Women’s 400m IM - Summer McIntosh Becomes a Star

It’s a story that has been writing itself for two years - Summer McIntosh, the swimming prodigy from Canada, the daughter of Olympian Jill Horstead, the younger sister of an elite international level figure skater, became an Olympic champion on Monday night in the 400m IM.

After bursting on to the scene as a 14-year-old at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, where she was fourth in the heavily-hyped 400m freestyle matchup, McIntosh was destined for greatness. In the following years, she won eight medals at the World Aquatics Championships in 2022 and 2023, winning the 200m butterfly and 400m IM at each.

On Monday night, in similar fashion to Leon Marchand last night in the men’s event, she dominated the 400m IM final, leading from the word ‘go’ and winning by nearly six seconds.

At age 17, McIntosh won her first Olympic gold medal at 4:27.71, adding to her silver from Saturday’s 400m freestyle final. McIntosh, coached by Brent Arckey at the Sarasota Sharks in the United States, could be making a few more podium trips this week as well as she is favored in both the 200m butterfly and 200m IM. The last time a woman won the 400m IM but not the 200m IM at the same Olympics was 1992.

After all McIntosh’s success, she was finally able to solidify all of that hype as an emerging talent to become an Olympic champion, Canada’s first in the women’s 400m IM, and it’s the third straight Olympics that O Canada played out in the swimming venue for a Canadian woman swimmer.

"I'm just trying to make team Canada proud, and set the tone,” McIntosh said. “I couldn't really see anything until the breaststroke, then I knew I was in a comfortable lead going into that last 100m. It was an amazing feeling.

"I was very happy to get the job done, to stand on top of the podium and get the gold medal. It's always just about having fun, as well as pushing my body to its limits."

Much like the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, American Katie Grimes won the silver medal behind McIntosh at 4:33.40. The time for Grimes is not a best time, but it’s her first Olympic medal at age 18, as she avenged her fourth place disappointment in the 800m freestyle from Tokyo 2020.

It was a familiar spot for Grimes as she shared the podium with American teammate Emma Weyant (4:34.93), who followed up her silver medal from Tokyo 2020.

"I'm just so happy to be back on the podium,” Weyant said. “It's been a long three years for me. Just getting back out there with my teammates means the world to me. This is kind of a redemption year. That has been my mindset the whole year.”

Weyant, coached by Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida, turned fifth at 200 meters, and ran down the likes of Great Britain’s Freya Colbert (4:35.67) to grab the bronze.

Grimes, coached by Ron Aitken at the Sandpipers of Nevada in Las Vegas, gave the United States its fourth straight Olympic silver in the women’s 400m IM.

Colbert, the World champion this year, was third at the 300 meter mark, but could not hold off Weyant, as she settled for fourth - the second Loughborough based swimmer in two nights to finish fourth, matching Max Litchfield’s performance last night.

Australia’s Ella Ramsay (4:38.01), Japan’s Mio Narita (4:38.83), Great Britain’s Katie Shanahan (4:40.17), and Ireland’s Ellen Walshe (4:40.70) also swam in the Olympic final.

Men’s 200m Freestyle - David Popovici comes over the top and launches himself into immortality

Much like the aforementioned Summer McIntosh, Romania’s David Popovici had been destined for greatness since he broke out on the scene three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics where he finished fourth in the 200m freestyle and seventh in the 100m at age 16.

A year later, he swam the fastest 200m freestyle in 13 years, and became the fastest man ever in the 100m, all while he was still eligible to compete at junior events. Popovici amassed a huge following in his native Romania and became a superstar throughout Europe.

On Monday night, he solidified his legacy and became an Olympic champion - Romania’s first in the pool since 2004 and the first ever for a male.

“2022 was the year I rose to fame in the swimming world in my country,” Popovici said. “It was the year I got really fast. I got a taste of this whole new world, the start of a new career. The next year, 2023 was a transition year in which I had to get used to everything that was very new for me and very overwhelming.

"This year, I got to enjoy it and train extremely hard. Only we know the hard work that happens behind the scenes. The public only sees the glory, the shiny medals, the strong finishes and the racing.

"We go training whenever we have a cold. We go swimming whenever we have two or three hours of sleep because we're stressed about the Olympics. So many sacrifices go unnoticed. Qualifying here is often overlooked, and it's very hard.”

It was an improbable finish - Popovici, coached by Adrian Radulescu, looked completely out of it with 25 meters to go as the likes of Great Britain’s Matthew Richards and United States’s Luke Hobson looked to be fighting for the gold. But when the field came crashing to the wall, it wasn’t Richards or Hobson’s block that showed the light first - it was Popovici’s.

Popovici never led at any of the three turns, instead holding back and staying with the field, flipping third at the 100m turn, and second at the 150m.

“I wish I would have gone out half a second faster,” Popovici said. “It’s just the way it turned out, maybe it’s for the better. Who knows? We will never know. This is over, it’s nice, I’m glad it ended the way it did. We, the athletes, know how hard we worked to get here, all the sacrifices, all the sweat, all the blood.”

It appeared Germany’s Lukas Martens was going to win the 200m-400m double, leading through 150 meters with an expected big finish. But Popovici, Hobson, and Richards each had big turns, and turned on the jets to race for the finish.

Hobson looked to be in the lead with 25m to go and Richards seemed to have it with 15m left. But Popovici found something else, and touched to win gold at 1:44.72. Richards silver at 1:44.74, Hobson bronze at 1:44.79.

Richards, coached by Ryan Livingstone at Millfield, won his first career Olympic medal individually after winning gold on the 4x200m freestyle relay in Tokyo 2020.

"I'm over the moon and extremely frustrated at the same time,” Richards said. “That's the way of sport, it's a real rollercoaster. Coming down that last 25m, I thought I might have got it. I thought I'd got the touch, and it came right down to the finish.”

"Unfortunately, it didn't quite go my way. But at the same time, I'm Olympic silver medallist. It's huge for me, individually. I've got to learn from all of that."

Hobson, coached by Eddie Reese at the University of Texas, won his first career Olympic medal at age 21.

"I feel great,” Hobson said. “I couldn't be happier. It was a really close race and I gave it everything I had in the last 50m."

Great Britain’s Duncan Scott, the defending silver medalist from Tokyo, finished fourth at 1:44.87. It’s the third fourth place finish for the British this week thus far.

Martens could not back up the 400m gold with a podium finish as he was tied for fifth with Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys (1:45.46).

Australia’s Maximilian Giuliani (1:45.57) and Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto (1:46.26) also competed in the Olympic final.

Men’s 100m Backstroke - The Italian Job - Thomas Ceccon Claims Gold

Thomas Ceccon perfectly paced himself through three rounds of the 100m backstroke at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and on the third swim, delivered his fastest swim of the meet at 52.00 for Olympic gold.

It’s the first ever for Italy in the men’s 100m backstroke, and it elevates Ceccon from his fourth place finish in Tokyo 2020. Ceccon, age 23, won Italy’s second gold medal in the pool after Nicolo Martinenghi won the 100m breaststroke last night, making Italy’s men’s 4x100m medley relay on Sunday that much more dangerous.

Ceccon, the world record holder coached by Alberto Burlina, turned third at 50 meters, behind China’s Xu Jiayu and the United States’s Ryan Murphy, but turned it on at 75m in similar fashion to Martinenghi last night and ran down the field. Ceccon, who achieved everything in this sport with a world record and World title in 2022, finally won the lot with Olympic gold.

"It was tough,” Ceccon said. “I changed my tactical approach for tonight. I have to say the last few metres I was very tired. But these races are won like this. Last year I lost because I was a bit slow and made a few mistakes, even during warm up. This time around, I haven't made those mistakes. This is proof that sometimes you can lose, but you can learn from that."

Xu, coached by Cai Li in Beijing, won silver at 52.32 after flipping under world record pace as he returned to the Olympic podium after silver in Rio 2016 and fifth in Tokyo 2020.

"I think the result is pretty good,” Xu said. “I was leading the race. I respect my opponent for beating me at the last moment. It's close to the gold medal. Perhaps I'm too old. Age is a big factor.

"I had pressure coming into this race, before the race I was anxious. For the past few days I wasn't sleeping well. I'm not looking for excuses, it's just a fact. I made small mistakes. But in the future I will do a lot better, be a leader. I think I can get glory for the Chinese team. I will work harder."

Murphy, coached by Dave Durden at the University of California, Berkeley, won his second straight bronze at 52.39 as he won his seventh career Olympic medal at age 29. After the medal ceremony, Murphy was greeted by his wife, Bridget, as she let him know they will be having a baby girl in January 2025.

“My life will change a lot and I am really excited for that and it definitely puts things into perspective,” Murphy said. “Up to this point, swimming has been the most important thing in my life. Pretty much every major decision in my life has been with swimming in mind and that’s going to change coming up. I’m really looking forward to what’s coming - a baby girl.”

Apostolos Christou nearly made history for Greece as the nation hadn’t won an Olympic medal in pool swimming since 1896, but he finished fourth at 52.41, just 0.02 away from a medal at age 27.

South Africa’s Pieter Coetze (52.58) broke the African record in finishing fifth, ahead of Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez (52.73), France’s Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (52.77), and Great Britain’s Oliver Morgan (52.84) in the fastest men’s 100m backstroke field ever assembled. It was the first time at a Worlds or Olympics that a sub-53 in the semis didn’t guarantee a spot in the final.

Women’s 100m Breaststroke - Tatjana Smith cool under pressure

Tatjana Smith swam 1:05.28 to win gold for South Africa in the 100m breaststroke, the second for her nation after Penny Heyns won in 1996, for her third career Olympic medal at age 27. Smith, who won silver in Tokyo under maiden name Schoenmaker, will be looking to be the first woman to win the 100m and 200m breaststroke in the same Olympics.

"We all know these are all tight races and we know it always comes down to the last few seconds,” Schoenmaker said. “We all have our own strategies. When I was finishing the race today I just said to myself, 'Close your eyes,' and I was so happy I was the one touching first."

Smith, coached by Rocco Meiring, turned fourth at the 50m wall, as the pace was set by China’s Tang Qianting early. The Shanghai-based swimmer was out 29.94, and looked to be on her way to Olympic glory at 75 meters, but tightened up on the last 25m. Tang, who swam 1:04 back in April, won silver at 1:05.54, China’s first in the event since 2004.

“The Paris Olympics means a growth for me,” Tang, age 20, said. “It will be better help me to improve and prepare me for the next Games and I have gratitude towards my Chinese coach and current coaches - they inspire me to go ahead and go forward.”

The bronze went the way of Mona Mc Sharry of Ireland, who won history for her nation. This was Ireland’s first swimming medal at the Olympics since 1996 as Mc Sharry, who is coached by Matt Kredich at the University of Tennessee in the United States, won bronze at 1:05.59.

"I'm a little scared to look at my phone,” Mc Sharry said of the reaction from her teammates and family. “I'm not going to do that until tomorrow. I think I've had a huge shift in the last few years in the way I look at swimming. I'm enjoying more the small moments and don't think so much about the results, but I'm enjoying getting the medals too."

Mc Sharry was 0.01 faster than 2016 Olympic gold medalist Lilly King (1:05.60) of the United States and Italy’s Benedetta Pilato (1:05.60), who were joint fourth.

Great Britain’s Angharad Evans (1:05.85), Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova (1:06.50), and Alina Zmushka (1:06.54) also swam in the Olympic final.

Women’s 200m Freestyle - Mollie O’Callaghan on top of the world for Australia 1 - 2

It was a perfectly paced race for Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan, who bided her time through the first 150 meters, turning fifth at 100m, and third at 150m, before turning on her underwater kicks to blow past teammate Ariarne Titmus on the last 50m to win Olympic gold.

O’Callaghan split 27.98 on the last 50 to win gold at 1:53.27. It wasn’t a best time for her, but it was her first individual gold medal in her second appearance at the Games at age 20. O’Callaghan, coached by Dean Boxall at St. Peters Western, led off the 4x100m free relay that won gold Saturday night, as she went 1-2 with training partner Titmus (1:53.81).

Titmus was the defending champion coming in and was looking to be the first man or woman to win back to back gold medals in the 200m freestyle, but alas, that streak will continue to Los Angeles 2028.

The early leader was Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, China, who led the race through three lengths of the pool, as she hung on to win bronze at 1:54.55, backing up her silver from Tokyo 2020.

Haughey, coached by Tom Rushton, won her third career Olympic medal at age 26.

"It is very special,” Haughey said. “That wasn't my goal to count the number of medals that I have. I am just here to try my best and I think that Hong Kong has been doing really well at these Olympics so far and I felt like this is just the beginning of it.”

"When I walked out, I saw all the flags and I just took a moment to look around and embrace it and take it all in because I don't know how many more of these chances I will have.”

Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey (1:55.29) came storming home to finish fourth after flipping sixth with 50 meters to go.

China’s Yang Junxuan (1:55.38), Czechia’s Barbora Seemanova (1:55.47), New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather (1:55.59), and United States’s Claire Weinstein (1:56.60) also competed in the Olympic final.

Semis Wrap

Women’s 100m Backstroke

In one of the most hyped races of the Olympics from a matchup perspective, Regan Smith (57.97) of the United States and Kaylee McKeown (57.99) of Australia will hold the middle of the pool in tomorrow’s final as the two fastest all-time will go mano a mano for two lengths of the pool.

McKeown is the defending champion while Smith is the world record holder and looking to improve on her bronze from Tokyo. McKeown could make history as the second woman to win back to back Olympic golds in the 100m backstroke after American Natalie Coughlin (2004, 2008).

If there is a spoiler, look no further than American Katharine Berkoff (58.27), who swam 57.99 in the semis as the third seed at age 23.

Australia’s Iona Anderson (58.63), who was the silver medalist at last year’s World Juniors, is seeded fourth ahead of defending silver medalist Kylie Masse (58.82) of Canada. If Masse wins a medal tomorrow, she would be the first Canadian swimmer to win a medal at three Olympics.

Canada’s Ingrid Wilm (59.10), France’s Beryl Gastaldello (59.29) and Emma Terebo (59.50) also qualified for tomorrow’s final.

Men’s 800m Freestyle

Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen has a chance to make history for Ireland as he is the first male Irish swimmer to qualify for an Olympic final, reserving lane four for tomorrow’s final at 7:41.53 after his swim in the heats this morning.

"Every lane has a chance,” Wiffen said. “I will be looking at everybody and doing my homework tonight to see how everybody swims and make sure that I will be one of the best tomorrow (Tuesday) night."

Wiffen, fresh off of Mc Sharry’s bronze tonight, could make history for Ireland as the first male medalist for his nation at the Olympics.

His biggest challengers will be defending Olympic champion Bobby Finke (7:43.00) of the United States, who is seeded fifth, as well as defending silver medalist Gregorio Paltrinieri (7:42.48) of Italy, who is seeded third.

Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi beat both Paltrinieri and Finke head to head in their heat as he is seeded second at 7:42.07. If he wins a medal Tuesday night, it would be Tunisia’s fourth medal in pool swimming at the Games.

Australia’s Elijah Winnington, who is coming off silver in the 400m on Saturday night, is seeded fourth at 7:42.86 after last year’s World Championships silver medalist Sam Short (7:46.83) finished ninth and out of the final.

Germany’s Sven Schwarz (7:43.67) and Italy’s Luca de Tullio (7:44.07) finished sixth and seventh in the heats, respectively.

France’s David Aubry finished eighth in the heats out of a non-seeded heat at 7:44.59 as his time was the fastest eighth place time at any Olympics or World Championships since the event debuted in 2001.