Paris Olympics: Top-10 Performances From Swimming Competition
Thirty-five gold medals were awarded over nine days of swimming at La Défense Arena, and despite significant struggles by the U.S. men, the American team emerged with the most gold medals (eight) and most overall medals (28) while accounting for three of the four world records set. With the competition concluded, we can assess which swimmers impressed the most on the sport’s biggest stage.
Below are our picks, with a heavy emphasis on record-breaking swims and those in which an athlete used a clutch performance or came from behind to secure gold.
1. Bobby Finke (USA), Men’s 1500 Freestyle
The man who never led at any point of his first two Olympic-gold-medal-winning swims in 2021 took a different approach this time. The rest of the world, most notably, Ireland’s Dan Wiffen, had figured out his strategy of coming from nowhere on the final length, so Finke went out hard and swam under world-record pace for all 30 laps. Unlike the final at last year’s World Championships, when Australia’s Sam Short served as the pace-setting rabbit and Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui swam with Finke all the way, Finke had to set his own standard this time.
The strategy worked, with Wiffen and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri never able to make up the deficit. Moreover, Finke managed to knock off the world record, the 14:31.02 set by China’s Sun Yang that had lasted since the London Olympics. He built enough of a gap ahead of record pace to hold on despite Sun’s legendary final 100 meters and take down one of the oldest records on the books.
2. Pan Zhanle (China), Men’s 100 Freestyle
Pan Zhanle — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
The global pace in the men’s 100 free had been largely stagnant since the banning of full-body polyurethane suits in 2009. The world record had only dropped by 11-hundredths during that time, with David Popovici and Pan Zhanle coming through for new marks after James Magnussen, Cameron McEvoy, Caeleb Dressel, Kyle Chalmers and others all made runs before falling just short of Cesar Cielo’s global standard that stood for 13 years.
Then, Pan blasted the record by four tenths while winning gold over a stacked heat by more than a second. Pan, a few days shy of his 20th birthday, put together the perfect 100 free swimmers had been striving for, going out in 22.28 and returning in 24.12, both splits well ahead of the field. That secured him individual gold, and h would add another gold medal later in the week when he anchored China’s 400 medley relay to the top spot in 45.92, the fastest relay split ever.
3. United States, Mixed 400 Medley Relay
The first relay world record came from the Americans in the mixed medley relay, the same event in which they had finished fifth three years earlier in Tokyo after deploying a faulty lineup. No such problems this time, but even the perfect strategy required perfect execution to emerge with a tight victory over China.
The two returning members from the Tokyo group got redemption: Ryan Murphy, who had missed the final of the 200 back three days earlier, put together his best race of the meet on the leadoff leg, while Torri Huske, who had handled the butterfly leg at the last Olympics, swam a 51.88 relay split, by far the fastest of her career, to take down Chinese anchor Yang Junxuan and secure the win. On the middle legs, Nic Fink and Gretchen Walsh were both nearly perfect.
4. United States, Women’s 400 Medley Relay
One day after the mixed relay triumph, the American women finished the meet with a dominant 400 medley relay performance, with Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske returning from the mixed relay to comprise the back-half of the team after Regan Smith and Lilly King. This one was not remotely close, with the Americans crushing the field by three-and-a-half seconds, but the team made history by becoming the first to ever break 3:50.
Three individual world-record holders swam for the U.S. Sunday evening, with Smith, King and Walsh, and they all produced. Smith had the second-fastest 100 back mark ever on the leadoff leg. King, who had largely struggled previously in Paris, was the only swimmer to break 1:05 on the breaststroke leg. And Walsh recorded the fastest butterfly split ever, allowing Huske to cruise home to a new record.
5. Leon Marchand (France), Men’s 200 Butterfly & Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Leon Marchand — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
No world record here, but what Leon Marchand achieved Wednesday evening was one of the all-time great performances in the sport’s history. Michael Phelps captured two gold medals in one night on three different occasions in his legendary career, each time, one of those golds came in relays. In Paris, Marchand won both the 200 fly and 200 breast, defeating the defending champions on both occasions.
There was a dramatic final turn in the 200 fly final that allowed Marchand to run down Hungary’s Kristof Milak, his final split an absurd 28.97 that beat everyone else in the field by more than six tenths. He came in at 1:51.21 to break the Olympic record and swim faster than Phelps ever did. Two hours later, Marchand never trailed in the 200 breast final, and he did not allow Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook to close the gap down the stretch. Once again, his final time of 2:05.95 was a new Olympic record, and it made him the second-fastest man ever.
6. Summer McIntosh (Canada), Women’s 200 Butterfly
She did not break a world record in this one, but when the mark at question is a 15-year-old standard from the polyurethane suit era that no one has ever approached, the second-fastest time ever is pretty darn good. Summer McIntosh had already won gold in the 400 IM, cruising by more than five-and-a-half seconds in that race, but the 200 fly would be much tougher as American Regan Smith was swimming well and not backing down. McIntosh turned eight tenths ahead of Smith at the final turn, but Smith’s dynamite underwater kicks nearly caught the Canadian teenager.
McIntosh would reassert herself, and even as Smith swam a time of 2:03.84, breaking her own American record, McIntosh would blast a personal-best mark by more than a second, her time of 2:03.03 a new Olympic record. The 2:01.81 established by Liu Zige in 2009 remains way out there, but McIntosh could reach 2:02-territory soon enough.
7. Leon Marchand (France), Men’s 200 IM
More Leon Marchand? You bet. The man won four individual Olympic gold medals, a feat only Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps ever accomplished beforehand. He did not break any world records in Paris, but each of his finals swims were the second or third-fastest times in history in his respective events. Two days after his historic gold-medal double, Marchand completed his individual program in the 200 IM, and he came up just short of an 11-year-old world record held by Ryan Lochte.
The 22-year-old Frenchman was facing a strong field that included the gold and silver medalists from the Tokyo Games, Wang Shun and Duncan Scott, respectively, but as usual, Marchand pulled well clear of the field on the breaststroke leg. He moved under world-record pace heading into the last 50 before finishing in 1:54.06, six hundredths shy of Lochte’s world record, leaving the pursuit of 1:53 until next year.
8. Kaylee McKeown (Australia), Women’s 100 Backstroke
Only two other Australian women, Dawn Fraser and Ariarne Titmus, have ever successfully defended an Olympic gold medal in swimming. McKeown has done it twice, overcoming tough fields in the 100 and 200 back in Tokyo to bring her total of Olympic gold medals to five and become one of the most successful Aussie Olympians in history.
McKeown makes the list here for the 100 back as she overcame the loss of her world record to American Regan Smith in June to run down Smith in the Olympic final. McKeown trailed Smith halfway down the final lap, but her finishing speed has become legendary, and McKeown is always ready with her best form in the biggest moment. She finished the race in 57.33, tying her best time that had been the world record while finishing three tenths ahead of Smith.
9. Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden), Women’s 100 Freestyle
Sarah Sjostrom — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
She has owned the world record in the event for seven years, but Sarah Sjostrom had never won an Olympic or World Championships gold medal in the 100 free before Paris, despite collecting has collected 14 world titles in her career in the 50 free and the butterfly events and an Olympic gold in the 100 fly in 2016. Her accomplishments in the 100 free include four Worlds silvers and one bronze, plus 2016 Olympic bronze the still-standing world record of 51.71 Sjostrom clocked on a relay leadoff at the 2017 World Championships.
Sjostrom originally planned on only swimming the 50 free in Paris, but she opted to add the 100-meter race back to her lineup because she would have two days of rest before the one-lapper, in which she entered as heavy favorite. And she ended up shocking the field with a gold medal, overcoming two-time world champion Mollie O’Callaghan, No. 3 all-time performer Siobhan Haughey and surging American Torri Huske.
10. Kristof Milak (Hungary), Men’s 100 Butterfly
Returning to the international level after missing the 2023 World Championships, Kristof Milak could not defend his gold medal in the 200 fly thanks to the magic of Leon Marchand. Entering the 100-meter race, where Milak is the second-fastest performer in history, he was somewhat overshadowed thanks to the exploits of Josh Liendo, Maxime Grousset, Noe Ponti and others plus the return of Caeleb Dressel, the man who beat Milak for Tokyo gold in world-record time.
But Milak sparkled with a 50.19 prelims time, and he led the event through semifinals as well. Milak lacks the speed of many rivals in the 100 fly, but after turning fourth at the halfway point, the 24-year-old picked off his rivals and won a tight finish with Canada’s Josh Liendo, 49.90 to 49.99, to win the second individual gold of his career.
As far as a performance, Smith lead-off the Medley relay faster than Kaylee’s top swim.
So if a 100 back performance was in the top 10 it would have been Smith, even though Kaylee won the individual race.
I don’t know if I have ever seen anyone who managed to defend a double double
have their results be diminished (by a few, but I see you) bc their preferred American swimmer hasn’t managed to do it. Summer got 3 individual golds but I don’t see anyone downgrading her achievements bc she didn’t beat Titmus in the 400 free (even though there were questionable relay decisions for her).
Even though Kaylee is my favourite swimmer, Regan is a phenomenal swimmer who has both the privilege and unfortunate circumstance of having once in a generation swimmers in Summer and Kaylee who have denied her an individual gold so far, not to mention Gretchen and Tori blocking another gold opportunity in the 100 butterfly.
I’m a big fan though, and if only there was another individual event she could get gold in that doesn’t involve once in a generation swimmers.
But, believe me if it was Regan who won the 100-200 backstroke and it was Kaylee who did the medley relay lead off OR and had the WR, Kaylee would be a forgotten footnote in everyone’s eyes.
Kaylee has the gold medal