2024 Paris Olympics: Day 6 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
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• Prelims Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6
• Finals Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

DAY 6 FINALS HEAT SHEET

It’s an action-packed day 6 evening schedule, as every stroke/discipline will be contested tonight. There are four finals and three semifinals on the schedule, but only two of them are not 200s, and one is the 4×200 free relay, so it’s really just the men’s 50 free that’s bucking the trend. However, that doesn’t mean it is not going to be a fast and exciting evening. Watch along with SwimSwam’s Coleman Hodges as he is joined by Gold Medal Mel and 2008 Olympic Silver medalist Milord Cavic.

DAY 6 Finals SCHEDULE

• Women’s 200 Butterfly – Finals
• Men’s 200 Backstroke – Finals
• Men’s 50 Freestyle – Semifinals
• Women’s 200 Breaststroke – Finals
• Women’s 200 Backstroke –  Semifinals
• Men’s 200 IM – Semifinals 
• Women’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay – Final

Two of the biggest stars on the women’s side go head to head in the finals of the 200 butterfly. Top seed Summer McIntosh will occupy lane 4 as she seeks to earn her third medal of the meet and her second gold. The Canadian will be flanked by American Regan Smith, who is searching to add her first gold medal to her collection of four medals. The pair aren’t alone in the quest for gold however, as 2020 Tokyo Champion Zhang Yufei will occupy the lane on McIntosh’s other side. Like the North Americans, Zhang will be looking to add another medal to her haul after having won an individual bronze in the 100 fly.

From one 200 final to the next, the men’s 200 backstroke is second on the schedule. Not only are we guaranteed a new champion, but we are also guaranteed a whole new podium, as the entire field of finalist is different from what it was in Tokyo. Hubert Kos, the 2023 World Champion, is the front runner, but Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov may have other plans as he was bronze in Fukuoka and won silver in Doha and would love to complete the trifecta of colors. Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez, who won gold in Doha, occupies lane 8 and maybe the outside smoke that sweeps to the win. America’s lone representative, Keaton Jones, and South Africa’s Pieter Coetze, bring the youth as the pair, 19 and 20 are the youngest in the field.

From the 200 back we jump to the 50 free semis, an event where strong underwater and a perfectly timed finish are as equally important. The fastest man in the world this season, Cameron McEvoy, will have tough competition on either side of him as Ben Proud and Florent Manaudou will occupy lanes 3 and 5 in the second semifinal, a heat that also contains 2024 World champion Vladyslav Bukhov. Not to ignore the first semifinal, which pits NCAA star Jordan Crooks against Italy’s Lorenzo Zazzeri in the middle of the pool. The first semi also contains two big names in the outside lanes, who will be looking to use that clean water on their sides to get themselves into the final as Caeleb Dressel and Maxime Grousset occupy lanes 1 and 8, respectively.

The onslaught of 200s continues as we move into the last individual final of the day. Tatjana Smith looks to repeat as the Olympic Champion in the 200 breaststroke. If she wins the gold, she’ll be the first swimmer to sweep the women’s breaststroke at an Olympics since 1996, when fellow South African Penelope Heyns did so. It won’t be an easy task, however, as American Kate Douglass occupies lane 4 after posting the fastest time in the semifinals.

The semifinals of the women’s 200 back and men’s 200 IM end the individual program as Regan Smith returns to the pool. Not only will she have to contend with the double tonight, but she will also deal with a strong field headlined by China’s Peng Xuwei and 2020 silver medalist Kylie Masse. 2020 Tokyo finalist Phoebe Bacon was 4th this morning and will be looking to improve upon her placing but will have to contend with the world record holder, Kaylee McKeown, who swam an easy 2:08.89 this morning to enter tonight as the #3 seed.

Similar to the 200 back, the men’s 200 IM sees favorite Leon Marchand as the #3 seed. After the performance of last night, the Frenchman can be excused for his time this morning, but he will be given no quarter tonight as Duncan Scott, Wang Shun, and Daiya Seto will all be hungry to make tomorrow’s final, as are Americans Shaine Casas and Carson Foster.

The session ends with the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay, in which Australia blew apart the field this morning and took the top seed by over 6 seconds. With the recent gold and silver medalists Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus expected to join the relay, it’ll be a race against the clock to see if the Aussie can get close to either their World Record from 2023 or China’s Olympic record from 2021. China and the USA, who finished first and second in Tokyo, occupy lanes 3 and 6 this evening as a young team from Hungary jumped into the fray this morning.

WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – Finals

• World Record: 2:01.81 – Liu Zige, CHN (2009)
• World Junior Record: 2:04.06 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2023)
• Olympic Record: 2:03.86 – Zhang Yufei, CHN (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 2:03.86 – Zhang Yufei, CHN
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 2:05.65

Podium

1. Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 2:03.03 ***NEW OLYMPIC & JUNIOR WORLD RECORD***
2. Regan Smith (USA) – 2:03.84
3. Zhang Yufei (CHN) – 2:05.09
4. Elizabeth Dekkers (AUS)/Helena Bach (DEN) – 2:07.11
6. Alex Shackell (USA) – 2:07.73
7. Abbey Connor (AUS) – 2:08.15
8. Laura Stephens (GBR) – 2:08.82

Chasing an unworldly World Record of 2:01.81 set in the super-suited era, Regan Smith was off the blocks fastest with a .67 reaction time.  China’s Zhang Yufei, who won bronze in the 100 fly led at the 50, out in 27.08, just .3 ahead of Summer McIntosh and .52 ahead of Smith.

The trio, who were favored for the medals pre-meet, were in the same order at the 100, albeit with Zhang’s lead cut down to .16 as Zhang turned at the halfway mark in 58.81 to McIntosh’s 58.97 and Smith’s 59.36. McIntosh, in the hunt for her second gold medal took over from Zhang at the 150 wall and never looked back, as she surged down the back half of the race, with the only sub-32 3rd 50 split (31.73) and the fastest last 50 (32.33) to touch in a time of 2:03.03.

The time was not only good for gold but also vaulted the Canadian up the all-time performers list to #2 and rewrote the Canadian and Olympic Record books. Behind her, also rewriting their national record book, was Regan Smith. Smith, who was still 3rd at the 150 mark, was just .01 slower than McIntosh on the last 50, but her 32.34 was more than enough to pass Zhang, who faltered in the last 50, closing in 33.66.

Smith’s time of 2:03.84 is an improvement of .03 on her American Record from this past June and also surpasses Zhang’s former Olympic record. Zhang, who won in Tokyo in 2:03.86, was well back in 2:05.09, but still adds another individual bronze to her haul.

MEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE –Finals

• World Record: 1:51.92 – Aaron Peirsol, USA (2009)
• World Junior Record: 1:55.14 – Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2017)
• Olympic Record: 1:53.27 – Evgeny Rylov, ROC (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 1:53.27 – Evgeny Rylov, ROC
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 1:54.72

Podium

1. Hubert Kos (HUN) – 1:54.26
2. Apostolos Christou (GRE) – 1:54.82
3. Roman Mityukov (SUI) – 1:54.85
4. Mewen Tomac (FRA) – 1:55.38
5. Keaton Jones (USA) – 1:55.39
6. Hugo Gonzalez (ESP) – 1:55.47
7. Pieter Coetze (RSA) – 1:55.60
8. Lukas Martens (GER) – 1:55.97

It was a brave strategy by Apostolos Christou as the Greek attacked the field from the very get-go. Out in 26.39, the veteran Christou led by .44 over the youngster Pieter Coezte, with the top-seeded Hungarian Hubert Kos sitting in 4th at 27.06.

Kos would slowly sneak his way to the front of the back, flipping 3rd at the 100 mark (56.30) and 2nd at the 150 (1:25.38). While everyone else was slowly adding time from 50 to 50, Kos, the 2023 World Champion in this event, descended his last three lengths, splitting 29.24, 29.08, and 28.88 to pass Christou, who led from the start through the 150-meter mark.

In fact, Christou was a full second (1:24.36 to 1:25.38) ahead of Kos but paid dearly for his early speed, coming home in the only last 50 above 30 seconds (30.46) and would finish more than half a second behind Kos. Kos’s winning time of 1:54.26 was a little off his 1:54.14 from Fukuoka, but in the finals of the Olympics, placing means so much more than time. Christou would finish in 1:54.82, just .03 ahead of the fast-charging Roman Mityukov.

Mityukov was just 4th at the 100 (56.36) and was actually 5th  with a 50 to go, but surged home in 29.10 to pass both Hugo Gonzalez and Pieter Coetze in the closing meters. The Swiss star repeats his bronze medal from Fukuoka and his time of 1:54.85 not only marks his first occasion under 1:55 but also a new Swiss record.

MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – Semifinals

• World Record: 20.91 – Cesar Cielo, BRA (2009)
• World Junior Record: 21.75 – Michael Andrew, USA (2017)
• Olympic Record: 21.07 – Caeleb Dressel, USA (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 21.07 – Caeleb Dressel, USA
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 21.78

Top 8

1. Ben Proud (GBR)/ Cam McEvoy (AUS) – 21.38
3. Leonadro Deplano (ITA) – 21.50
4. Jordan Crooks (CAY) – 21.54
5. Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 21.58
6. Maxime Grousset (FRA) – 21.60
7. Kristian Gkolomeev (GRE) – 21.62
8. Florent Manaudou (FRA) – 21.64

We mentioned in the opening paragraphs of this Live Recap that Caeleb Dressel and Maxime Grousset could pose some massive threats in the 50 free as they were in the outside lanes. The pair were a little off this morning but blasted out of the starting gates and appeared to have double outside smoke alarms going off. The pair out of lanes 1 and 8 surged to the wall, but Cayman Islands swimmer Jordan Crooks reasserted his authority to take the semi-win in 21.54.

Dressel, the defending champion, placed 2nd just .04 back and .02 ahead of Grousset who touched in 21.60. In a race where a hundredth can make or break you, the trio were ahead of the next fastest finisher, Thomas Fannon, who was .20 back.

That margin between the top trio would be telling as those three would be the only three to advance from the first semifinal.

The second semifinal saw 2023 World Champion and 2022 World Champion Cam McEvoy and Ben Proud duke it out from lanes 4 and 3. Proud had the better start and the fastest reaction time of the semifinal (.58) surged out to a lead but McEvoy, who like Proud is only entered in this event, surged back to dead heat the Brit in 21.38.

The pair’s time was well ahead of Crook’s 21.54 and gained a good amount of separation in their own semifinal as they touched .12 ahead of Leonardo Deplano’s 21.50. In the conversation to medal and the third fastest swimmer out of the prelims this morning, Florent Manaudou struggled in the 50 and finished in 5th in the heat in 21.64. Fortunately, with the 1st semifinal slower than the second, the three-time medalist qualified for the final the next day in 8th.

WOMEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – Finals

• World Record: 2:17.55 – Evgeniia Chikunova, RUS (2023)
• World Junior Record: 2:19.64 – Viktoriya Gunes, TUR (2015)
• Olympic Record: 2:18.95 – Tatjana Smith, RSA (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 2:18.95 – Tatjana Smith, RSA
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 2:20.84

Podium

1. Kate Douglass (USA) – 2:19.24
2. Tatjana Smith (RSA) – 2:19.60
3. Tes Schouten (NED) – 2:21.05
4. Satomi Suzuki (JPN) – 2:22.54
5. Kotryna Teterevova (LTU) – 2:23.75
6. Ye Shiwen (CHN) – 2:24.31
7. Kaylene Corbett (RSA) – 2:24.46
8. Lilly King (USA) – 2:25.91

The battle lived up to the hype as Kate Douglass and Tatjana Smith were nearly inseparable for the entirety of the race. Smith, the defending champion and winner of the 100 breast earlier in the week, led at the first 50, hitting the wall in 31.60 ahead of Douglass’s 31.83.

The pair would swap the lead at the 100 with Douglass posting a 100 split of 1:07.09, just ahead of Smith’s 1:07.21. The Netherlands’s Tes Schouten joined the pair under 1:08 with her 1:07.57, and the trio turned all with half a second of one another onto the back half of the race.

The order would stay the same between the trio, with Douglass (35.81) just barely opening up the lead a little more by .07 over Smith (35.88), whereas Schouten fell off the pace with her split of 36.22. Just .19 separated the top two as they surged into the last 50, but Douglass started to slowly open up a lead with each stroke and would go on to win in 2:19.24.

Her time not only represents her first Olympic gold medal but also rewrites her American record of 2:19.30. For Smith, the South African earned her second medal of the meet in a time of 2:19.60 and increased her total to four Olympic medals, winning gold and silver at both the 2021 and 2024 Olympics. Schouten still could not hold onto the pace of the top two but still had enough to win the bronze in 2:21.06.

Douglass’s fellow American and the 2021 bronze medalist, Lilly King, never seemed to engage that killer speed she is known for and faded from 5th at the 100 to 8th at the finish.

WOMEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE – Semifinals

• World Record: 2:03.14 – Kaylee McKeown, AUS (2023)
• World Junior Record: 2:03.35 – Regan Smith, USA (2019)
• Olympic Record: 2:04.06 – Missy Franklin, USA (2012)
• 2021 Winning Time: 2:04.68 – Kaylee McKeown, AUS
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 2:08.76

Top 8

1. Phoebe Bacon (USA) – 2:07.32
2. Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 2:07.57
3. Honey Osrin (GBR) – 2:07.57
4. Peng Xuewi (CHN) – 2:07.86
5. Kylie Masse (CAN) – 2:07.92
6. Regan Smith (USA) – 2:08.14
7. Katie Shanahan (GBR) – 2:08.52
8. Anastasiya Shkurdai (NIA) – 2:08.79

The first semifinal was all Phoebe Bacon. The American, who placed second at US trials in both 2021 and 2024, led from start to finish. Out in 29.74, with a lead of just .03 over Canadian Kylie Masse, Bacon had expended it to .46 at the 100 as she flipped din 1:01.76 ahead of France’s Emma Terebo.

Terebo, who was looking to make her second final in front of her crowd, would go on to finish 4th in the semifinal in a time of 2:09.38, as Bacon, who led from start to finish, never looked back, winning in a convincing fashion, with a time of 2:07.32, just .22 off her semifinals from Tokyo. Joining Bacon under 2:08 was Masse, who, after slipping to 3rd at the 100, used a strong last 100 to post a mark of 2:07.92, passing Regan Smith in the closing meters. Smith, who had already set an American record in the 200 fly earlier in the session, swam a controlled race, stopping the clock in 2:08.14.

The second semi-final was a faster race, as five swimmers from this race will move on to the final tomorrow. World record holder Kaylee McKeown was out in 1:01.95 and appeared to let up a little in the 3rd 50 as Brit Honey Osrin flipped .23 ahead of her with a 50 remaining. Perhaps sensing the need to push it a little more, McKeown picked up the pace, going from 33.08 to 32.54 on the last 100 to win the semi in 2:07.57 ahead of Osrin’s 2:07.84

Katie Shanahan and Anastasiya Shkurdai also brought the heat in the last 50, closing in 32.13 and 32.17, respectively, to post times of 2:08.52 and 2:08.79. While the times were just 4th and 5th in the heat, they were enough to pass Emma Terebo’s time from the previous heat and qualify for tomorrow’s final.

MEN’S 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – Semifinals

• World Record: 1:54.00 – Ryan Lochte, USA (2011)
• World Junior Record: 1:56.99 – Hubert Kos, HUN (2021)
• Olympic Record: 1:54.23 – Michael Phelps, USA (2008)
• 2021 Winning Time: 1:55.00 – Wang Shun, CHN
• 2021 Time to Advance to Finals: 1:57.64

Top 8

1. Leon Marchand (FRA) – 1:56.31
2. Carson Foster (USA) – 1:56.37
3. Duncan Scott (GBR) – 1:56.49
4. Wang Shun (CHN) – 1:56.54
5. Daiya Seto (JPN) – 1:56.59
6. Tom Dean (GBR) – 1:56.92
7. Alberto Razzetti (ITA) – 1:57.10
8. Finlay Knox (CAN) – 1:57.76

The first semifinal was a strong field as it included both the gold and silver reigning Olympic medalists, Wang Shun and Duncan Scott. Wang led at the first turn, hitting the wall in 24.70, ahead of Carson Foster‘s 24.92. Foster, from that point, would take over the lead, hitting the back-to-breast turn in 54.01, and did not look back as he had built enough of a lead to hold off the surging Duncan Scott.

Scott, who was .81 back at the halfway point (54.82) in 3rd, output Foster in the breaststroke by .29 and came home .40 faster with the 2nd fastest frees split of 27.82 to finish in 1:56.49, behind Foster’s 1:56.37. Tom Dean, who was the 2021 Olympic Champion in the 200 free, but failed to qualify for the event individually, posted the fastest last 50 of 27.79 to pass Alberto Razzetti and finish behind Wang in 4th. For his part, the Chinese swimmer was always close to foster, just .08 back at the breast to free turn, but closed in 28.31 and ultimately fell to 3rd in the semi.

American Shaine Casas, in his first event of these Games, had the lead at the 50, going out in 24.43, but started to slip back through the field after that. Taking over for Casas in the backstroke was three-time Olympic gold medalist Leon Marchand.

The Frenchman was 3rd at the 50, but would pass both Casas and Finlay Knox and would touch first in a time of 1:56.31. Japanese veteran Daiya Seto was 4th after the 100 but surged in the breaststroke leg to touch 2nd with one 50 remaining and actually outsplit Marchand on the last 50 (28.52 vs 29.11) to touch in 1:56.59. Knox, who had split from 2nd to 6th after a poor breaststroke split, surged home to outtouch Casas 1:57.76 to 1:57.82, earning the last spot in the final tomorrow.

WOMEN’S 4×200 FREESTYLE RELAY – Semifinals

• World Record: 7:37.50 – Australia (2023)
• Olympic Record: 7:40.33 – China (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 7:40.33 – China (2021)
• 2021 Time to Win Bronze: 7:41.29

Podium

1. Australia (M. O’Callaghan, L. Pallister, B. Throssell, A. Titmus) – 7:38.08 ***NEW OLYMPIC RECORD***
2. USA (C. Weinstein, P. Madden, K. Ledecky, E. Gemmell) – 7:40.86
3. China (Yang J., Li, B., Ge, C., Liu, Y.) – 7:42.34
4. Canada – 7:46.05
5. Great Britain – 7:48.23
6. Hungary – 7:50.52
7. Brazil – 7:52.90
8. New Zealand – 7:55.89

The last race of the evening saw multiple records fall; albeit in different forms.

The quartet of Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Brianna Throssell, and Ariarne Tirmus combined to knock down the Olympic Record of 7:40.33 set in 2021 by the Chinese. O’Callaghan opened up in 1:53.52 just a little off her 1:53.27 individual win from a few nights ago. From MOC, the Aussies turned to Lani Pallister, who had to withdraw from the 1500 due to testing positive for COVID, and to Brianna Throssell for the middle legs. The two splitting, 1:55.61 and 1:56.00, were both a little slower than their swims this morning, 1:55.74 (leadoff) and 1:55.82, but were still fast enough to have a lead over all their competition.

However, the lead was much smaller than it was this morning as both China and the United States brought in new swimmers and put them all at the beginning of the race. China’s front two, Yang Junxuan and Li Bingjie, had the Chinese within .44 of the Aussies, while the American pair of Claire Weinstein and Paige Madden were just 1.4 away from the Aussies. Weinstein’s opening leg of 1:54.88 is of particular note as it would have placed 4th in the individual final and was a 1.72-second improvement on her time from that final.

Katie Ledecky’s third split of 1:54.93, compared to China’s Ge Chulong’s split of 1:57.45, saw the two nations flip-flop their spots and had the Americans just .33 behind the Australians with one leg left. In her first Olympics, Erin Gemmell did her best to run down the individual 200 world record holder Ariarne Titmus, posting a split of 1:55.40, but she could not keep up with Titmus’s 1:52.95.

The Australians’ final time of 7:38.08, while off their own World Record, was the second-fastest time ever and just .58 off their time from Fukuoka. The Australians remain the only nation to have swum sub-7:40.

Also making history in her own right was Katie Ledecky, who, by virtue of the USA silver winning time of 7:40.86, earned her 13th Olympic medal, the most ever by a female. As a team, the US posted the 6th fastest time ever and just .13 off the American record of 7:40.73 from Tokyo, which both Madden and Ledecky were a part of.