Ariarne Titmus and Lukas Martens won the 400m freestyle finals while the Australians and Americans split the 4x100m freestyle, keeping their dominance on the first night of swimming from Paris 2024.

Men’s 400m freestyle - Lukas Martens finally breaks through for first gold medal

It didn’t take a world record to win, nor was it a best time, but on Saturday night at the La Defense Arena in Paris, Germany’s Lukas Martens was the fastest in the world. It was a swim two years in the making from when Martens was tabbed as an emerging talent after swimming 3:41 leading into the 2022 World Championships.

Martens had done fairly well for himself, winning three straight medals at the World Aquatics Championships - silver in 2022, and bronze in 2023 and 2024. But the gold eluded him.

When he went 3:40 earlier this year at the German Championships, he became the gold medal favorite and potentially the first man to break 3:40 in history, a barrier that had been challenged since Ian Thorpe won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Alas, the world record will stay with Germany’s Paul Biedermann (3:40.07), but Martens achieved something Biedermann never did - win an Olympic gold medal.

Martens, coached by Bernd Berkhahn in Magdeburg, cited Biedermann as one of his heroes two years ago, and will have his name live on as a legend for future German swimmers to come.

All in all, Martens won the gold medal at 3:41.78, winning Germany’s first swimming medal since 2008.

"I was overwhelmed,” Martens said. “I stopped, looked at the scoreboard and thought, 'nah, that can't be right.' That was anything but foreseeable, after this season and after all the exertion, even if all the performances beforehand were good.”

Martens set the pace early, flipping over two seconds under Biedermann’s world record pace at halfway, and dragged the rest of the field with him as this year’s World champ Kim Woo-min of Korea went with him.

As he flipped at 300m, the pace was starting to get to him and the field tightened. As they came crashing to the wall, the Australians were closing in, but it was not enough as Elijah Winnington (3:42.11) won the silver medal ahead of Korea’s Kim (3:42.50).

"I felt like my legs and arms were burning out,” Kim said. “I didn't realize I'd won a medal the moment I touched the pad. I looked at the audience and I saw the Koreans waving the flag and cheering, and I felt, 'Did I make it?' I made it."

Winnington, coached by Dean Boxall, had revenge on his mind tonight after he was seventh in Tokyo.

"Straight after the Tokyo Olympic Games I got the word 'redemption' tattooed on my forearm, and that's what these next three years have been,” Winnington said. “Every day I've looked at that word tattooed on my arm, and it's been about fighting to get back to this moment.

"It's pretty hard when you stand behind the blocks to not dwell on what was the past, because I was in the exact same lane in Tokyo in the final, so I was in lane 6, and I just felt like it could have gone either way.

"I just had to go out there with a smile on my face and just really enjoy myself. To come away with that result, I'm really, really happy."

Last year’s World champ Sam Short (3:42.64) finished fourth while Brazil’s Guilherme Costa swam a lifetime best to break the Americas record at 3:42.76 but did not have enough to make a podium as he finished fifth.

China’s Fei Liwei (3:44.24), Germany’s Oliver Klemet (3:46.59), and United States’s Aaron Shackell (3:47.00) also swam in the Olympic final.

Women’s 400m freestyle - Ariarne Titmus wins the battle of gladiators over McIntosh, Ledecky

It was a race that featured three of the best swimmers in the world right now and three swimmers that may win individual gold elsewhere in this swimming program in Paris, and it lived up to the billing between Ariarne Titmus, Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky.

Each of the three have set individual world records in their careers, and when they lined up behind the blocks on Saturday night at the La Defense Arena in Paris, the crowd was aware of the history they were seeing.

Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, the heavy favorite coming in as the world record holder and defending champion, led the race from the outset, and completely dominated the race from the word ‘go.’ Titmus became just the second woman to ever win back to back gold medals in this event at the Olympics, joining American Martha Norelius (1924, 1928) in the process as repeat gold medalists with a 3:57.49.

It wasn’t a best time as she swam 3:55.38 last year in ‘the race of the century,’ but it was enough for her fifth career Olympic medal at age 23.

"Relief, I think," Titmus said of her overriding emotion. "It's a little bit more emotional, this one, than the first one. I know what it feels like to be an Olympic champion. It's a different feeling. I know how hard it is racing in these circumstances at an Olympic Games—the noise, atmosphere, pressure. (Olympic) Village life definitely makes performing well hard. 

"My legs are a bit tired, but I'm relieved more than anything. I probably felt the pressure for this race more than anything in my life to be honest. And I'm definitely good at handling the pressure, but I've definitely felt it. The Olympics is different. It's not like anything else. It's not about how fast you go. It's about getting your hand on the wall first. So I'm really happy to have done that tonight." 

Titmus was pushed the whole way by Canada’s Summer McIntosh (3:58.37), who won her first Olympic medal at age 17.

"It's definitely pretty surreal,” McIntosh said. “Going into tonight I really just wanted to put my best foot forward and race as hard as I could. Overall I'm pretty happy with the result.

"An Olympics is always pretty nerve-racking and there's a lot of anticipation going into each race, so (I'm) kind of learning how to deal with that and also trying to feed off the crowd."

Katie Ledecky of the United States, who won gold in 2016 and silver in 2020, could not get moving on the back half, making a move on the fifth 50 but could not breach the gap that Titmus and McIntosh built. Ledecky won bronze at 4:00.86 for her 11th career Olympic medal - two more medals and she has more than any woman swimmer in history.

Ledecky, coached by Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida, was emotional talking about her coach and teammates that have pushed her to her 11th Olympic medal.

“I’ve gotten so much from training with them,” Ledecky said, choking back tears. “It’s a really special group. It’s why I love this sport so much because I get to spend every day with people like Bobby (Finke) and Kieran (Smith) and my coaches and everyone who believes in me and pushes me. The confidence I was able to have today is a testament to them just knowing I race these really fast boys every day gives me the confidence to go up against really great racers.”

She successfully held off New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather (4:01.12) for the bronze medal as the 2024 World champion was gaining hard on the greatest female swimmer of all-time. Fairweather split 29.50 on the last 50m to Ledecky’s 30.76.

Germany’s Isabel Gose (4:02.14), United States’s Paige Madden (4:02.26), Brazil’s Maria Fernanda Costa (4:03.53) and Australia’s Jamie Perkins (4:04.96) also competed in the Olympic final.

Women’s 4x100m freestyle - Death, Taxes, Australia Women’s 4x100m free

For the fourth straight Olympic Games, Australia won gold in the women’s 4x100m freestyle, asserting its dominance in the women’s sprint freestyle once again. The team of Mollie O’Callaghan (52.24), Shayna Jack (52.35), Emma McKeon (52.39), and Meg Harris (51.94) broke the Olympic record at 3:28.92.

The United States and China kept it very close throughout the race, assuring the Australians they will need to fight for every meter to keep their dominance in this relay.

The Americans wound up with the silver at 3:30.20, breaking the national record in the process with the team of Kate Douglass (52.98), Gretchen Walsh (52.55), Torri Huske (52.06), and Simone Manuel (52.61).

China won its first medal in this event at the Olympics since winning silver in 1996 with the team of Yang Junxuan (52.48), Cheng Yujie (52.76), Zhang Yufei (52.75), and Wu Qingfeng (52.31) setting the Asian record at 3:30.30.

The Australians have long dominated this relay since 2004, registering only three losses at an Olympics or World Championships in the last two decades, a fact not lost on the relay team.

The fastest splits outside the medalists came from Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom (52.53), Michelle Coleman (52.98), Canada’s Taylor Ruck (53.20), and Summer McIntosh (53.22).

Men’s 4x100m freestyle - United States keeps the gold medal once more in dominating fashion

The United States extended its winning streak in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, winning its third straight Olympic gold medal in the event, bringing the nation’s total to 11 gold medals in this relay.

The team of Jack Alexy (47.67), Chris Guiliano (47.33) and Hunter Armstrong (46.75) gave Caeleb Dressel (47.53) a huge amount of clean water as the defending Olympic champion had a two second lead on the rest of the field, assuring a near-victory lap to close out the first night of swimming from Paris. The Americans won gold at 3:09.28 and had an emotional embrace pool-side.

To the American swim team, the relays mean an awful lot, and the pride was shown on the faces of the swimmers as soon as Dressel touched the wall.

Australia won the silver medal thanks to a heroic anchor, once again, from Kyle Chalmers (46.59) as he came roaring home to win silver with the team of Jack Cartwright (48.03), Flynn Southam (48.00), and Kai Taylor (47.73).

Italy won bronze at 3:10.70 with the team of Alessandro Miressi (48.04), Thomas Ceccon (47.44), Paolo Conte Bonin (48.16), and Manuel Frigo (47.06) adding to the team’s silver in Tokyo 2020.

The fastest splits outside the medalists came from China’s Pan Zhanle (46.92), who gave his world record a scare on the lead-off leg, Great Britain’s Duncan Scott (47.52), Germany’s Rafael Miroslaw (47.66), and China’s Wang Haoyu (47.68).

Semis Wrap

Women’s 100m butterfly

Gretchen Walsh erased any doubts that her world record from last month’s Olympic Trials was a fluke as she was the lone swimmer under 56 seconds in the semis at 55.38, breaking the Olympic record from Sarah Sjostrom (55.48) in the process. She will be joined in tomorrow’s final by fellow American Torri Huske (56.00) who is looking to improve her fourth place finish from Tokyo.

Last year’s World champ Zhang Yufei (56.15) of China is seeded third as she won silver three years ago. Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil (56.55), the defending champion, is the fourth seed in a tie with this year’s World champ Angelina Kohler (56.55) of Germany.

Australia’s Emma McKeon (56.74), the bronze medalist from Tokyo, also advanced in sixth ahead of Japan’s Mizuki Hirai (56.80) and Sweden’s Louise Hansson (56.93).

Men’s 100m breaststroke

Great Britain’s Adam Peaty set himself up for an unprecedented third straight Olympic gold medal for tomorrow’s 100m breaststroke with the top seed out of the semis with a 58.86. Only four people in history have ever won the same swimming event three times at the Olympics and Peaty is in position to join that exclusive, legendary club.

His biggest challenger will be last year’s World champ Qin Haiyang (58.93). Qin was the World Aquatics World Swimmer of the Year in 2023 after breaking the world record in the 200m breaststroke and also swimming under 58 seconds a total of six times last year. Qin has not been under 58 yet this year, but will be Peaty’s biggest adversary tomorrow night.

Defending Olympic silver medalist Arno Kamminga (59.12) of the Netherlands is the third seed ahead of 2024 World champ Nic Fink (59.16) of the United States. Caspar Corbeau (59.24), who was the top seed after the heats, advanced to the final in fifth ahead of the 2022 World champ Nicolo Martinenghi (59.28) of Italy.

Germany’s Lucas Matzerath (59.31) advanced in seventh. Germany’s Melvin Imoudu (59.38) won a swim-off (59.69) over Italy’s Ludovico Viberti (59.90) to grab the final spot in tomorrow’s final.