The Olympic Games in Rio are as exciting as ever, and the U.S. men’s and women’s swimming teams are as dominant as ever!
The U.S. team is one of the most successful teams in the modern swimming era. They won 33 medals (16 gold, eight silver, nine bronze), matching the number of medals they won in the 2012 London Games and just one medal shy of their largest medal haul of 34 in the 1984 Games.
It’s difficult to capture all of the action over the 32 events swum by the men and women over the eight days of competition, but here are a few of the highlights from Team USA in the pool:
Michael Phelps won his 28th Olympic medal and 23rd Olympic gold medal — more than anyone else, in any sport, ever. Over the past four years, Phelps rediscovered himself as a person and thus, was able to finish his swimming career not only with outstanding performances in the pool (five gold, one silver), but also as one of Team USA’s captains and as the flag bearer for the USA in the opening ceremonies.
Katie Ledecky, the youngest swimmer on the U.S. team and also the most dominant freestyle swimmer of this era, won gold in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle events, setting a new world record in the 400 and 800. Her margins of victory over the second place finishers in her distance events are unbelieveable! She also won gold and silver in the 4 x 200 freestyle and 4 x 100 freestyle relays, respectively.
While one-third, or 11 of the 33 medals won by Team USA included Phelps and Ledecky, many others contributed to the record-high medal tally. On the men’s side, sprinter Nathan Adrian won bronze in the 50 and 100 freestyles and was a part of both gold-medal winning 4×100 freestyle and 4×100 medley relays. Fellow sprinter Anthony Ervin won gold in the 50 freestyle and 4 x 100 freestyle relay.
First-time Olympian Ryan Murphy kept the 20-year old men’s 100 and 200 backstroke gold-medal winning streaks alive with an Olympic Record setting swim in the 100 backstroke and a strong win in the 200 backstroke. En route to another gold medal in the 4×100 medley relay, he went even faster, setting setting a new world record in his best event.
On the women’s side, by far the most exciting swim of the meet was Simone Manuel in the 100 freestyle! Remember how I told you to keep your eyes out for Simone? Well, both Lia Neal and Simone Manuel made the Olympic team and both of them won silver in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay, however Simone also won the 100 freestyle in a thrilling come-from-behind race where she out-touched the favorites in the event. She is the first African-American female to win gold in an individual swimming event at the Olympics and in so many ways, this win is more than just a gold medal.
One of Manuel’s teammates at Stanford University, Maya DiRado, swimming in her first Olympics, medaled in all of her events — bronze in the 200 IM, silver in the 400 IM, gold in the 4 x 200 freestyle relay and upsetting the top-seed, won gold in the 200 backstroke! Dana Vollmer, in her third Olympics and first after having a baby in 2015, won a bronze medal in the 100 Butterfly and won silver and gold on the 4 x 100 freestyle and 4 x 100 medley relays respectively. Outspoken and confident, Lily King won two golds in the 100 breaststroke and as a part of the 4 x 100 medley relay.
London Olympic standout, Allison Schmitt, was not as prominent as she was in 2012, but she helped Team USA win silver and gold in the 4 x 100 freestyle and 4 x 200 freestyle relays and was one of the women’s team co-captains. Another swimming star from the 2012 London Olympics, Missy Franklin was part of the prelim 4 x 200 freestyle relay swim earning a gold medal to add to her Olympic medal collection. Ryan Lochte, Phelps’s long-time rival, finished fifth in the 200 IM, but didn’t go empty handed since he won gold as part of the 4 x 200 freestyle relay.
This Olympic team made history in so many ways. Phelps added to his tally of medals and his greatest-of-all-time status. Simone Manuel became the first female African-American gold medalist in swimming. The women’s 4×100 medley relay team won the 1,000th gold medal in summer Olympic Games for Team USA. And the winning streak in the 4 x 100 medley relay continues — a race that the United States has NEVER lost!
Stay tuned for open-water swimming events — the women’s 10km is today, Monday, August 15th and the men’s race is Tuesday, August 16th.
