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
- Entry Lists
- Live Results
- 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
Claire Weinstein clocked a personal-best 1:54.88 leading off the U.S. women’s 4×200 freestyle relay, becoming the fourth-fastest American ever in the 200 free at just 17 years old.
Weinstein dropped a few tenths off her previous-best 1:55.24 from the 200 free semifinals earlier this week. Her best time before this week stood at 1:55.26 from last June.
Weinstein put her American squad in 3rd place after her leadoff leg before Paige Madden (1:55.65), Katie Ledecky (1:54.93), and Erin Gemmell (1:55.40) brought home a runner-up finish in 7:40.86 behind Australia (7:38.08). The silver medal represents Weinstein’s first Olympic medal of any color, while Ledecky became the most decorated U.S. female Olympian in the process.
Among American women, only Allison Schmitt (1:53.61), Ledecky (1:53.73), and Missy Franklin (1:54.81) have been faster than Weinstein’s 1:54.88 on Thursday night in Paris. The Sandpipers of Nevada product now ranks No. 19 all-time.
Fastest Americans, Women’s 200 Free
- Allison Schmitt – 1:53.61, 2012
- Katie Ledecky – 1:53.73, 2016
- Missy Franklin – 1:54.81, 2013
- Claire Weinstein – 1:54.88, 2024
- Dana Vollmer – 1:55.29, 2009
At last month’s U.S. Olympic Trials, Weinstein placed 2nd behind Ledecky (1:55.22) with a time of 1:56.18. One of six high schoolers competing for Team USA in Paris, Weinstein is committed to Cal for next fall. She’s incredibly versatile, having dominated the women’s 10km at the 2023 Open Water Swimming World Cup stop in Portugal last December.
When moving to Las Vegas in 2021, Weinstein was a 1:58.9 200 freestyler already, entering into an entirely different training program than what she was with in New York. The year-by-year progression since has been 1:56.7-1:55.2-1:54.8, and she’s now solidly one of the best domestic 200 freestylers ever. Given how much a change of scenery can throw off an already-impressive athlete, Ron and Sandpipers absolutely deserve credit for guiding Weinstein’s growth from a great 200 freestyler into a world-class one. Congratulations!
Nice. Only up from here
Great swim for all – amazing race!
Only wish Claire would have done a swim like this in the individual 200 free final. She’s so inconsistent. Hopefully, Cal will help her to be more consistent.
Great work, kiddo!
Now, if Anthony Nesty can get Bella Sims back on track.
I had a coach who used to say that there’s a special place in Heaven for swimmers who do their best times while leading off relays. Great swim, Claire. Looking forward to watching your progress and be a force four years from now in Los Angeles.
I think we’ve found our new 200 freestyler for years to come! Looks like Ron’s “not tapering till Paris” worked for someone!
Not getting a taper for over a year, let alone 3 is a crime. Those Sandpiper swimmers must be miserable
“Miserable” and medaling at the Olympics? Let great coaches coach great swimmers and take your second tier comments elsewhere.
You guys need to get off the never taper concept being such a big deal. Many top swimmers cycle through their training with periods of work and recovery on a regular basis. If you look at the Sandpipers results through a season, they are doing this and swim very well frequently. The whole point of the conversation between swimmer and coach in the famous “no taper” concept that Grimes talked about was that the one and only focus for a swimmer of her level at that point was going to be the Olympic Games. That concept is repeated here by commenters on a regular basis often mocking the idea that anything else is of any significance. Stop taking it out… Read more »