Olympic Swimming recap: Day 4

Day 4 brought one of the main chapters to the rivalry between the United States and Australia and the first relay since day one. It also set up a great day of finals for Day 5.

Finals

Women’s 100m Backstroke

1. Kaylee McKeown- Australia 57.33 OR

2. Regan Smith- United States 57.66

3. Katharine Berkoff- United States 57.98

In one of the biggest rivalries in swimming, and one of the biggest chapters of the rivalry between the United States and Australia, Smith and McKeown came in both having been world record holders multiple times in the last five years.

Smith held the lead after a strong start, but McKeown, known for a strong last 25 meters, did it again to chase down Smith and win the gold medal.

Men’s 800m Freestyle

1. Daniel Wiffen- Ireland 7:38.19 OR

2. Bobby Finke- United States 7:38.75

3. Gregorio Paltrinieri- Italy 7:39.38

Wiffen made history becoming the first Irish male to win an Olympic medal in swimming, and winning the gold put the icing on the cake. Wiffen, Finke and Paltrinieri separated themselves from the rest of the field to win the three medals.

Finke, known for his speed in the last 50 meters, surged again, but Wiffen also had a strong last lap to hold him off and win the gold.

Men’s 4x200 Freestyle Relay

1. Great Britain 6:59.43

2. United States 7:00.78

3. Australia 7:01.98

Great Britain and the United States came in having won each of the last five gold medals in this event. The win for the British team of James Guy, Tom Dean, Matthew Richards and Duncan Scott gave them their second title in a row.

They held a short lead over the United States throughout the relay, but Scott pulled away from American Kieran Smith in the last leg to give Great Britain the win.

Semi-Finals

Men’s 100m Freestyle

Finalists

1. Pan Zhanle- China

2. Kyle Chalmers- Australia

3. Nandor Nemeth- Hungary

4. Maxime Grousset- France

5. David Popovici- Romania

6. Jack Alexy- United States

7. Chris Guiliano- United States

8. Josha Salchow- Germany

Men’s 200m Butterfly

Finalists

1. Kristof Milak- Hungary

2. Léon Marchand- France

3. Ilya Kharun- Canada

4. Noe Ponti- Switzerland

5. Kregor Zirk- Estonia

6. Krzysztof Chmielewski- Poland

7. Alberto Razzetti- Italy

8. Martin Espernberger- Austria

Women’s 100m Freestyle

Finalists

1. Siobhán Haughey- Hong Kong

2. Shayna Jack- Australia

3. Mollie O’Callaghan- Australia

4. Yang Junxuan- China

5. Marrit Steenbergen- Netherlands

6. Sarah Sjöström- Sweden

7. Torri Huske- United States

8. Gretchen Walsh- United States

Men’s 200m Breaststroke

Finalists

1. Léon Marchand- France

2. Zac Stubblety-Cook- Australia

3. Dong Zhihao- China

4. Caspar Corbeau- Netherlands

5. Ippei Watanabe- Japan

6. Josh Matheny- United States

7. Yu Hanaguruma- Japan

8. Joshua Yong- Australia

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