TOKYO OLYMPIC GAMES READY FOR IMPACT

TOKYO OLYMPIC GAMES

As the United States was still selecting its Olympic swimming team in mid-June, most countries had already decided who would be competing at the COVID-19 pandemic-delayed Olympic Games this summer. Here are profiles of 10 swimmers from around the world (listed alphabetically) who have been preparing to make an impact in Tokyo.

READY FOR IMPACT

GABRIELE DETTI | Italy

Age: 26 (Aug. 29, 1994) Height: 6-0 Records: 400 free (3:43.23-Italy), 800 free (7:40.77-European), 800 free relay (7:02.01-Italy/1:45.30 2nd leg) Medal Count (Olympics/LC Worlds): 2 bronze/1 gold, 2 bronze 2019 World Championships: Bronze: 400 free (3:43.23)

Gabriele Detti has proved to be one of the top distance swimmers in the world. With the 800 meter free added to the Olympic program, the Italian has one more event to showcase his talent.

Detti won the 800 at the 2017 World Championships, and has been a mainstay on podiums across big meets for years.

It started in 2012 when he qualified for the London Olympics in the 1500 free, where he finished 13th.

It was just the beginning.

In 2014, he broke the European record in the 800 at the Italian Championships. He then earned the bronze in the 800 and 1500 free at the 2014 European Championships in Berlin, his first international medals.

Just as his career was starting to take off, Detti had to spend most of the following year out of the water while he battled an extremely painful urinary tract infection, missing the World Championships in Kazan, Russia.

That made the next year all the sweeter. Detti qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 400 and 1500 free, winning gold in the 400 free at the European Championships.

He won bronze medals in both the 400 free (3:44.01) and 1500 free (14:40.86) in Rio.

It wasn’t long before Detti was again at the top of the podium, winning the 800 free at the 2017 World Championships with a 7:40.77 and breaking the Italian and European records.

He claimed the bronze medal in the 400 free at the 2018 Short Course World Championships and again at the 2019 Long Course Worlds before the pandemic hit.

But with all of his success, the 800 free is still a bit of a mystery. This year’s Games in Tokyo will be the first time the men will have the 800 on the Olympic program, giving Detti a chance to be a pioneer in the event.

He has proved to be in good form in the event recently, taking third in the 800 at the 2021 European Championships (7:46.10), behind Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Romanchuk (7:42.61) and Italian compatriot Gregorio Paltrinieri (7:43.62).

That trio will be in the mix for medals in Tokyo.

Detti also took fourth in the 400 (3:46.07), but did not swim the 1500 free.

With Detti’s focus on the 800, the world champion could make history in the very first Olympic race of the event with the entire world watching. — Dan D'Addona

Age: 28 (July 9, 1993) Height: 6-2 Records: 100 back (52.11-Commonwealth), 200 back (1:53.17-Commonwealth), 200 IM (1:55.72-Commonwealth), mixed 400 medley relay (3:38.91-Commonwealth/53.08 backstroke leadoff) Medal Count (Olympics/LC Worlds): 1 silver, 1 bronze/3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze 2019 World Championships: Gold: 400 mixed medley relay (3:39.08/53.47 backstroke leadoff) Bronze: 100 back (52.77)

MITCH LARKIN | Australia

The search for Australia’s next men’s swimming star is well into its second decade. It seems only fitting for how frustrating the quest has been that arguably the country’s brightest hope is, through a quirk of scheduling fate, facing a mid-career transition.

When most of the world met Mitch Larkin at the 2016 Olympics, it was as a backstroker, a 22-year-old standing on the medal stand in the 200-meter event. But five years later, Larkin won’t contest what was considered his signature event, opting instead for the 200 individual medley.

For a men’s program that has won just five individual and three relay medals combined at the last two Olympics—or what Ian Thorpe once would’ve called a busy week all by himself—the swap of specialties is another sigh-worthy moment. For Larkin, though, the bold decision could be a chance at a second win on his career.

In Rio, Larkin almost passed as a veteran in the backstroke ranks, though he was just 22. But the Queensland native was surrounded by

a pair of 20-year-olds in Ryan Murphy and Xu Jiayu and 19-year-old Evgeny Rylov. The American won gold that day in 1:53.62, short of Larkin’s pre-Olympics best time, with Larkin edging Rylov for silver by 1-hundredth of a second.

Since those Games, Xu has won consecutive World Championships in the 100 back, an event in which Larkin finished fourth in Rio (52.43), third in Gwangju (52.77), and whose best time this year is 53.04. Rylov has claimed consecutive 200 back titles. Murphy has two 200 back silvers, a 100 back silver and retains the world record in the 100.

Larkin was 15th in the 200 back in 2017, then scratched the event at 2019 Worlds, opting instead for the 200 IM, in which he finished seventh in 1:57.32. It was a far cry from the 100-200 back double he did in 2015 at Worlds in Kazan.

There’s a balance for Larkin, who declared just before Australian Trials that he wouldn’t swim the 200 back. In mid-June, he was ranked second in the world in that event with a very fast 1:54.38 set just in April at the Australian Swim Club Championships, though he hasn’t touched the personal best he set back in 2015 at 1:53.17 in quite some time. On the other hand, his 1:56.29 in the 200 IM from Trials, June 16, was the second fastest in the world—and his best time from 2019 is 1:55.72, a Commonwealth record and faster than anyone has swum so far this year.

“I’ve been looking at it for a number of months now, and I have never swum the medley at an Olympic Games, which gives me a lot of excitement,” Larkin said ahead of Trials. “It’s like coming back to my roots when I made my first (Australian) Junior team in the 400 IM, and also the depth (in both events) in terms of who’s going to win it and what times would win the 200 backstroke versus what time it’s going to take to be competitive in the 200 medley, and I think that was the deciding factor. It wasn’t an easy decision.”

Larkin has only dabbled in the 200 IM internationally. He won silver in the event in the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships and gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. But of his 28 medals in senior international competition, those are the only two not set in backstroke (50, 100 and 200) or on medley relays. But the silver lining, as Larkin said, is in Larkin’s consideration of the bigger picture. With depth in backstroke, Larkin can pursue what would be, almost inconceivably, the first Australian medal in the men’s 200 IM, dating to its installation in the Olympic program in 1968. No Aussie man has won an IM medal since Rob Woodhouse’s bronze in 1984.

That’s a lot of pressure to foist on the shoulders of Larkin. But by now, it’s something he and his cohort of promising Aussies are accustomed to handling. — Matthew De George

Age: 24 (Feb. 28, 1997) Height: 6-1 Records: 200 free (1:44.65-Japan), 400 free relay (3:12.54-Asian/47.61 3rd leg) Medal Count (Olympics/LC Worlds): none/1 silver 2019 World Championships: Silver: 200 free (1:45.22)

KATSUHIRO MATSUMOTO | Japan

Each Olympic cycle, the men’s 200 freestyle is often billed as one of the “can’t-miss” races of the swimming portion of the Games.

In 1988, three world record holders lined up behind the blocks in Seoul only for none of them to win the gold medal, that distinction going to Australia’s Duncan Armstrong in one of the greatest Olympic upsets in the sport.

In 2000, the Netherlands’ Pieter van den Hoogenband scored a monumental upset over Australian Ian Thorpe in front of the Sydney crowd, tying the world record from the night before. Thorpe, although just 17, was looked at as an unbeatable force, and no one expected him to lose in front of a home crowd, but Hoogie beat him to the wall, leaving the crowd stunned.

Four years later, those two lined up for the ultimate grudge match in Athens. Throw in a 19-year-old Michael Phelps, who wanted to challenge two living legends of the sport, and you have what was dubbed as “the race of the century.” Thorpe ultimately got his revenge in that race, while Phelps went on to dominate four years later in 2008.

Flash forward to 2021, and with questions surrounding reigning Olympic gold medalist Sun Yang’s status in the Games, the 200 freestyle seems up for grabs.

Enter Katsuhiro Matsumoto. The Japanese star didn’t make his senior debut until the 2017 Worlds, where the then-20-year-old finished 27th in the 200 free. He swam in two finals on relays, where he gained valuable experience racing on the global level. A month later, he was at the 2017 Summer Universiade, where he had another disappointing showing individually in the 200 free—a 19th-place finish and no second swim.

But Matsumoto rebounded later on to lead Japan to a gold medal in the 4x200 free relay at those Games, and he returned home with his first international medal.

A year later, Matsumoto was on the international podium for the first time individually, accepting the bronze medal in the 200 at the 2018 Pan Pacs in his home country for his 1:45.92, which put him ninth in the world that year. Ten days later at the Asian Games, he won silver in the 200 free and gold in the 4x100 and 4x200 free relays.

That international experience helped him break through in 2019, where he won the silver medal in the 200 free at the World Championships in Gwangju, setting a national record in the process at 1:45.22.

In the lead-up to the original 2020 Games, the 200 free looked to be up for grabs due to reigning world champ Sun Yang’s original eight-year suspension, leaving Matsumoto and Danas Rapsys (who touched first in that 200 free final in 2019 before getting disqualified) as the logical new favorites.

On April 5, Matsumoto lowered his Japanese record to 1:44.65 to briefly lead the world rankings in the event for two weeks— until Duncan Scott (1:44.47) and Tom Dean (1:44.58) went faster at the British Nationals. Matsumoto also qualified to swim the 100 freestyle and has dabbled in the 400 this year, but he has been all-in on the 200 freestyle for the home Olympics.

Will his efforts for the 200 result in Matsumoto being Japan’s first male gold medalist in freestyle since 1936? A home Olympics has given a boost to the host nation’s athletes, and Japan’s rich history in the pool will certainly be on full display in Tokyo. In a race as tactical and wide open as the 200, this could be the perfect moment for Matsumoto. — Andy Ross

KAYLEE McKEOWN | Australia

KRISTOF MILAK | Hungary

Age: 20 (July 12, 2001) Height: 5-9 Records: 50 back (27.16-Commonwealth), 100 back (57.45-world), 200 back (2:04.28-Commonwealth) Medal Count (Olympics/LC Worlds): none/3 silver 2019 World Championships: Silver: 200 back (2:06.26), 400 medley relay (prelims/59.44 back)

Anyone in the sport understands the grueling nature of training. In the water. In the gym. In the mind. But no matter how difficult the sessions may be from day-to-day, Kaylee McKeown recognizes how they pale in comparison to the fight her father, Sholto, waged against brain cancer. In August, it will be a year since McKeown’s father lost his battle with glioblastoma, his life shortened to 53 years.

Now, McKeown is surging toward the pandemic-delayed Olympic Games with her father as an inspiration, and with the knowledge that her family’s patriarch passed along a powerful mindset. On the road to Tokyo, and under the guidance of Coach Chris Mooney, McKeown sees the importance of seizing the moment and fighting to the end.

“Dad was taken from us too soon by something so cruel,” McKeown said at the time of her father’s death. “But the love, the memories and the laughter will forever be cherished in our hearts. He was so unbelievably strong and wanted to defy the odds that were stacked against him. With no time to waste, we buckled up for a hell of a journey and held each other’s hands every step of the way. The heavens above have gained another beautiful angel to watch over us.”

Since COVID-19 emerged and pressed the pause button on the 2020 Olympic Games, athletes around the world have responded differently in their returns to the water. Some have looked sharp. Others have yet to regain their pre-pandemic mojo. Still others are floating somewhere in between. Count McKeown in the top 1% of performers.

Entering the Olympic summer, McKeown’s greatest international achievement is the silver medal she claimed in the 200 meter backstroke at the 2019 World Championships. But by the time Tokyo comes to a close, there is a chance the just-turned 20-yearold (July 12) will own a fistful of medals from the biggest stage her sport has to offer.

At seemingly every stop ahead of the Australian Olympic Trials, June 12-17, McKeown was in statement-making mode. In the 100 backstroke at the Sydney Open, she just missed the world record with a Commonwealth standard of 57.63. There have been 2:04 markers in the 200 backstroke. And in the 200 individual medley, McKeown has been sub-2:09 to earn podium-contender status for the Games. (As SW was about to go to press, McKeown set a

world record at the Australian Olympic Trials with a 57.45 in the

100 back and won the 200 back in 2:04.28 and 200 IM in 2:08.19.)

In an era in which the Australian women do not lack for starpower, thanks to the presence of Cate Campbell and Emma McKeon, it can be argued that McKeown has the potential for the greatest fireworks in Tokyo. With considerable momentum behind her, McKeown could be a disruptive force to the United States’ backstroke battalion—a unit powered by Regan Smith.

McKeown, too, has a chance to make history for her country. Despite Australia’s longstanding greatness in the pool, no Australian woman has ever won gold at the Olympic Games in a backstroke event. The closest it has come are silver medals from Bonnie Mealing (1932) and Emily Seebohm (2012) in the 100 backstroke.

From her individual schedule to the role she will play in Australian relay duty, McKeown has the opportunity to emerge from the Tokyo Games as a global star. And as she pursues that success, there is no doubt she will have support from above. — John Lohn

Age: 21 (Feb. 20, 2000) Height: 6-3 Records: 100 fly (50.18-Hungary), 200 fly (1:50.73-world), 400 medley relay (3:32.13-Hungary/50.97 fly), 800 free relay (7:07.67-Hungary/1:44.86 anchor) Medal Count (Olympics/LC Worlds): none/1 gold, 1 silver 2019 World Championships: Gold: 200 fly (1:50.73)

It is not a large country, but Hungary knows a thing or two about producing big results in the pool. From the days of original superstar Alfred Hajos to the modern-day excellence of Krisztina Egerszegi and Tamas Darnyi, Hungary is proud of its rich tradition in the sport.

And now, as the Olympic Games are set to begin in Tokyo after a yearlong delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kristof Milak is the latest Hungarian to carry his nation’s banner.

Milak has seemingly been destined for greatness, his talent

recognized at an early age and generating high expectations. While World Junior and Youth Olympic titles dot his résumé, it was a silver medal in the 100 butterfly as a 17-year-old at the 2017 World Championships, behind American Caeleb Dressel, that proved he would be a factor on the biggest stage. And since that day arrived in his hometown of Budapest, Milak has not let up.

These days, Milak is best known for his prowess in the 200 butterfly, arguably the most grueling event in the sport. In a discipline where each stroke saps the body of energy, and the brain begs for the wall to appear, Milak can stay powerful and fend off the proverbial piano. Never was that ability more evident than at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

En route to a 1:50.73 world record, Milak charged home in 29.16, a split that was more than a second faster than six of the other seven finalists. And that closing leg came after Milak pressed the first 150 meters to build an insurmountable edge. The silver medalist in that race, Japan’s Daiya Seto, finished in 1:53.86, more than three seconds in the rearview mirror.

What Milak is doing in the 200 butterfly is comparable to the dominance that Great Britain’s Adam Peaty has shown in the 100 breaststroke and what American Katie Ledecky has enjoyed in the distance-freestyle events. Simply, he is racing in his own realm, his primary competition the clock. Heading into the Tokyo Games, Milak owns the three fastest times in history, with his world record from Gwangju sitting 78-hundredths clear of Michael Phelps’ career best of 1:51.51, which stood as the world record for a decade.

It is not preposterous to suggest that Milak could threaten the 1:50 barrier at the Olympics, a threshold that is difficult to digest. Some context for what Milak is chasing? Phelps is the only other athlete to eclipse the 1:52 barrier in the 200 fly, and that performance was delivered in 2009—during the tech-suit era.

As much as the 200 butterfly is Milak’s prime event, he recently claimed the European title in the 100 butterfly, his time of 50.18 making him the No. 4 performer in history. More, he has established himself as one of the world’s elite swimmers in the 200 freestyle, with an Olympic medal not out of reach. Simply, Milak continues to develop into a multidimensional force.

Years down the road, when greats of the sport are discussed, it would not be a surprise if the name of Kristof Milak is part of the conversation. He is, after all, headed in that direction, and further enhancing his nation’s aquatic excellence. — John Lohn

YUI OHASHI | Japan

Age: 25 (Oct. 18, 1995) Height: 5-8 Records: 200 IM (2:07.91-Japan), 400 IM (4:30.82-Japan), 800 freestyle relay (7:48.96-Japan/1:58.10 anchor) Medal Count (Olympics/LC Worlds): none/1 silver, 1 bronze 2019 World Championships: Bronze: 400 IM (4:32.33)

There is nothing quite like earning the right to represent your country at the Olympic Games.

But even rarer is the opportunity to represent your country on home soil for the Olympics.

Japanese swimmers have worn that as a badge of honor the past four, now five years, since Tokyo became the host of the next Olympic Games.

Yui Ohashi is one of those swimmers ready for the opportunity to dive into the pool in her home country with the entire world watching.

But outside of Japan, she is an under-the-radar contender who could be poised to make her big breakthrough in Tokyo.

Ohashi burst onto the swimming scene at the 2017 World Championships, becoming the first Japanese woman to go sub-2:08 in the 200 IM, finishing with the silver medal in the event at her first Worlds, trailing only Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu.

That race put Ohashi on the map in the swimming world and proved that she belonged among the world’s best. It would only get better.

That silver would turn to gold multiple times in 2018.

At the Pan Pacific Championships that year, she won the gold medal in the 400 IM (4:33.77), then claimed the 200 IM in 2:08.16, which, though not her best time, broke the Pan Pacific Championships record.

Ohashi then headed to Jakarta for the 2018 Asian Games, where she won the gold medal in the 400 IM as well as silver in the 200 IM.

Looking for redemption after missing out on gold in the 200 IM, her next international swim in the event was even worse. Ohashi was disqualified in that event at the 2019 World Championships, missing out on a chance to earn another medal.

Ohashi bounced back to take the bronze medal in the 400 IM, but that DQ in the 200 left Ohashi wanting, and that should be huge motivation for her in Tokyo.

It has been nearly two years since Ohashi has competed on the world’s stage. The world has been waiting to see what she is capable of, and Ohashi will be ready to prove it. If she can return to form and put together her best race, she might just be in even rarer company, listening to her national anthem being played at the Olympic Games in her own country. — Dan D'Addona

SIMONA QUADARELLA | Italy

EVGENY RYLOV | Russia

Age: 22 (Dec. 18, 1998) Height: 5-7 Records: 800 free (8:14.99-Italy), 1500 free (15:40.89-Italy) Medal Count (Olympics/LC Worlds): none/1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze 2019 World Championships: Gold: 1500 free (15:40.89) Silver: 800 free (8:14.99)

Every Olympic Games is not just a culmination, but a new beginning. The moment the Games finish, the next cycle of four years (or, in this oddity, five then three) kicks off, ushering the stars of the moment toward their lives of post-Olympic glory and clearing room for the next generation.

Since swimming departed Rio in 2016, few swimmers new to the world scene have had as productive a journey as Simona Quadarella. She didn’t qualify for the last Olympics, held when the native of Rome was just 17. Now 22, she’s emerged as one of the top claimants to Katie Ledecky’s distance throne. Quadarella was tabbed as a star for the future from her mid-teens. She won gold in the 800 free at the 2014 Youth Olympics and nabbed gold in the 1500 and silver in the 800 at the 2015 World Junior Championships.

Her introduction to the senior ranks came in 2017, with bronze in the 800 free at the European Championships (short course) and bronze in the 1500 at Worlds in Budapest. But her breakout meet was the 2018 European Championships, where she left Glasgow with gold in the 400, 800 and 1500 frees.

The 2019 World Championships brought silver in the 800 free behind Ledecky by a second-and-a-half in an Italian record, erasing a mark that had stood since the super-suited 2009 Worlds. She was second to Ledecky in prelims of the 1500 before Ledecky withdrew from Gwangju, helping Quadarella turn in a time of 15:40.89 in the final, another Italian record that bested the field by a Ledeckian margin of eight seconds.

The changes to the Olympics mean that there’s more on offer for Quadarella in Tokyo. Added to the program for the first time is the 1500 free, which she labels her favorite event. It may push her away from the 400, a relative sprint for her, though it didn’t prevent her from doing the 400-800-1500 triple at the European Championships in May.

Quadarella is the heir to the crown of outstanding Italian freestylers in recent years, a lineage that traces through the middistance dominance of Federica Pellegrini to the reign of Gregorio Paltrinieri and Gabriele Detti on the men’s side.

But Quadarella is also at the crest of a wave of rising Italian talent that makes the nation one to be reckoned with in Tokyo. The Italians led the way at the European Aquatics Championships with 44 total medals across all disciplines, and they scored the most points in the pool and open water swimming. With breaststroker Benedetta Pilato and backstroker Margherita Panziera, the Italians will field a roster with multiple medal threats.

“I think swimming in Italy is improving so much in the last few years,” Quadarella told Swimming World last year. “I think there is a generation changing because there are so many younger swimmers in Italy.”

The race to the distance podiums is crowded. Germany’s Sarah Kohler, while she didn’t swim at Euros, remains a significant contender. Like Quadarella, the extra year of experience will only help Ariarne Titmus, the 20-year-old Australian phenom who outdueled Ledecky in the 400 free in Gwangju, something that not many can say.

Quadarella’s times remain well shy of Ledecky at her best. Her best time in the 800 (8:14.99) is 10 seconds shy of Ledecky’s world record. In the 1500, it’s a 20-second spread from Quadarella’s best (15:40.89) to Ledecky’s world record from 2018.

But with the extra year of preparation, Quadarella is looking to write her name into the next generation of stars. — Matthew De George

[PHOTO BY MINE KASAPOGLU/ISL ] Age: 24 (Sept. 23, 1996) Height: 6-1 Records: 100 back (52.12-Russia), 200 back (1:53.23-European), mixed 400 medley relay (3:28.81-Russia/52.57 backstroke leadoff) Medal Count (Olympics/LC Worlds): 1 bronze/2 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze 2019 World Championships: Gold: 200 back (1:53.40) Silver: 50 back (24.49), 100 back (52.67), 400 free relay (3:09.97/47.02 anchor) Bronze: 400 medley relay (3:28.81/52.57 backstroke leadoff)

Over the past several years, no swimmer has been more prolific in the men’s backstroke events than Evgeny Rylov. Back in 2016, Rylov was just 19 when he won a bronze medal in the 200 backstroke at the Rio Olympics, and he has expanded his résumé extensively in the years since. Rylov has won gold medals in the 200 back at both the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, and he took down Olympic gold medalist Ryan Murphy on both occasions. And he has improved markedly in the 100 back as well. In 2019, he won silver at the World Championships, and he later swam a 51.97 mixed medley relay leadoff (which does not count on the all-time rankings) that only four other men have ever eclipsed.

Rylov got his Olympic year off to a rousing start by swimming a 52.12 in the 100 back and a 1:53.23 in the 200 back at Russia’s Olympic Trials in April, and that 200 back took down his own European record. Rylov’s mixed medley relay leadoff split from 2019 does not count as an official record, so he traded the Russian 100 back record with countryman Kliment Kolesnikov earlier this year at those Trials. Rylov emerged victorious in the final with a 52.12, just 1-hundredth off Camille Lacourt’s European record. At the European Championships, Kolesnikov swam a 52.09 as a mixed relay leadoff, also unofficial, and then a 52.13 as a men’s medley relay leadoff, just missing Rylov’s record.

Rylov and Kolesnikov will head to the Tokyo Olympics on the short list of contenders for the gold medal in the 100 back, and Rylov is the clear favorite in the 200 back. And while Rylov did not swim at peak form at the European Championships in May, he still added a second straight continental title in the 200 back. Rylov has some impressive skills in sprint freestyle as well, and he could contribute to Russia’s 400 free relay at the Olympics. At the 2019 World Championships, he anchored the silver medalwinning squad in 47.02.

In Tokyo, Rylov will be a central cog to a Russian men’s squad that has gained clout in recent years. Although Russia is technically “banned” from the Olympics for anti-doping violations (its flag and national anthem will not appear, but most of its athletes can compete), the country’s swimmers appear to be on track for a signature performance.

In Olympic history, Russia and the Soviet Union have won just 12 individual golds in men’s swimming, half of which were at the 1980 Games that the United States and other countries boycotted. No Russians have topped the Olympic podium since Alexander Popov (50 and 100 free) and Denis Pankratov (100 and 200 fly) in 1996, but this time, Rylov, Kolesnikov and 200 breast world record holder Anton Chupkov will all head to Tokyo with a great chance of winning gold. — David Rieder

ARIARNE TITMUS | Australia

Age: 20 (Sept. 7, 2000) Height: 5-10 Records: 200 free (1:53.09-Commonwealth), 400 free (3:56.90-Commonwealth), 800 free (8:15.57-Oceanian), 800 free relay (7:41.50-world/1:54.27 leadoff) Medal Count (Olympics/LC Worlds): none/2 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze 2019 World Championships: Gold: 400 free (3:58.76), 800 free relay (7:41.50/1:54.27 leadoff) Silver: 200 free (1:54.66) Bronze: 800 free (8:15.70)

When Ariarne Titmus made her senior international debut at the 2017 World Championships, she was just 16, and a fourthplace finish in the 400 free plus contributing to an 800 free relay bronze medal hinted at some significant potential in the years to come. Over the next two years, Titmus would see her career take off, and quickly, she became the first real international rival to American distance stud and five-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky in an event 400 meters or longer.

In 2018, Titmus began accumulating international medals. She won four medals, including individual golds in the 400 and 800 free, at the Commonwealth Games, and at the Pan Pacific Championships, she became just the second woman ever to break 4:00 in the 400 free in a textile suit while finishing just over a second behind Ledecky. She capped off her year by winning gold medals in the 200 and 400 free at the Short Course World Championships in December and taking down the world record (short course) in the 400-meter event.

All that was a prelude to the stunning moment that Titmus produced on the opening day of the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. This time, not only did Ledecky never establish an early advantage, as she had in every single international 400 free to that point in her career, but even when the American did take the lead, she could never break away from Titmus. Ledecky led by 6-tenths at the final turn, but Titmus exploded with a 29.51 finishing split to pass and then pull away from Ledecky, leaving the collective swimming world in total shock.

Afterward, Titmus claimed to have felt no pressure, hoping only to fight as hard as possible to the finish, but even she recognized the landmark achievement of ending a win streak in distance events that had carried on for six years.

“It’s crazy to think she has been dominating distance freestyle since 2012,” Titmus said. “Now, hopefully she is excited that she now has a battle with me. Katie is a true champion. To do something like this, I suppose every girl dreams of doing it.”

In the next few days, the world learned that Ledecky had actually been sick, and she pulled out of several events at that

meet. Meanwhile, Titmus ended up winning three more medals, a silver medal in the 200 free, gold (in world-record time) in the 800 free relay and a bronze in the 800 free. Her star was set for the Tokyo Olympics, her status as Ledecky’s first real rival in a longer event now confirmed.

Now, almost two years later, the two will finally reconvene for one of the most anticipated races of the Olympics. And Titmus wants to race Ledecky in top form, when the American is not sick, a chance which will come in Tokyo. Titmus actually had setbacks of her own this year, including undergoing shoulder surgery in December, but she was back in the pool and back in form for April’s Australian Swimming Championships, where she recorded impressive times (1:55-mid 200 free, 4:01.3 400 free and 8:23.1 800 free) that set her up beautifully for the summer.

Just like Titmus won four medals at the World Championships in 2019, that seems like a reasonable target for these Olympics as well. She will contend for gold medals in the 200 and 400 free and for a medal of some color (likely behind heavily-favored Ledecky) in the 800 free. She will also again play a key role on Australia’s 800 free relay team, which has legitimate gold-medal aspirations.

Titmus has been able to get to this point of sustained success and close the gap that so many distance swimmers were unable to close over the last nine years. But Titmus was never fazed by the thought of racing Ledecky. Titmus has been fearless and at her best in the biggest moments, so expect to see a huge fight out of the 20-year-old Australian in Tokyo. — David Rieder

ZHANG YUFEI | China

Age: 23 (April 19, 1998) Height: 5-9 Records: 100 free (52.90 twice-China), 100 fly (55.62p-Asian), mixed 400 medley relay (3:38.41p-world/55.32 fly) Medal Count (Olympics/LC Worlds): none/3 bronze 2019 World Championships: 5th: 400 medley relay (3:57.11/56.44 fly) 12th: 50 fly (26.18sf) 13th (tie): 100 fly (57.93sf) 26th: 200 fly (2:14.20p)

Over the last 15 years, the Chinese women have had a rich history in the butterfly events.

At the 2008 Olympics, Liu Zige and Jiao Liuyang went 1-2 in the 200 butterfly in front of a home crowd in Beijing, which remains the last time a country swept gold and silver in a women’s swimming event at the Games. Jiao elevated to gold in the 200 fly in 2012, while she and Liu traded World titles in 2011 and 2013.

When those two retired, Zhang Yufei looked to be the one to continue their legacy: In 2014 at the age of 16, Zhang won two silvers in the 100 and 200 fly at the Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing.

A year later at the 2015 Worlds, she broke the world junior record in the 200 fly en route to a bronze medal at 2:06.51, and looked to be an outside shot for a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics. Instead, she finished sixth in the Rio final, about two seconds away from the podium.

For the next two years, Zhang remained near the top of the world rankings. With her junior career officially over, she finished fifth in the 200 fly final at the 2017 Worlds, and in 2018, she had the third fastest time globally with her gold from the Asian Games at 2:06.61. But she still hadn’t been faster than her 2:06.5 from 2015 when she was 17.

Her break on the senior level finally came last September at the age of 22. Swimming at China’s nationals, Zhang blasted an Asian record in prelims of the 100 butterfly with a 55.62, rattling Sarah Sjostrom’s 55.47 world record in the process.

The swim seemingly came out of nowhere for Zhang, who had only managed a 57.41 the year before, when she was ranked 11th in the world and had been better known as a 200 flyer. But even her 200 fly that year was forgettable: At the 2019 Worlds, she could only muster a 2:14 that placed her 26th overall and out of the semifinals.

But in the pandemic year, she emerged as just the fourth woman to break 56 seconds in the 100 fly, and also was on the lone world record-setting relay of 2020, splitting a 55.32 on China’s mixed medley at the Chinese Championships in October. Her sprint free times also were stellar—a 52.90 in the 100 free put her third in the world for the calendar year.

She had shied away from the 200 fly during the pandemic months of 2020, admitting she was afraid of the grueling event, but in 2021 she went 2:05.44 at nationals and finally broke through from her best junior career times.

Zhang’s 55.73 100 fly at Chinese Nationals, May 2, put her atop the world rankings until Torri Huske went 55.66, June 14, at U.S. Trials. With a lot of talk around Americans Huske and Claire Curzan, Australian Emma McKeon and reigning World champ Maggie MacNeil of Canada, Zhang seems to get lost in the conversation among gold medal favorites for Tokyo.

Zhang has been on a tear the last two years, and besides her butterfly success, she’s swum a 24.32 in the 50 free (eighth in the world) and 52.90 in the 100 free (third globally).

She’ll definitely have some decisions to make if she is to tackle all four of those individual events, but one thing is for certain: Zhang should not be taken lightly in either the 100 or 200 butterfly come Tokyo...and she just may be the person to beat. — Andy Ross v