2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
After a quiet second day in the pool for Oceania, Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus gave the Australian contingent of the continent something to cheer about on day three. The pair went 1-2 in the women’s 200 freestyle, with O’Callaghan getting revenge for the Australian Trials, where Titmus beat her and broke her world record. This time, it was O’Callaghan breaking one of Titmus’ records; the 20-year-old swam 1:53.27 to win her first individual Olympic gold medal, breaking the Olympic record Titmus swam in Tokyo (1:53.50).
In just three years, O’Callaghan has graduated from a prelims-relay-only swimmer to the Olympic champion and one of the two faces of this event on the international scene. She arrived in Tokyo for her first Olympic Games at 17 years old. She helped Australia to three relay medals in Tokyo (2 gold, 1 bronze) with her prelims swims. Leading off the women’s 4×200 freestyle prelims relay, she swam a then-world junior record of 1:55.11 but was left off the relay for finals, which she’s cited as motivation for her since.
O’Callaghan won silver at the 2022 World Championships, but last summer in Fukuoka, she truly broke out. There, she took down Federica Pellegrini‘s 14-year-old world record with a 1:52.85. She was the second swimmer to break the 1:53 barrier, but she wasn’t done yet. By winning the 100 freestyle later in the meet, O’Callaghan became the first woman to win the 100/200 freestyle double at a World Championships. And she still hadn’t reached her 20th birthday.
O’Callaghan bettered her world-record time at the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials with a 1:52.48. But Titmus beat her with a scorching 1:52.23 to take over the world record. O’Callaghan was visibly disappointed afterward, but now six weeks removed from that swim, she refocused and wrote her name into the Olympic history books. She flipped at the 100 in 6th place (56.07) but pulled herself up to third at the final turn with a 28.80 third 50.
What made the difference for her tonight was her closing 50 meters. She seemed to be testing a different race strategy at the Australian Trials but returned to her strengths in Paris. Hardly anyone has a better back-half than O’Callaghan and she proved it tonight with a blistering 27.98 closing split. It’s the fastest closing 50 from any of the top ten performances, propelling her to the third-fastest swim of her career.
The two Australian women have completely taken over this event. O’Callaghan’s gold-medal swim pushes Allison Schmitt out of the top ten performances in this event, meaning that Pellegrini–who presented the Olympic medals today–is the only swimmer not named O’Callaghan or Titmus still in the top ten.
All-Time Performances, Women’s 200 Freestyle (LCM)
Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 1:52.23 — 2024 Australian Olympic Trials
Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 1:52.48 — 2024 Australian Olympic Trials
Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 1:52.85 — 2023 World Championships
Federica Pellegrini (ITA), 1:52.98 – 2009 World Championships
Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 1:53.01 — 2023 World Championships
Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 1:53.09 – 2021 Australian Olympic Trials
Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 1:53.27 — 2024 Olympic Games
Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 1:53.31 – 2022 Australian Championships
Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 1:53.50 – 2021 Olympic Games (Tokyo 2020)
Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 1:53.57 — 2024 Australian Open Championships
The pair have swum six of the top ten performances in the last year. Titmus owns the most swims on this list, but O’Callaghan is right there with four swims. Whoever leads off the 4×200 freestyle relay for Australia could make another entry on this list.
Day 3 Quick Hits
Both Kaylee McKeown and Iona Anderson made it through to the women’s 100 backstroke final tomorrow night, which will feature two Australians, two Americans, two Canadians, and two French swimmers. McKeown dipped under 58 seconds for the first time at these Games with a 57.99 to win the second semifinal. She’ll have lane 5 tomorrow, right next to Regan Smith who posted the fastest time of the semis in 57.97, just .02 ahead of McKeown. As the fourth-fastest out of semis in 58.63, Anderson will swim on McKeown’s other side in her first Olympic final.
Other finalists today included Ella Ramsey, who finished 5th in the women’s 400 IM, and Max Giuliani, who took 7th in the men’s 200 freestyle. Ramsey swam 4:38.01, while Giuliani clocked a 1:45.57.
Oceanian Medal Table Thru Day 3
Nation
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
Australia
3
3
0
6
Source link : https://swimswam.com/2024-paris-oceania-recap-ocallaghan-goes-from-relay-swimmer-to-olympic-champ-in-3-years/
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Publish date : 2024-07-29 18:24:31
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