The United States have won every individual (pool) event included in the current swimming Olympic program – with the obvious exception of the men’s 800 freestyle and women’s 1500 freestyle, which will make their debut in Tokyo next summer.
There are some events in which the United States have a long winning streak, such as the men’s 100 and 200 backstroke, where the last U.S. defeat in both came in 1992.
But there are some other events that the American swimmers have not been able to win for multiple decades. Instagram’s Swimming Stats page has published the longest current U.S. gold medal dry spells in Olympic individual events.
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(Note that the marathon swimming event, introduced in 2008, is not taken into account. By the way, the United States have never won a gold medal in the 10 km in Olympics.)
Considering the 26 individual events contested in the 2016 Olympics, the United States has won 17 of them at least once in the last two Olympic Games. So, there is not much room for many extended dry streaks.
But, there are a few of them.
The last time American swimmers won the men’s 400 free, the men’s 1500 free and the women’s 200 IM was in 1984 – 37 years ago.
These are not the longest dry spells of the United States in swimming individual events in Olympic history. No American swimmer won the women’s 200 breast from 1924 – the event’s Olympic debut – until 1968. In other words, the event didn’t have an American swimmer on the top of the podium for 44 years.
What are the odds for the USA to repeat those 1984 victories?
In the women’s 200 IM, Kathleen Baker and Melanie Margalis swam in the 2:08 territory in 2019, and the only one who has cracked 2:08 since then has been Katinka Hosszu. If the Iron Lady is not at her best in Tokyo, the Americans might have a shot.
A gold medal in the men’s distance events, however, is more unlikely. The fastest swimmer in the 400 free has been Zane Grothe, but he will have to swim significantly faster than his 3:45 from the 2019 World Championships to even reach the podium. In the 1500 free, Bobby Finke has been the fastest American with a 14:51, and probably it will take a sub 14:40 to medal in Tokyo.
It has been a while since we saw American swimmers at the top of the world rankings in the men’s distance events. And, given today’s scenario, it seems that won’t be changing anytime soon. So, it is not going to be a surprise if the United States do not win gold medals in the men’s 400 and 1500 free (and the 800) in 2021 and 2024. If this happens, the longest U.S. dry spell in swimming will be equaled.
On the other hand, since 1984 on the women’s side, we’ve seen the emergence of athletes like Janet Evans, Brooke Bennett, and Katie Ledecky – some of the greatest distance swimmers of all time, each of them having won three Olympic gold medals in the 400 and 800 free.
These numbers show the huge gap between the much-decorated female distance swimmers from the United States in the last couple of decades and the not-so decorated male swimmers. What can be done for the American male swimmers to reach the top of the podium once again in the distance events?
Longest drought…during the last four decades, we had a medals and podiums in mentioned events – klete, larsen, vendt, pvk, thompson, jeager.. tough characters. But also, it was a tough field of euros and aussies. Not gold(s) won, but still respectable performances..perhaps, we need to ask the “last of mohicans” how to get there – ms.ledecky or even better, coach gemmell
No one wants to do the “dirty work” and spend a few extra long hours in the pool. You mentioned Katie’s name on the deck, half mens field in a mile would s… their suits. Millennials or today’s athletes, (and coaches) believe more in USRPT not knowing how to deliver it at the big stage.
I truly… Read more »
There are pros and cons to the US system. I think the problem with the lack of distance success is rooted in training for yards which means less time under tension. I do think Europeans train differently than Americans and maybe that explains why they tend to have better distance swimmers. However it is pretty crazy that the US has 6-7 guys that go under 48. Some places in Europe are still just trying to get one guy under 49!
True. Maybe since SCY allows for a higher frequency,it is not so detrimental to the women. As in they can more easily transition the higher frequency learned in SCY to LCM. In a way maybe it’s what makes them so good? Whilst the men need rely more on the actually catching good water for long periods of time because it will be harder for them to hold high frequencies, as opposed to the woman who can clearly do it well.
Still Adrian was the olympic champion in 100 free (London 2012) since Biondi in 88 (Popov 92&96, Van den Hoogenband 00&04, Bernard in 08 and Chalmers in 16). And in my opinion Chalmer will earn gold again.
Wilimovsky could medal in the 1500 too
Really don’t see that happening. He has been like 14.45 whereas Romanchuk, Wellbrock and Paltrinieri have all been 14.36 or faster.
Plus Wilimovsky doesn’t have as much speed to close on the last 100 as Wellbrock or Romanchuk. Neither does Paltrinieri.
Will be a fun one to watch anyways !
I agree. But as history shows, anyone with a sub 14:40 PB can have a bad day, loose cap or goggles and Jordan will take that opening.
Nobody is taking into account Franko Grgic, who swam 14.46 in 2019 at age 16 (junior olympic champion and junior world record). He just turned 18 in January and will earn gold in my opinion.
I actually see some of our girls beating Katinka out this time around. I don’t see her sweeping events like she used to.
The Jaeger erasure in this thread is shameful. We’ve gotten silver at 2 of the last 4 Olympics in the 1500!
Dean Farris wins gold in 400 free, then whilst cooling down with an easy 1500, wins gold in that as well.
Truth be told, American SCY and NCAA success has zero burden on success LCM. They’re two pretty different things to begin with, and as SCY swimming develops even more, with more people cranking turns and underwaters and perfecting starts, the gap will be even more apparent. With events like the 200 medley and free relays scoring huge points at NCAAs, the 50-100 free sprinters who can only swim SCY will continue to be the dominators in American swimming. In my opinion, it’s soft. Everyone wants to see the flash and dash of a guy crushing underwaters in a 50-100-200. There’s no American clout in being a great distance swimmer and it’s not beneficial to NCAA teams to have someone who… Read more »
Alex Walsh is one to watch at trials in the 200IM, her best event. Already a 2:09 flat under her belt from 2019, which broke the 17-18 NAG.