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
- Rio Schedule & Results
- Live Stream (NBC)
On day 5 of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, World Record holder Cate Campbell swam her way to a new Olympic Record in the women’s 100 free prelims. Campbell, the Australian sprint star who is the heavy favorite for Olympic gold, posted a 52.78 to take the top seed heading into semis tonight.
Campbell cleared the old Olympic record of 53.00, which was set by the Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo at the 2012 London Olympics. A look at the splits will show that Kromowidjojo’s 2nd 50 was slightly faster when she set that record than Campbell’s 2nd 50 was this morning. However, Campbell was clearly swimming catch up freestyle at the end of her race this morning, and should have more in the tank for semis and finals.
Splits Comparison:
| Swimmer | 1st 50 | 2nd 50 | Final Time |
| Cate Campbell | 25.39 | 27.39 | 52.78 |
| Ranomi Kromowidjojo | 25.76 | 27.24 | 53.00 |
Earlier this year, Campbell set the World Record in this race in what wasn’t even a major meet. At the Australian Grand Prix in early July, she rocked a 52.06 to clear the former World Record mark by a hundredth of a second. At these Games, we could see her become the first woman to ever swim sub-52 in the 100 free.
I just want her to win gold…all this time talk is meaningless without it!
Amen brother !! What were her 4×100 relays splits ?? 51.7 & 51.9 ….. and its crazy to say she was holding back given she was only handed a narrow lead. Given the usual adjustments, that would suggest flat start of 52mid. That in itself would probably win it; anything south of 52.5 would definitely do so as the only person who’s been near that mark is C2 …. and she’s not in the same condition as last year.
C1 SHOULD be faster tonight & tomorrow night but 51 …… just not seeing it
WHY are you getting three thumbs down? That is BS. God, I can’t stand internet trolls.
It looked sooo easy. I could see her going 51 in finals.
She always looks that easy; when she set the WR it looked like a warm-up swim. But yes I expect she’ll be going faster tonight and tomorrow…
51.6 in Finals. Time for the men to get over about 8 to 16 years of stagnation in freestyle events from 100 to 400 meters.
Cate is lucky that Ledecky has not yet trained for 100.
I don’t think anyone could train to go 51+ in the 100 and also go as fast as Katie is going in the 400, 800, and 1500. Too much crossover fibers would have to be rerouted.
That is as stupid a comment as Ledecky is lucky Campbell has not trained for the 200.
Ledecky has swum a half-decent 100m time and C. Campbell has not done the same for the 200m. Not to say she couldn’t, theoretically, but there is evidence for the former and not the latter.
Ledecky in my opinion is the greatest freestyle swimmer of all time. She has 2 golds in the 200 & 400 & will also win the 800, just in awe of this performance. However, she is not in Cate’s league in the 100 & no amount of training will change that. Let’s get real.
Tokyo 2020 4×100 free relay USA trailing after bronte enters. Rowdy I just don’t think they can do it Dan the problem is cate split a 50.80 in prelims. And at the wall bronte hands it to cate who can absolutely fly. Into the water for the U.S. is Katie ledecky looking to win 7 gold medals. Looks like the US will settle for silver here. But wait here comes ledecky on Cate, can the veteran chase her down. well there’s no doubt she’s tightening up. Does she get it? She does Katie ledecky has done it and keeps her gold medal hopes alive