Olympic Swimming recap: Day 3

Day 3 of Olympic Swimming was another round in what has been a meet full of excitement. Days 1 and 2 brought multiple races that came down to the wire, and Day 3 was no different. Here are the results of those races.

Finals

Women’s 400m IM

1. Summer McIntosh- Canada 4:27.71

2. Katie Grimes- United States 4:33.40

3. Emma Weyant- United States 4:34.93

As one of the biggest stars of the meet, McIntosh came into the meet as one of the biggest stars. After winning the silver in the 400m freestyle, the 17-year-old won her first Olympic gold medal in dominant fashion.

She was the leader for the entirety of the race and pulled away from Grimes in the second half of the race to secure the win.

Men’s 200m Freestyle

1. David Popovici- Romania 1:44.72

2. Matthew Richards- Great Britain 1:44.74

3. Luke Hobson- United States 1:44.79

Popovici was the favorite in this event and came through with a surge in the last 25 meters to win his first Olympic gold medal just out-touching the other medalists and Duncan Scott of Great Britain who finished fourth.

In another of the most exciting races of the meet, .07 seconds separated the three medalists and just .15 seconds separated the top four finishers.

Men’s 100m Backstroke

1. Thomas Ceccon- Italy 52.00

2. Xu Jiayu- China 52.32

3. Ryan Murphy- United States 52.39

Xu got off to a fast start having a slight lead at the turn over the other two medalists. All three medalists were in contention for the whole race, but Ceccon took over in the last 15 meters to pull away from Xu and Murphy and become the first Italian to win the men’s 100m backstroke at the Olympics.

Women’s 100m Breaststroke

1. Tatjana Smith- South Africa 1:05.28

2. Tang Qiantang- China 1:05.54

3. Mona Mc Sharry- Ireland 1:05.59

Tang had a commanding start leading by over half a second after 50 meters and still held a strong lead after 75 meters.

Smith closed out the race better than anyone though and pulled ahead in the last few strokes to win and become just the second woman to win the 100 and 200m breaststroke at the Olympics as she is the reigning champion in the 200m.

Women’s 200m Freestyle

1. Mollie O’Callaghan- Australia 1:53.27 OR

2. Ariarne Titmus- Australia 1:53.81

3. Siobhan Haughey- Hong Kong 1:54.55

The Australian women have dominated this event in the last few years and this was no different. After Haughey got off to a fast start, the Australians took over on the last lap, and O’Callaghan, known for a strong last lap used it to pull ahead of Haughey and Titmus to win the gold medal.

Semi-Finals

Women’s 100m Backstroke

Finalists

1. Regan Smith- United States

2. Kaylee McKeown- Australia

3. Katherine Berkoff- United States

4. Iona Anderson- Australia

5. Kylie Masse- Canada

6. Ingrid Wilm- Canada

7. Beryl Castaldello- France

8. Emma Terebo- France

Jacob Rudy is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jar7371@psu.edu.