Slow Pool? Only 2 Men Under 1:46 In 200 Free This Morning After 10 Did So In Tokyo Prelims

The top times during the first prelims session yesterday were slower than they were in Tokyo three years ago. That narrative continued today, with the men’s 200 freestyle showing a clear difference in times.

10 men swam under the 1:46 mark during prelims in Tokyo but only two swimmers, David Popovici of Romania and Danas Rapsys of Lithuania did so today.

Number Of Sub-1:46 Prelims Swims In Recent Olympics

Olympic Games
# of sub-1:46 swims in prelims
Paris 2
Tokyo 10
Rio 4
London 0
Beijing 1

Even with “swim-flation” as a big topic lately, it did not strike this morning in the event. Based on the data, Tokyo’s 10 looks to be a large increase but today’s two seems to be an outlier on the lower end, especially once one factors in the typical “swim-flation” and continued increase in competition over time.

The men’s 200 freestyle was not the only race this morning that was slower. Out of the five prelims races, four out of the five top qualifiers for tonight swam slower times than the top qualifier in Tokyo. The lone exception was Leon Marchand in the 400 IM. The bottom of tonight’s qualifiers also displayed the same result, with four out of the five events being slower and the women’s 100 breast was the only exception.

It only took a 1:47.39 to make it back in the men’s 200 free this morning which also was the same exact time it took to make it back in the event at US Olympic Trials. Credit to Instagram user @roger_miret for catching this stat.

Men’s 200 Freestyle, Prelims Comparison vs Tokyo

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1 Hwang Sun-woo South Korea 1:44.62 1 David Popovici Romania 1:45.65
2 Fernando Scheffer Brazil 1:45.05 2 Danas Rapsys Lithuania 1:45.91
3 Thomas Dean Great Britain 1:45.24 3 Lucas Henveuax Belgium 1:46.04
4 David Popovici Romania 1:45.32 4 Hwang Sunwoo South Korea 1:46.13
5 Duncan Scott Great Britain 1:45.37 5 Maximillian Giuliani Australia 1:46.15
6 Martin Malyutin ROC 1:45.50 6 Matt Richards Great Britain 1:46.19
7 Stefano Ballo Italy 1:45.80 7 Katsuhiro Matsumoto Japan 1:46.23
8 Thomas Neill Australia 1:45.81 8 Luke Hobson USA 1:46.23
9 Danas Rapšys Lithuania 1:45.84 9 Thomas Neill Australia 1:46.27
10 Townley Haas United States 1:45.86 10 Lukas Maertens Germany 1:46.33
11 Kregor Zirk Estonia 1:46.10 11 Duncan Scott Great Britain 1:46.34
12 Nándor Németh Hungary 1:46.19 12 Kim Woomin South Korea 1:46.64
13 Kieran Smith United States 1:46.20 13 Rafael Miroslaw Germany 1:46.81
14 Velimir Stjepanović Serbia 1:46.26 14 Denis Loktev Israel 1:47.01
15 Antonio Djakovic Switzerland 1:46.37 15 Alessandro Ragaini Italy 1:47.31
16 Stefano Di Cola Italy 1:46.67 16 Filippo Megli Italy 1:47.39

Men’s 100 Backstroke

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1 Kliment Kolesnikov ROC 52.15 1 Hubert Kos Hungary 52.78
2 Thomas Ceccon Italy 52.49 2 Pieter Coetze South Africa 52.9
3 Xu Jiayu China 52.7 3 Apostolos Christou Greece 52.95
4 Mitch Larkin Australia 52.97 4 Ryan Murphy USA 53.06
5 Ryosuke Irie Japan 52.99 5 Ksawery Masuik Poland 53.08
6 Yohann Ndoye-Brouard France 53.13 6 Yohann Ndoye-Brouard France 53.2
7
Evgeny Rylov ROC 53.22 7 Xu Jiayu China 53.2
Ryan Murphy United States 53.22 8 Evangelos Makrygiannis Greece 53.24
9 Hugo González Spain 53.45 9 Hunter Armstrong USA 53.34
10 Mewen Tomac France 53.49 10 Miroslav Knedla Czech Republic 53.41
11 Guilherme Guido Brazil 53.65 11 Oliver Morgan Great Britain 53.44
12 Robert Glință Romania 53.67 12 Thomas Ceccon Italy 53.45
13 Isaac Cooper Australia 53.73 13 Mewen Tomax France 53.51
14 Marek Ulrich Germany 53.74 14 Hugo Gonzalez Spain 53.68
15
Hunter Armstrong United States 53.77 15 Blake Tierney Canada 53.89
Apostolos Christou Greece 53.77 16 Jonny Marshall Great Britain 53.93

Men’s 400 IM

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1 Brendon Smith Australia 4:09.27 1 Leon Marchand France 4:08.30
2 Lewis Clareburt New Zealand 4:09.49 2 Max Litchfield Great Britain 4:09.51
3 Chase Kalisz United States 4:09.65 3 Daiya Seto Japan 4:10.92
4 Dávid Verrasztó Hungary 4:09.80 4 Carson Foster USA 4:11.07
5 Jay Litherland United States 4:09.91 5 Tomoyuki Matsushita Japan 4:11.18
5 Alberto Razzetti Italy 4:09.91 6 Alberto Razzetti Italy 4:11.52
7 Léon Marchand France 4:10.09 6 Lewis Clareburt New Zealand 4:11.52
8 Max Litchfield Great Britain 4:10.20 6 Cedric Buessing Germany 4:11.52

Women’s 200 Freestyle

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1 Katie Ledecky United States 1:55.28 1 Mollie O’Callaghan Australia 1:55.79
2 Penny Oleksiak Canada 1:55.38 2 Mary-Sophie Harvey Canada 1:56.21
3 Madison Wilson Australia 1:55.87 3 Ariarne Titmus Australia 1:56.23
4 Ariarne Titmus Australia 1:55.88 4 Li Bingjie China 1:56.28
5 Summer McIntosh Canada 1:56.11 5 Siobhan Haughey Hong Kong 1:56.38
6 Yang Junxuan China 1:56.17 6 Claire Weinstein USA 1:56.48
7 Barbora Seemanová Czech Republic 1:56.38 7 Erika Fairweather New Zealand 1:56.54
8 Siobhán Haughey Hong Kong 1:56.48 8 Maria Fernanda Costa Brazil 1:56.65
9 Isabel Marie Gose Germany 1:56.80 9 Yang Junxuan China 1:56.83
10 Charlotte Bonnet France 1:56.88 10 Barbora Seemanova Czech Republic 1:57.02
11 Freya Anderson Great Britain 1:56.96 11 Erin Gemmell USA 1:57.23
12 Allison Schmitt United States 1:57.10 12 Valentine Dumont Belgium 1:57.50
13 Annika Bruhn Germany 1:57.15 13 Minna Abraham Hungary 1:57.77
14 Erika Fairweather New Zealand 1:57.26 14 Aimee Canee South Africa 1:57.81
15 Federica Pellegrini Italy 1:57.33 15 Snaefridur Sol Jorunnardottir Iceland 1:58.32
16 Valeriya Salamatina ROC 1:58.33 16 Rebecca-Aimme Diaconescu Romania 1:59.29

Women’s 100 breast

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1 Tatjana Schoenmaker South Africa 1:04.82 1 Tatjana Smith South Africa 1:05.00
2 Lydia Jacoby United States 1:05.52 2 Tang Qianting China 1:05.63
3 Lilly King United States 1:05.55 3 Mona McSharry Ireland 1:05.74
4 Sophie Hansson Sweden 1:05.66 4 Satomi Suzuki Japan 1:06.04
5 Martina Carraro Italy 1:05.85 5 Lilly King USA 1:06.10
6 Evgeniia Chikunova ROC 1:06.16 6 Benedetta Pilato Italy 1:06.19
7 Ida Hulkko Finland 1:06.19 7 Anastasia Gorbenko Israel 1:06.22
8 Yuliya Yefimova ROC 1:06.21 8 Eneli Jefimova Estonia 1:06.24
9 Mona McSharry Ireland 1:06.39 9 Lisa Angiolini Italy 1:06.27
10 Tang Qianting China 1:06.47 10 Ruta Meilutyte Lithuania 1:06.34
11 Sarah Vasey Great Britain 1:06.61 11 Alina Zmushka Individual Neutral Athlete 1:06.37
12 Chelsea Hodges Australia 1:06.70 12 Angharad Evans Great Britain 1:06.38
13 Lisa Mamié Switzerland 1:06.76 13 Sophie Hansson Sweden 1:06.66
14 Eneli Jefimova Estonia 1:06.79 14 Tes Schouten Netherlands 1:06.69
15 Kotryna Teterevkova Lithuania 1:06.82 15 Kotryna Teterevkova Lithuania 1:06.76
16 Anna Elendt Germany 1:06.96 16 Macarena Ceballos Argentina 1:06.89

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Zach
3 months ago

Can’t believe we have to wait 4 more years until a world record falls in the Olympics 😭

YGBSM
3 months ago

Yes. It is a slow(er) pool.

Willswim
3 months ago

“Sure we built the pool slow, but give us some credit, at least we didn’t fill it with E. coli.”

– Paris Olympic Planning Committee (probably)

Swammer
3 months ago

France trying to give every Frenchman not named Leon a chance.

In all reality, there are community rec centers in America that are better than this pool

BR32
Reply to  Swammer
3 months ago

The shitty end of season meet I just swam at had a better pool than the Olympics 😂

Tencor
3 months ago

Peaty said in an interview that it’s “really tough on that back end” and Qin has said to a Chinese reporter something similar along the lines of he feels in form but can’t execute it especially in the back half. At least for Breaststrokers it really looks like they’re struggling and something is happening from the yellow into the walls.

https://www.bundle.app/en/breakingNews/titmus-shrugs-off-pressure-to-win-gold-as-peaty-sets-up-qin-haiyang-showdown-BE7BB6C4-3143-4738-9A6D-EFB11CCD25AA

Last edited 3 months ago by Tencor
Sapiens Ursus
Reply to  Tencor
3 months ago

Yeah I’ve noticed the length towards the blocks seems to be where everyone is slowing down, it’s making me wonder if there’s a 2013 barcelona style current.

The water also seems to be getting chopier as the sessions go on. There’s so many other potential factors and so little data right now it’s hard to say we know anything but that first prelim session the athletes themselves seemed a bit mythed by the times. If it is a “slow pool” I’m just kinda confuaed as the olympics kinda always get that right

Dan
Reply to  Sapiens Ursus
3 months ago

I think they are using the same company that has done a lot of other pools, which makes me wonder why they did not use the same setup (ex. they did the US Trials pool). Ex. Why is the pool not as deep as many of the past pools?

Stewie
Reply to  Sapiens Ursus
3 months ago

Well if there is, shouldn’t they be faster on the way in?

Last edited 3 months ago by Stewie
Tencor
Reply to  Stewie
3 months ago

You’re in the air and not in the pool on the way in though

KSW
Reply to  Tencor
3 months ago

there are more waves the closer you get to the wall

Zach
Reply to  Tencor
3 months ago

Don’t want to be a Karen in this article but they got their lane assignments wrong for the 400 Free final. Ledecky was in 4, Titmus in 5, and McIntosh in 6.

justanopinion
3 months ago

Asking legit question because I don’t know and not trying to be judgy, but tying 2 threads together…..what’s the chance that allowing a lot more Inclusivity athletes in who are not as fast and keeping “B” standard athletes out of the meet who are relatively fast — and technically could be B finalists have had an effect on this meet?
There are solid B swimmers from South America for example (thinking Pan Am Games finalists etc) who are not here that could be rounding out a faster bottom end of the top 16.
If you look at the Top 8, it’s a little slower — but honestly not much in the events that have Semis. But the 13-16… Read more »

Admin
Reply to  justanopinion
3 months ago

I think probably some impact but not huge. That doesn’t really impact the top 8 being slower, for example.

Willswim
3 months ago

Can you imagine if Doha sees a world record but Paris doesn’t?

Miself
Reply to  Willswim
3 months ago

I can definitely imagine that right now but I do firmly believe that Leon will be at least very close to his world record tonight

Willswim
Reply to  Miself
3 months ago

G. Walsh’s semi and Pan’s relay times weren’t that far off either. Also the Australian women’s 4×200 should probably be there too.

Atticus
3 months ago

Saying the pool is not slow is pure cope. It’s slow, even if a few sneak through the chop for massive times. They don’t even have a buffer on the outside lanes.

Dan
Reply to  Atticus
3 months ago

I think the outside lanes are the buffer area as they are not using lane 0 or lane 9

Fly You Fools
Reply to  Dan
3 months ago

You’re right, there are outside lanes.

Last edited 3 months ago by Fly You Fools

About Anya Pelshaw

Anya Pelshaw

Anya has been with SwimSwam since June 2021 as both a writer and social media coordinator. She was in attendance at the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Women's NCAA Championships writing and doing social media for SwimSwam. She also attended 2023 US Summer Nationals as well as the 2024 European Championships …

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