SWIMMING: 2020 Olympic Games – Day Three Recap, July 27

USA Swimming Event Medal Count at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
USA	3	3	6	12

 

Team USA Athlete Medal Count at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Athlete	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Zach Apple	1	0	0	1
Bowe Becker	1	0	0	1
Brooks Curry*	1	0	0	1
Caeleb Dressel	1	0	0	1
Lydia Jacoby	1	0	0	1
Blake Pieroni	1	0	0	1
Chase Kalisz	1	0	0	1
Jay Litherland	0	1	0	1
Katie Ledecky	0	1	0	1
Emma Weyant	0	1	0	1
Erika Brown	0	0	1	1
Catie DeLoof*	0	0	1	1
Hali Flickinger	0	0	1	1
Natalie Hinds	0	0	1	1
Lilly King	0	0	1	1
Simone Manuel	0	0	1	1
Ryan Murphy	0	0	1	1
Allison Schmitt*	0	0	1	1
Kieran Smith	0	0	1	1
Regan Smith	0	0	1	1
Olivia Smoliga*	0	0	1	1
Abbey Weitzeil	0	0	1	1

*prelim swim in relay event

 

Women’s 200m Freestyle – Semifinal
1. Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 1:54.82

3. Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Nation’s

Capital/Alto Swim Club), 1:55.34

10. Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich./Sun Devil Swimming), 1:56.87

 

Race Notes

• Semifinal field featured six of the top-nine fastest 200m freestyle swimmers in history.
• Ledecky enters the final as the reigning Olympic champion.
• Semifinal marks the 16^th time that Schmitt has swum in an Olympic race.

 

Quote

Katie Ledecky: “It [recovering from yesterday’s double] was pretty good. I got a fairly good night of sleep. I knew out of the three swims between the two last night and the one this morning, I knew this one was probably going to be the hardest. I felt really good through that – arms felt a little tired in the last 50, but I felt like I had good control over the heat and was in a good position.”

 

Men’s 200m Freestyle – Final
Gold – Tom Dean (GBR), 1:44.22

Silver – Duncan Scott (GBR), 1:44.26

Bronze – Fernando Scheffer (BRA), 1:44.66

6. Kieran Smith (Ridgefield, Conn./University of Florida), 1:45.12

 

Race Notes

• Smith’s 1:45.12 is the fourth-fastest swim by an American in this event since the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
• Smith’s swim is the second-fastest of his career and just five one-hundredths off his personal best.

 

Quote

Kieran Smith: “I’m proud of myself for being in there. I raced well, I just ran out of gas in the last 50, that’s about it.”

 

Women's 100m Backstroke – Final
Gold – Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 57.47

Silver – Kylie Masse (CAN), 57.72

Bronze – Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Riptide), 58.05

4. Rhyan White (Herriman, Utah/University of Alabama/WFFM), 58.43

 

Race Notes

• Smith earns the first Olympic medal of her career.
• Smith, age 19, becomes the 15^th U.S. teenager to medal in the event.
• White’s 58.43 ties her personal best.
• Smith's swim is the 13^th fastest swim in history.

 

Quotes

Regan Smith: “I was right off of my time from semis and prelims, and that is one of my best times ever, so I really went out there and gave it my all. It was a super stacked heat, so the fact that I came away with a medal, I really can’t ask for much more. I’m super, super pleased with it.”

 

Rhyan White: “It was fun, I was trying to stay relaxed before the race. Like everyone has been telling me, it was everyone’s game. I figured for me; it would be best to stay calm. I went a best time so I can’t really ask for anything more.”

 

Men's 100m Backstroke – Final

Gold – Evgeny Rylov (ROC), 51.98

Silver – Kliment Kolesnikov (ROC), 52.00

Bronze – Ryan Murphy (Jacksonville, Fla./California Aquatics/Bolles), 52.19

Race Notes

• Murphy earns fourth Olympic medal of his career.
• Five of the seven fastest swimmers in history were in final.
• Murphy becomes eighth U.S. swimmer to medal in the event in back-to-back Olympic Games.
• Bronze gives U.S. its 38^th total medal in the event – next closest country (Japan) has seven.

 

Quotes

Ryan Murphy: “It was good. That is the fastest backstroke field heat ever. To be a part of that, that was my best swim of the year, so it is nice to be able to do that in a pressure-packed final.”

 

Ryan Murphy: “It’s like, ‘shoot for the stars and land on the moon,’ that is kind of what it is. Winning an Olympic gold means you’re the best in the world – being third in the world is no slouch, so that is kind of how I view it.

 

Women’s 100m Breaststroke – Final
Gold – Lydia Jacoby (Seward, Alaska/Seward Tsunami Swim Club), 1:04.95

Silver – Tatjana Schoenmaker (RSA), 1:05.22

Bronze – Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club), 1:05.54

 

Race Notes

• Jacoby, a native of Seward, Alaska, is now the first Olympic swimmer and Olympic swimming medalist from Alaska.
• Jacoby becomes the fourth-youngest swimmer to medal in the event in history.
• King earns the third Olympic medal of her decorated career.
• King joins Rebecca Soni as the only U.S. women to medal twice in an Olympic 100m breaststroke.

 

Quotes

Lydia Jacoby: “It was crazy, I was definitely racing for a medal – I knew that I had it in me. I wasn’t really expecting a gold medal, so when I looked up and saw the scoreboard, it was insane.”

 

Lydia Jacoby: “It’s huge [for Alaska]. . .  To be coming from a small club in a state with such a small population really shows everyone that you can do it no matter where you are from.”

 

Lydia Jacoby: “Being fully emerged with such an amazing group of people for the last three weeks has been really inspirational in having that amazing group backing me this whole time.

 

Lilly King: “I'm very happy with my race, and so excited for Lydia [Jacoby]. I love to see the future of American breaststroke coming up like this and to have someone to go at it head-to-head when we’re in the country. I’m just really excited for her.”

 

Lilly King: “I didn’t doubt [Jacoby] for sure – we actually didn’t train together at all during training camp because we do like completely opposite things. I definitely knew she was a threat and I saw a lot of myself in her and definitely knew something special was going to happen.”

 

Men’s 200m Butterfly – Semifinal

1. Chad Le Clos (RSA), 1:55.06

6. Gunnar Bentz (Atlanta, Ga./Dynamo Swim Club/TXLA), 1:55.28

9. Zach Harting (Huntsville, Ala./Cardinal Aquatics/Huntsville Swim Association), 1:55.35

 

Race Notes

• Bentz shaves six one-hundredths from his personal best.
• Harting was eighth at the first and second touch, seventh at the third touch and ended in fourth place in his heat.
• Harting’s 1:55.35 time was just five one-hundredths shy of making the final.

 

Quote

Gunnar Bentz: “So many people were up at 6 a.m. to watch my prelim. People are staying up until 11 or later tonight to watch my semi, so I couldn’t do it without them. Also, this final tomorrow is going to be my last race ever, so I think that is keeping me going. I’ve always been a guy who likes to sneak in there and somehow get it done, and I guess I did it this time for one last time.”

 

Women’s 200m Individual Medley – Semifinal

1. Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y./University of Virginia), 2:09.21

3. Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./Nashville Aquatic Club/University of Virginia), 2:09.57

 

Race Notes

• Both U.S. swimmers won their respective heats.
• Douglass was five one-hundredths off her personal best.

 

Quotes

Alex Walsh: “I wanted to take it out the same way I took out the morning swim. My fly feels really good, it has felt good this whole week, so I really wanted to just take advantage of that. I think I executed that race pretty well for a semifinal.”

 

Alex Walsh: “I think this event has changed a lot over the past two years or so – I wouldn’t say it is wide open, I think tomorrow is going to be a pretty brutal battle for the medals but I’m ready to take it on with Kate and I’m really excited to see what we can do.”