Which Events Got Faster From Tokyo And Which Got Slower? Day 1 Analysis

This morning saw questions on whether or not the Olympic pool in Paris is “slow.” How does every result from today’s action compare to Tokyo, did 4th place get slower in some events?

Overall, finals had a more positive result and got faster this year compared to Tokyo at the top. Prelims was slower in five out of the six events this morning for the top seed while tonight, the top finisher was slower in 3 out of 6 events.

The data has mixed results throughout all of the results. The men’s 400 freestyle had a greater range in the top 8 tonight and was faster at the top but slower at the bottom. The men’s 100 breast was slower top to bottom. The women’s 100 fly was faster top to bottom while the women’s 400 free was slower at the time and faster at the bottom, resulting in a smaller range.

Prelims data saw almost every event get slower at the top. The only event that was faster in Paris this morning was the women’s 4×100 free relay as the Australians posted a 3:31.57. The largest difference in the top seed came in the women’s 400 free as Katie Ledecky was 1.74 seconds slower today than in Tokyo, posting the top times in both prelims sessions.

Although the top times were slower, the times that it took to move onto semifinals and finals did not see as big of a fall off. All six of the times from the morning that it took to move on either got faster or were within less than half of a second of what it took in Tokyo. The men’s 100 breast was the biggest difference as it was 0.32 slower this year than in Tokyo while the women’s 400 free saw the biggest drop of 0.24 seconds.

FINALS CHARTS

Men’s 400 Free

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1 Ahmed Hafnaoui Tunisia 3:43.36 1 Lukas Märtens GER 3:41.78
2 Jack McLoughlin Australia 3:43.52 2 Elijah Winnington AUS 3:42.28
3 Kieran Smith United States 3:43.94 3 Kim Woo-Min KOR 3:42.50
4
Henning Mühlleitner Germany 3:44.07 4 Sam Short AUS 3:42.64
Felix Auböck Austria 3:44.07 5 Guilherme Costa BRA 3:42.76
6 Gabriele Detti Italy 3:44.88 6 Fei Liwei CHN 3:44.24
7 Elijah Winnington Australia 3:45.20 7 Oliver Klemet GER 3:46.59
8 Jake Mitchell United States 3:45.39 8 Aaron Shackell USA 3:47.00

Men’s 100 Breast

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1 Adam Peaty Great Britain 57.63 1 Adam Peaty GBR 58.86
2 Arno Kamminga Netherlands 58.19 2 Qin Haiyang CHN 58.93
3 Nicolò Martinenghi Italy 58.28 3 Arno Kamminga NED 59.12
4 Yan Zibei China 58.72 4 Nic Fink USA 59.16
5 Michael Andrew United States 58.99 5 Caspar Corbeau NED 59.24
6 James Wilby Great Britain 59 6 Nicolo Martinenghi ITA 59.28
7 Ilya Shymanovich Belarus 59.08 7 Lucas Matzerath GER 59.31
8 Andrew Wilson United States 59.18 8 Melvin Imoudu GER 59.38*
8 Ludovico Viberti ITA 59.38*

Men’s 4×100 Free Relay

Tokyo Paris
Rank Nation Time Rank Country Time
1 United States 3:08.97 1 United States 3:09.28
2 Italy 3:10.11 2 Australia 3:10.35
3 Australia 3:10.22 3 Italy 3:10.70
4 Canada 3:10.82 4 China 3:11.28
5 Hungary 3:11.06 5 Great Britain 3:11.61
6 France 3:11.09 6 Canada 3:12.18
7 ROC 3:12.20 7 Germany 3:12.29
8 Brazil 3:13.41 8 Hungary 3:13.11

Women’s 100 Fly

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1 Zhang Yufei China 55.89 1 Gretchen Walsh USA 55.38
2 Marie Wattel France 56.16 2 Torri Huske USA 56
3 Emma McKeon Australia 56.33 3 Zhang Yufei CHN 56.15
4 Sarah Sjöström Sweden 56.4 4 Angelina Kohler GER 56.55
5 Torri Huske United States 56.51 4 Maggie MacNeil CAN 56.55
6 Maggie Mac Neil Canada 56.56 6 Emma McKeon AUS 56.74
7 Louise Hansson Sweden 56.92 7 Mizuki Hirai JPN 56.8
8 Anastasiya Shkurdai Belarus 57.19 8 Louise Hansson SWE 56.93

Women’s 400 Free

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1 Ariarne Titmus Australia 3:56.69 1 Ariarne Titmus AUS 3:57.49
2 Katie Ledecky United States 3:57.36 2 Summer McIntosh CAN 3:58.37
3 Li Bingjie China 4:01.08 3 Katie Ledecky USA 4:00.86
4 Summer McIntosh Canada 4:02.42 4 Erika Fairweather NZL 4:01.12
5 Tang Muhan China 4:04.10 5 Isabel Gose GER 4:02.14
6 Isabel Gose Germany 4:04.98 6 Paige Madden USA 4:02.26
7 Paige Madden United States 4:06.81 7 M.F Costa BRA 4:03.53
8 Erika Fairweather New Zealand 4:08.01 8 Jamie Perkins AUS 4:04.96

Women’s 4×100 Free Relay

Tokyo Paris
Rank Nation Time Rank Country Time
1 Australia 3:29.69 1 Australia 3:28.92
2 Canada 3:32.78 2 USA 3:30.20
3 United States 3:32.81 3 China 3:30.30
4 Netherlands 3:33.70 4 Canada 3:32.99
5 Great Britain 3:33.96 5 Sweden 3:33.79
6 Sweden 3:34.69 6 France 3:34.99
7 China 3:34.76 7 Great Britain 3:35.25
8 Denmark 3:35.70 8 Italy 3:36.51

PRELIMS CHARTS

Men’s 400 Free, Prelims

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Swimmer Nation Time
1 Henning Mühlleitner Germany 3:43.67 1 Lukas Martens GER 3:44.13
2 Felix Auböck Austria 3:43.91 2 Guilherme Costa BRA 3:44.23
3 Gabriele Detti Italy 3:44.67 3 Fei Liwei CHN 3:44.60
4 Elijah Winnington Australia 3:45.20 4 Elijah Winnington AUS 3:44.87
4 Jack McLoughlin Australia 3:45.20 4 Sam Short AUS 3:44.88
6 Kieran Smith United States 3:45.25 6 Aaron Shackell USA 3:45.45
7 Jake Mitchell United States 3:45.38 7 Kim Woomin KOR 3:45.52
8 Ahmed Hafnaoui Tunisia 3:45.68 8 Oliver Klemet GER 3:45.75

Men’s 100 Breast Prelims

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1 Adam Peaty Great Britain 57.56 1 Caspar Corbeau NED 59.04
2 Arno Kamminga Netherlands 57.8 2 Adam Peaty GBR 59.18
3 Michael Andrew United States 58.62 3 Ilya Shymanovich NIA 59.25
4 Nicolò Martinenghi Italy 58.68 4 Nicolo Martinenghi ITA 59.39
5 Yan Zibei China 58.75 4 Arno Kamminga NED 59.39
6 James Wilby Great Britain 58.99 6 James Wilby GBR 59.4
7 Andrew Wilson United States 59.03 7 Melvin Imoudu GER 59.49
8 Felipe Lima Brazil 59.17 8 Lucas Matzerath GER 59.52
9
Ilya Shymanovich Belarus 59.33 9 Qin Haiyang CHN 59.58
Federico Poggio Italy 59.33 10 Nic Fink USA 59.66
11
Lucas Matzerath Germany 59.4 11 Bernard Reitshammer AUT 59.68
Ryuya Mura Japan 59.4 12 Joshua Yong AUS 59.75
13 Andrius Šidlauskas Lithuania 59.46 13 Evgenii Somov NIA 59.83
14 Fabian Schwingenschlögl Germany 59.49 14 Charlie Swanson USA 59.92
15 Anton Chupkov ROC 59.55 15 Ludovico Viberti ITA 59.93
16 Kirill Prigoda ROC 59.68 16 Ron Polonsky ISR 1:00.00

Men’s 4×100 Free Relay, Prelims

Rank Nation Time Rank Nation Time
1 Italy 3:10.29 1 China 3:11.62
2 United States 3:11.33 2 Australia 3:12.25
3 Australia 3:11.89 3 Great Britain 3:12.49
4 France 3:12.35 4 USA 3:12.61
5 Brazil 3:12.59 5 Canada 3:12.77
6 Hungary 3:12.73 6 Italy 3:12.94
7 Canada 3:13.00 7 Hungary 3:12.96
8 ROC 3:13.13 8 Germany 3:13.15

Women’s 400 Free, Prelims

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1 Katie Ledecky United States 4:00.45 1 Katie Ledecky USA 4:02.19
2 Li Bingjie China 4:01.57 2 Ariarne Titmus AUS 4:02.46
3 Ariarne Titmus Australia 4:01.66 3 Erika Fairweather NZL 4:02.55
4 Erika Fairweather New Zealand 4:02.28 4 Summer McIntosh CAN 4:02.65
5 Summer McIntosh Canada 4:02.72 5 Jamie Perkins AUS 4:03.30
6 Isabel Gose Germany 4:03.21 6 Paige Madden USA 4:03.34
7 Paige Madden United States 4:03.98 7 Maria Fernanda Costa BRA 4:03.47
8 Tang Muhan China 4:04.07 8 Isabel Gose GER 4:03.83

Women’s 100 Butterfly, Prelims

Tokyo Paris
Rank Swimmer Nation Time Rank Name Country Time
1
Zhang Yufei China 55.82 1 Zhang Yufei CHN 56.5
Emma McKeon Australia 55.82 2 Mizuki Hirai JPN 56.71
3 Sarah Sjöström Sweden 56.18 3 Torri Huske USA 56.72
4 Torri Huske United States 56.29 4 Gretchen Walsh USA 56.75
5 Maggie Mac Neil Canada 56.55 5 Emma McKeon AUS 56.79
6 Louise Hansson Sweden 56.97 6 Angelina Koehler GER 56.9
7 Anastasiya Shkurdai Belarus 56.99 7 Maggie MacNeil CAN 57
8 Marie Wattel France 57.08 8 Alexandria Perkins AUS 57.46
9 Elena Di Liddo Italy 57.41 9 Barbora Seemanova CZE 57.5
10 Claire Curzan United States 57.49 10 Marie Wattel FRA 57.54
11 Katerine Savard Canada 57.51 10 Roos Vanotterdijk BEL 57.54
12 Ilaria Bianchi Italy 57.7 12 Louise Hansson SWE 57.57
13 Anna Ntountounaki Greece 57.75 13 Erin Gallagher RSA 57.8
14 Arina Surkova ROC 58.02 14 Rikako Ikee JPN 57.82
15 Svetlana Chimrova ROC 58.04 15 Tessa Giele NED 57.89
16 Brianna Throssell Australia 58.08 16 Keanna MacInnes GBR 57.9

Women’s 4×100 Free Relay, Prelims

Tokyo Paris
Rank Nation Time Rank Country Time
1 Australia 3:31.73 1 Australia 3:31.57
2 Netherlands 3:33.51 2 USA 3:33.29
3 Canada 3:33.72 3 China 3:34.31
4 Great Britain 3:34.03 4 Sweden 3:34.35
5 United States 3:34.80 5 France 3:35.25
6 China 3:35.07 6 Canada 3:35.29
7 Denmark 3:35.56 7 Great Britain 3:36.13
8 Sweden 3:35.93 8 Italy 3:36.28

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Awsi Dooger
3 months ago

I wouldn’t expect Los Angeles to be a deep pool, if they are scrambling to put it together above a football field in less than a week. Seemingly that lends toward the minimums, unless great emphasis and pressure is applied throughout the process.

Joel
Reply to  Awsi Dooger
3 months ago

It’s been said many many times that the pool will already be in place and will have a cover over it for the opening ceremony.

Emily Se-Bom Lee
3 months ago

this is the first olympics since 1992 to not have a wr in the first 2 sessions

2024: none
2020: w4x100 free
2016: m100 breast, w400 im, w4x100 free
2012: w400 im
2008: m400 im, w400 im
2004: m400 im, w4x100 free
2000: m100 free, m400 free, m4x100 free, w400 im, w4x100 free
1996: m100 breast
1992: none

Last edited 3 months ago by Emily Se-Bom Lee
Maudzilla
3 months ago

Why is there even that big of a range on accepted depth? It’s really annoying to have a slow pool at the Olympics… 4 years of training and planning for these athletes to be at their top… and then like- no a/c… let’s just Guinea pig the athletes- we think it’s gonna be fine. The let’s make the pool 2m deep instead of 3… good enough right?
I just don’t get it

Greg17815
3 months ago

Looking at all the times today, it all starts to make sense if you subtract about .5 per 100. Gretchen, Lucas, and Pan would have WRs, Aussie women and American men break the relay records. Men’s breastroke would still be on the slow side but not egregious like it is now. The top 4 women’s 400 freestylers were about 2 seconds off what you’d expect.

I would bet there won’t be a single WR this meet. If there is, it will be a truly extraordinary swim.

Awsi Dooger
Reply to  Greg17815
3 months ago

There could be a record in a short event. A variable like that will have greatest impact the longer it’s attached

Josh
3 months ago

Comparing to the last Olympics is hardly useful in trying to determine if the pool is slow- that was 3 years ago- compare to world championships 23/24, trials, etc and it’s obvious.

Facts
3 months ago

100 breast was egregiously slow. Every other event was maybe slightly slow but nothing too bad

Brideshead
Reply to  Facts
3 months ago

Any theories why breastroke in particular is slower here? Most of the key contenders are all around .7 to 2 seconds off their PBs heading into final.

Facts
Reply to  Brideshead
3 months ago

Maybe there’s a really nasty wave on the way back. The first 50 splits of Peaty/Qin weren’t too bad and on brand with their 57-58 low times but they had pretty slow last 50s

Brideshead
Reply to  Facts
3 months ago

Interesting! And breaststroke vs other strokes generally creates more waves in the pool?

Jason
Reply to  Brideshead
3 months ago

If the issue is that a shallower pool causes more waves, then maybe that’s why? Breaststroke, being the slowest stroke and the most technical, is the most susceptible to disturbance IMO.

Brideshead
Reply to  Jason
3 months ago

What’s also interesting is that it appears to be the middle lanes which are seemingly more impacted by the waves than the outside waves. A number of swimmers today went quicker when they had an outside lane compared to in the middle.

Now watch Martinenghi claim a gold based off this theory!

Last edited 3 months ago by Brideshead
Mean Dean
Reply to  Brideshead
3 months ago

I think this is a good call

Alden
3 months ago

Swim-flation is equalized by a slow pool

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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