2020 TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
- When: Pool swimming: Saturday, July 24 – Sunday, August 1, 2021
- Open Water swimming: Wednesday, August 4 – Thursday, August 5, 2021
- Where: Olympic Aquatics Centre / Tokyo, Japan
- Heats: 7 PM / Semifinals & Finals: 10:30 AM (Local time)
- Full aquatics schedule
- SwimSwam Event Previews
- Entry Lists
- Live Results
- Day 3 Prelims Heat Sheet
Tonight’s four prelims events will feature all four reigning world record-holders.
The women’s 200 free is the highlight, because the world record-holder doesn’t come in as the gold medal favorite. Italy’s Federica Pellegrini has been a staple of the world swimming stage in this event winning World Championships medals in 2009 (gold), 2011 (gold), 2013 (silver), 2015 (silver), 2017 (gold) and 2019 (gold). Despite that decade of dominance and her world record from 2009, Pellegrini comes into the event trailing Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, a 20-year-old breakout star who went 1:53.0 at Australian Olympic Trials to rattle Pellegrini’s 12-year-old record.
And you can’t count out 2016 Olympic champ Katie Ledecky of the United States. Titmus, Pellegrini, and Ledecky will lead the three circle-seeded heats tonight.
Ledecky will swim twice in the session – she’s also the top seed and gold medal favorite in the 1500 free, where she’s the runaway world record-holder.
In between, Hungary’s Kristof Milak heads the 200 fly, where he broke Michael Phelps’ world record back at the 2019 World Championships. And in the 200 IM, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu is the world record-holder and reigning Olympic champ. She’s won four consecutive world titles in the event.
Women’s 200 freestyle
- World Record: Federica Pellegrini (ITA) – 1:52.98 (2009)
- Olympic Record: Allison Schmitt (USA) – 1:53.61 (2012)
- World Junior Record: Yang Junxuan (CHN) – 1:55.43 (2019)
- 2016 Olympic Champion: Katie Ledecky (USA) – 1:53.73
- SwimSwam Event Preview – Women’s 200 freestyle
Top 16 Qualifiers:
- Katie Ledecky (USA) – 1:55.28
- Penny Oleksiak (CAN) – 1:55.38
- Madison Wilson (AUS) – 1:55.87
- Ariarne Titmus (AUS) – 1:55.88
- Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 1:56.11
- Yang Junxuan (CHN) – 1:56.17
- Barbora Seemanova (CZE) – 1:56.38
- Siobhan Haughey (HKG) – 1:56.48
- Isabel Gose (GER) – 1:56.80
- Charlotte Bonnet (FRA) – 1:56.88
- Freya Anderson (GBR) – 1:56.96
- Allison Schmitt (USA) – 1:57.10
- Annika Bruhn (GER) – 1:57.15
- Erika Fairweather (NZL) – 1:57.26
- Federica Pellegrini (ITA) – 1:57.33
- Valeriia Salamatina (ROC) – 1:58.33
There were no earth-shattering times in heats of the women’s 200 free, but the event was probably faster than it could have been, with so many of this morning’s 400 free finalists returning to qualify here. Katie Ledecky is coming off of her first-ever individual loss in an Olympic final, and she bounced back nicely with the top time in heats.
Ledecky was 1:55.28, only about a tenth slower than she went at U.S. Trials in the final. She’s still about six-tenths of a second off her season-best of 1:54.44 from the Mission Viejo Pro Swim Series.
Both Canadians had nice swims. Penny Oleksiak broke 1:56 for the first time in her career, qualifying second behind Ledecky. And 14-year-old Summer McIntosh cut almost a tenth of a second to finish 5th.
Australia will also advance two to the semifinals. Madison Wilson went 1:55.87 and 400 free gold medalist Ariarne Titmus 1:55.88, joining Ledecky and Oleksiak as the only swimmers under 1:56 in heats.
Most of the top contenders moved on, though two-time defending world champ Federica Pellegrini of Italy barely snuck in in 15th. She was still a full second from missing semis, though, as the depth dropped off precipitously.
6 of the 8 swimmers in last night’s 400 free final competed in this event. Titmus, Ledecky, McIntosh, Isabel Gose and Erika Fairweather all moved on, while China’s Li Bingjie missed semis in 20th. She was the 13th seed coming in.
Men’s 200 butterfly
- World Record: Kristof Milak (HUN) – 1:50.73 (2019)
- Olympic Record: Michael Phelps (USA) – 1:52.03 (2008)
- World Junior Record: Kristof Milak (HUN) – 1:52.71 (2018)
- 2016 Olympic Champion: Michael Phelps (USA) – 1:53.36
- SwimSwam Event Preview – Men’s 200 butterfly
Top 16 Qualifiers:
- Kristof Milak (HUN) – 1:53.58
- Kuan-Hung Wang (TPE) – 1:54.44
- Leonardo de Deus (BRA) – 1:54.83
- Zach Harting (USA) – 1:54.92
- Noe Ponti (SUI) – 1:55.05
- Tomoru Honda (JPN) – 1:55.10
- Federico Burdisso (ITA) – 1:55.14
- Tamas Kenderesi (HUN) – 1:55.18
- Daiya Seto (JPN) – 1:55.26
- Giacomo Carini (ITA) – 1:55.33
- Gunnar Bentz (USA) – 1:55.46
- Aleksandr Kudashev (ROC) – 1:55.54
- Krzysztof Chmielewski (POL) – 1:55.77
- Louis Croenen (BEL) – 1:55.78
- Leon Marchand (FRA) – 1:55.85
- Chad le Clos (RSA) – 1:55.96
Hungary’s Kristof Milak wasted no time in reminding everyone just how dominant he has become in this event. Milak blew out the prelims field in 1:53.58, a time that ranks just outside the top 25 performances of all-time.
Milak, of course, owns the fastest performance of all-time with his world-record swim from the 2019 World Championships. The 21-year-old is heavily favored to win tomorrow night’s final for his first Olympic medal of any kind. He’s now only about a second and a half off the Olympic record held by Michael Phelps.
Kuan-Hung Wang, known to many as Eddie Wang of the ISL, set a new national record for Taipei, going 1:54.44. That was part of a flood of national records here, including a Swiss record for Noe Ponti (1:55.05) and a Norwegian record for Tomoe Hvas (1:56.30).
Joining Milak and Wang under 1:55 this morning were Brazil’s Leonardo de Deus (1:54.83) and Team USA’s Zach Harting (1:54.92). Both were lifetime-bests. De Deus cut a few hundredths from his own career-best time and is now about seven-tenths off the national record.
Harting managed to get faster in each of his three swims at U.S. Olympic Trials (1:55.3/1:55.2/1:55.0) without hitting a personal best. But his swim tonight was his first time ever under 1:55, bettering his 1:55.06 from 2018.
The youngest semifinalist will be Poland’s Krzysztof Chmielewski, who is just 17. He was 13th in 1:55.77.
Women’s 200 individual medley
- World Record: Katinka Hosszu (HUN) – 2:06.12 (2015)
- Olympic Record: Katinka Hosszu (HUN) – 2:06.58 (2016)
- World Junior Record: Yu Yiting (CHN) – 2:09.64 (2021)
- 2016 Olympic Champion: Katinka Hosszu (HUN) – 2:06.58
- SwimSwam Event Preview – Women’s 200 individual medley
Top 16 Qualifiers:
- Kate Douglass (USA) – 2:09.16
- Katinka Hosszu (HUN) – 2:09.70
- Abbie Wood (GBR) / Alex Walsh (USA) – 2:09.94
- —
- Maria Ugolkova (SUI) – 2:10.04
- Sydney Pickrem (CAN) – 2:10.13
- Anastasia Gorbenko (ISR) – 2:10.21
- Yu Yiting (CHN) – 2:10.22
- Alicia Wilson (GBR) – 2:10.39
- Yui Ohashi (JPN) – 2:10.77
- Cyrielle Duhamel (FRA) – 2:11.11
- Miho Teramura (JPN) – 2:11.22
- Ilaria Cusinato (ITA) – 2:11.41
- Sara Franceschi (ITA) – 2:11.47
- Kim Seoyeong (KOR) – 2:11.54
- Kristyna Horska (CZE) – 2:12.21
Compared to the last two Olympic Games, heats of this event were much less explosive at the top – but also much deeper.
In 2012, 2:08.9 was the top prelims time. In 2016, it was a then-Olympic-record 2:07.4. Tonight, no one broke 2:09, though four women were under 2:10. But on the flip side, it took 2:12.2 to make the semifinals his time around, compared to 2:14.2 in 2012 and 2:13.0 in 2012.
It’s American Kate Douglass leading the way in 2:09.16. That was a drop of two-tenths from her career-best. Douglass got consistently faster from heats to semis to finals at U.S. Trials, so there’s reason to believe she’s got a 2:08 coming later this week. Her college teammate Alex Walsh is also in the top four, tying for third with Great Britain’s Abbie Wood.
Defending Olympic champ Katinka Hosszu missed out on a title defense in the 400 IM, but this event probably suits her better at age 32. She and Maria Ugolkova (also 32) are the clear veterans of the field, with the next-oldest swimmers in the semis a solid five years younger. (Kim Seoyeong is 27 and Miho Teramura 26). Hosszu went 2:09.70 and qualified second. Ugolkova broke a Swiss national record in 2:10.04 to qualify 5th.
Tomorrow morning, keep an eye on China’s Yu Yiting, the 15-year-old world junior record-holder who was six-tenths off her WJR this morning. She sits 8th into semis. 400 IM champ Yui Ohashi of Japan should be another major factor, sitting further back in the field in 10th.
Women’s 1500 freestyle
- World Record: Katie Ledecky (USA) – 15:20.48 (2018)
- Olympic Record: N/A
- World Junior Record: Katie Ledecky (USA) – 15:28.36 (2014)
- 2016 Olympic Champion: N/A
- SwimSwam Event Preview – Women’s 1500 freestyle
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Katie Ledecky (USA) – 15:35.35
- Wang Jianjiahe (CHN) – 15:41.49
- Erica Sullivan (USA) – 15:46.67
- Simona Quadarella (ITA) – 15:47.34
- Anastasia Kirpichnikova (RUS) – 15:50.22
- Sarah Kohler (GER) – 15:52.67
- Maddy Gough (AUS) – 15:56.81
- Kiah Melverton (AUS) – 15:58.96
Katie Ledecky handled the second half of her 200 free/1500 free double just fine, going 15:35.35 to easily pace the field in the 1500. That’s the #8 performance of all-time in the event, giving Ledecky the top 11 swims in history. The fastest non-Ledecky swim in the women’s 1500 is a 15:38.88 from Lotte Friis back in 2013.
China’s Wang Jianjiahe could challenge that Friis swim in the final later this week. The Chinese 19-year-old went 15:41.49 to break her own Chinese and Asian records in the event. That registers as the #18 swim of all-time and moves Wang up to the #5 performer of all-time. She was the #7 performer of all-time heading into the meet.
With this event joining the Olympic program for the first time, the Olympic record went down five times in five heats. Canada’s Katrina Bellio won the three-swimmer opening heat to officially set the first Olympic record at 16:24.37. One heat later, Marlene Kahler of Austria went 16:20.05 to lower it before Hungary’s Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas dropped it to 16:02.26 one heat later.
Then two Americans lowered it in consecutive heats to close out the event and the session. Erica Sullivan went 15:46.67 to win heat 4 and lower the record – she remained #3 overall after all the heats and should be a medal contender in the final. Ledecky’s 15:35.35 win in the final heat set the Olympic record a fifth time.
2019 World champ Simona Quadarella is into the final in fourth, seven seconds off her best time. Between Ledecky, Quadarella and Wang, this final should feature three of the top five performers of all-time, and the final could finish with the top three of all-time if Quadarella can cut about two seconds from her best time and if Wang can drop three from today’s heats.
Why are you trying so hard to start a fight? The Olympics has never been determined by total medals. The US only started doing that in Beijing because China had more golds than them.
But again, no one is taking the bait. You’re just posting the same thing over and over hoping you get a reaction, and then getting mad when people just respond with facts.
1/15th of US population, 1/1000th of the resources so we have stricter standards rather than just sending anyone we can, swimming not a popular sport at all and our swim team gets paid below minimum wage. Considering those factors it’s incredible we manage to get second on the medal tally most Olympics.
Australia has stricter standards than the qualifying times. Google it. We have swimmers who met the FINA A time and didn’t go to Tokyo. So yes, the “numbers” do factor in.
No one said the Aussies were dominant. We’re a tiny country that does amazing considering the small population and lack of resources. Who said Australia was dominant? It would be absolutely shocking if the US wasn’t dominant considering their huge population and the massive resources they put into swimming.
Dude, you’re obviously just trying to start a fight. Don’t get mad because people don’t take the bait and just come back at you with facts.
what are you trying to say? its natural that Australia would have gaps/be less than stellar in some events- their population is literally less than Texas.
And yet Brianna throssell didn’t met the Aussie A cut in the 100 butterfly and yet they let her swim it
The US uses the FINA A and B standards. Oz sets their own higher standards. Whereas the Aussies do not want to send swimmers “just to be tourists”, the US feels that, even if medal chances are low, sometimes people outperform and surprise. We try to be a country of optimism. The Aussie public is very “Judgey” when it come to their swimmers. Even if our swimmers don’t medal, younger olympians get valuable experience at the Olympics which could come in handy during the next cycle.
303 million more people to choose from.
Official Olympics medal table is based on number of golds. Why do you think US would have more golds if they were allowed to send more swimmers who weren’t good enough to qualify?
Even if you’re talking about overall medal table, which is not how it is calculated, what you’re saying is just false. US has gone 1-2 in one event so far. At absolute best you’d have one extra bronze medal so far LOL
Comprehension not your strongest point.
I wonder why Lydia Jacoby is the first person from Alaska to make a Olympic swimming final.
Oooh let me guess: I’m going to say “smaller population” and “less resources” than other states? It’s almost like having a smaller population and less resources impacts on sport.
DRob, reminds me of John Cleese in the argument clinic
We had tougher selection standards than most other countries. The US would have left a number of swimmers home if the Aussie standards were used at US trials.
Lots of other sports are more popular and definitely more lucrative in Australia.
Unlike a lot of people in these postings, I really like Amy Van Dyken. She gives a lot of information that’s not just word salad unlike Rowdy and I’m kind of a sports nerd…HOWEVER…Amy said the dumbest thing I’ve heard; “I hope Michael Phelps isn’t watching this, but Katy Ledecky is the best swimmer in the world”. She didn’t say freestyler, she said swimmer. Really Amy!? Unless Katy starts winning golds in the IM’s and butterfly, uh…no. Amy must have an issue with Phelps.
It’s Katie, not Katy
Is there such a thing as “best”? I mean, results are often based on who the competition is, and as we’ve seen (eg W100 fly vs W200 fly) you can have EXTREMELY different levels of competition in different strokes.
Phelps and Ledecky are both arguably some of the best swimmers of all time, but ultimately it’s just an opinion. There’s no statistic that could possibly prove one person is the “best of all time”.
Anyway, Peaty is the only type of dude that posts a gold medal on his neck on tiktok and singing while competing at the pinnacle of the swimming meets
I’ve always thought it so odd that he doesn’t even try to swim in the 200. There’s a good chance he would at least qualify for Great Britain and just like King worked on her 200 I am sure he could become competitive in the 200, too.
Summer MacIntosh having a great meet.