Tokyo Rapid-Fire: Day 7 Swimming Headlines

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
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Day 7 Finals Recap

2 World records and 1 Olympic record went down during the penultimate finals session for pool swimming of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Read on for more of the biggest swimming headlines from day 7 finals.

Dressel Wins 100 Fly in World Record Fashion, Milak Breaks 50

USA’s Caeleb Dressel sealed his second individual Olympic title in Tokyo, breaking his own sub-50 world record at 49.45. Taking a close silver medal finish was Hungary’s Kristof Milak, becoming the No. 2 performer all-time in this event along with being the No. 1 performer in the 200 fly ever.

The entire top 6 was under 51 seconds, including bronze medalist Switzerland’s Noe Ponti, touching in with a time of 50.74.

McKeown Sweeps the Backstroke Events, Seebohm Takes 200 Back Bronze

Sweeping the backstroke events in Tokyo was Aussie Kaylee McKeown in the 200 back, who accelerated past early leader Canadian Kylie Masse, who took the Olympic silver.

It was a special AUS 1-3 finish as McKeown stood atop the Olympic podium alongside bronze medalist and multi-time Olympian Emily Seebohm, who McKeown has looked up to since her youth.

Both Americans, Rhyan White and Phoebe Bacon, valiantly finished 4th and 5th in the final.

Ledecky Three-Peats 800 Free Olympic Title, Titmus Settles for Silver

American distance queen Katie Ledecky emerged victorious in her signature event, the 800 free, for the third consecutive time at the Olympics. Ledecky is now the 37th Olympian in history to earn 10 Olympic medals in their careers. Finishing 1.26s behind Ledecky was two-time freestyle Tokyo champion Aussie Ariarne Titmus, who added Olympic silver to her growing medal collection.

In the race for bronze, Italian Simona Quadarella held off accelerating American teen Katie Grimes by 1.03s.

Dressel Leads 50 Free Final Ahead of 2012 Olympic Champion Manaudou

After winning Olympic gold, Caeleb Dressel had to reset and qualify for the men’s 50 free final, which he easily did. Swimming next to Dressel in the final will be London 2012 Olympic champion Florent Manaudou of France. At Rio 2016, Manaudou took Olympic silver to American Anthony Ervin. In 2012, Manaudou won the title over American Cullen Jones.

Brazil’s Bruno Fratus swam his 90th sub-22 swim, the most by any 50 freestyler in history, to tie third with Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev into the final. USA’s Michael Andrew qualified into his third Olympic final, tying with British powerhouse Ben Proud.

McKeon Nails Second Olympic Record in 50 Free Semifinals

Another Aussie tearing it up in Tokyo is veteran Emma McKeon, who walked out as top seed in the 50 free semifinals with a new Olympic record swim of 24.00. Joining McKeon in an all-star Olympic final will be AUS teammate Cate Campbell. In the 100 free, McKeon and Campbell finished 1-3 for Australia.

Defending Olympic champion Pernille Blume of Denmark swam 24.08 to qualify second into the final, followed closely behind by Swede Sarah Sjostrom and American Abbey Weitzeil.

GBR Wins First Mixed Medley Relay Olympic Title, Smashes World Record

In the first mixed 4×100 medley relay Olympic final, team Great Britain demolished the standing world record by a second to take the first-ever Olympic title, contributed by Kathleen Dawson, Adam Peaty, James Guy, and Anna Hopkin.

In the race for silver, the Chinese relay held off the Australian relay by nine one-hundredths. Finishing in fifth place was the USA.

Catch up on more of the biggest Tokyo 2020 swimming headlines:

• Day 1 Headlines: Hafnoui Stuns for Gold, AUS Women Smash 400 FR-R WR, US Men Go 1-2 in 400 IM
• Day 2 Headlines: MacNeil De-Thrones Sjostrom, Titmus De-Thrones Ledecky, US Men Defend 400 FR-R Title
• Day 3 Headlines: Dean/Scott Go 1-2 for GBR, Rylov Snaps U.S. Back Winning Streak, Jacoby De-Thrones King
• Day 4 Headlines: Milak Now Olympic Champion, Ledecky Wins 1500 FR Title, British Men Win 800 FR-R Title
• Day 5 Headlines: Finke First-Ever Men’s 800 FR Champion, Zhang Hits 200 FL OR, CHN Women Break 800 FR-R WR
• Day 6 Headlines: Schoenmaker Breaks 200 BR WR, Rylov De-Thrones Murphy Again, McKeon and Shun Win Gold