first, touched first in 2:08.57, all but guaranteeing his spot in the final tomorrow.

American Josh Matheny was that early leader, out in 1:02.14 but started to move back into the field, hitting the wall second at the 150 turn and coming home in 33.68 to finish 4th in 2:09.70.

Finishing between the Australian and American were China’s Dong Zhihao and Dutchmen Caspar Corbeau. Corbeau, who swam collegiately at Texas, was up in the mix of things over the whole 200, hitting the wall in 3rd at the halfway mark and taking the lead at the 150 mark, but ZSC and Dong’s last 50 were too much, and Corbeau had to settle for third in the heat in 2:09.52.

Dong, the World junior record holder, was just 6th at the 150 turn but came home in a blistering 32.37 to finish .42 back of ZSC in 2:08.99

While the second semifinal had a faster overall time, it was a slower heat, with just three swimmers advancing to the final. Leon Marchand, a little more than an hour after his performance in the 200 fly, walked out for his fourth 200 of the day to the sound of thunderous cheering.

Much like in his 200 fly semi-swim, Marchand never looked back and led the race from start to finish. Out in 28.48, Marchand was 1:00.85, over a second faster than Matheny’s time from the first heat but just .27 ahead of the World Record holder Qin Haiyang. Haiyang, who swept the breaststroke events at the 2023 World Championships, had a rough 100 breaststroke on night 2, finishing off the podium.

While Marchand stayed at the front of the pack and looked to let up over the closing meters, finishing with splits of 33.05 and 34.21 to touch in 2:08.11, Qin really fell off the pace, closing in 33.69 and 35.15 to touch in 5th in the heat in a time of 2:09.96. Between the two pre-meet favorites, Japan’s two entrants, Ippei Watanabe and Yu Hanaguruma, were able to sneak their way into the final, finishing 2nd and 3rd in the heat but in 5th and 7th overall. Watanabe, like Stubbelty-Cook, is a former WR holder, and while he finished 2nd to Marchand, he was unable to match Marchand’s earlier speed and still finished over a second and a half back.

American Record holder Matt Fallon would end up tying for 5th in the second semi-final in a time of 2:09.96, equal with Qin, but both miss out on tomorrow’s final as they finish 10th overall, just .07 back of 8th.

MEN’S 4×200 FREESTYLE RELAY – Final

• World Record: 6:58.55 – USA (2009)
• Olympic Record: 6:58.56 – USA (2008)
• 2021 Winning Time: 6:58.58 – Great Britain
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 7:01.84

Podium

1. Great Britain (Guy, Dean, Richards, Scott) – 6:59.43
2. USA (Hobson, Foster, Kibler, Smith) – 7:00.78
3. Australia (Giuliani, Southam, Winnington, Neill) – 7:01.98
4. China – 7:04.37
5. France – 7:04.80
6. Korea – 7:07.26
7. Japan – 7:07.48
8. Germany – 7:09.56
9. Israel – 7:10.22

When the same team from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics appeared behind the blocks for Team GB, there was a quiet confidence as the quartet looked poised to repeat as champions and the opening of the race did nothing to disprove this fact.

James Guy once again led the brits off in 1:45.09, just a few hundredths off his prelim swim. Guy, who had an off-meet at the British Trials and only made the team as part of this relay, was  rewarded for his performance as he gave the Brits a lead of .26 over the Germans.

Germany, led by Lukas Martens, the gold medal winner in the 400 free, briefly took the lead as Rafael Miroslaw flipped at the 250 mark but fell back through the field after that, ultimately finishing in 8th. Flynn Southam, Australia’s young star, took charge in the 2nd leg but was ultimately overtaken by Carson Foster and Tom Dean on the last 50.

Tom Dean, the 200 Olympic Champion in Tokyo, was 1:45.28 and pulled the Brits back into the lead just ahead of Carson Foster’s 1:45.31. From the 400-meter mark on, the Brits never stopped being in the lead as Matthew Richards, the reigning silver medalist in the event, took over for Dean, splitting 1:45.11. The US counted with Drew Kibler, who had a strong lead-off swim this morning but was flexed to the third leg and couldn’t close the gap on Richards, albeit splitting just .01 slower than Richards.

With a lead of exactly half a second, Team GB’s Duncan Scott dove in ahead of Kieran Smith. Scott, who finished off the podium in the 200 left nothing to chance and attacked the anchor leg with no abandon. Splitting a speedy 1:43.95, Scott opened up the advantage to 1.35 seconds as Smith could not keep up with his blistering pace. For his part, Smith had the fastest 200 of all of Team USA, coming home in 1:44.80 and helping his team earn the silver medal, a strong return to the podium after the squad finished off the podium in 2021.

The Australians earned their second straight Olympic bronze medal in the event, finishing 7:01.98, 2.55 seconds behind the British.