Melvin Imoudu Wins 100 Breast Swim-Off; Two Germans in Final

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Germany’s Melvin Imoudu and Italy’s Ludovico Blu Art Viberti tied for 8th in the second semifinal of the men’s 100 breast. Both men swam 59.38, improving from a 59.49 and 59.93 prelims effort respectively.

Viberti was just off his PB of 59.27, while Imoudu earned Euros gold in 58.84 last June.

Both swimmers added time in the swim-off, but Imoudu got his hand to the wall first and earned a semifinals berth for tomorrow night. The German split 28.11/31.58 to clock 59.69, his slowest 100 breast effort of the Games so far.

Viberti wasn’t far behind, opening in 28.28 and closing in 31.62, but he fell 0.21-hundredths shy of making his first Olympic final. This is both athletes’ first Olympic Games.

With that, Imoudu will join teammate Lucas Matzerath in the final. They will swim in the outside lanes during tomorrow’s finals session. That makes it two countries who put both of their individual entrants in this final: Germany and the Netherlands.

It’s an extremely close field in the men’s 100 breast. All 16 semifinalists were separated by less than a second after prelims, and that gap has narrowed to just over half-a-second going into the final (considering Imoudu and Viberti’s original times). Great Britain’s Adam Peaty has the middle lane for tomorrow night where he will look to make it a three-peat, but it looks like a final where anything could happen.