Swimming World September 2021 Issue

Page 16

2020 TOKYO OLYMPIC GAMES CONTINUED FROM 15

still exceed the lofty aspirations. Save for the fast opening leg by Sarah Sjostrom (before the Swedes faded to sixth), the Aussies led all the way. As the race for silver materialized behind them, the Australians nearly had time to hop out of the pool, towel off and take in the spectacle. Bronte Campbell led it off, with the next 100 belonging to Meg Harris. Then came the big guns. McKeon’s split, the early indicator of her fantastic Games, was a dazzling 51.35. Only three women in the race came within a second of that time—and one was teammate Cate Campbell, who brought it home in 52.24! The final time of 3:29.69 dashed the world record. It bested the field by a clear three seconds. In a race where nations tried desperately to cobble together splits under 54 seconds, the Aussies came within a tenth of having all four under 53. >> The United States had never lost the men’s 400 medley relay at an Olympics, but in Tokyo, they barely “It’s very special to be part of this made finals, qualifying seventh. With Great Britain considered a slight favorite, (from left) Ryan Murphy, relay. It always is,” Bronte Campbell said. Michael Andrew, Caeleb Dressel and Zach Apple not only won the race for the Americans, but set a world “The competition in Australia is fierce record from Lane 1. [ Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher / USA Today Sports ] for this relay, and that’s what makes us so competitive on the international stage. Murphy told Dressel to put the race behind him. They had more It’s more than us competing against each other for the spots on the work to do in the next day’s men’s 400 medley relay. “That’s how relay because we really are an extended team, and we support each we work here,” Dressel said. “We knew we had a shot at doing other. That is why we have managed to have such a strong team something special tomorrow, so Murph was already refocusing.” for so long.” It was an opportunity the Americans barely earned after The Aussie’s world record proved vanishingly rare. Only two qualifying seventh for the men’s medley relay final, leaving them individuals—Caeleb Dressel in the men’s 100 fly and Tatjana in Lane 1, far away from their top competition. Great Britain was Schoenmaker in the women’s 200 breast—set world records. Only considered a slight favorite, with two-time Olympic champion four of the seven relays, including a mixed medley in its infancy, and world record holder Adam Peaty swimming breaststroke. The featured rewritten records. Brits also had Duncan Scott anchoring, and at the 2019 World The Australians would crack on from the stellar start. From Championships, Scott had split 46.14 on the last 100 to pass the Ariarne Titmus in the mid-distance freestyle to Kaylee McKeown Americans and steal away gold. in backstroke to McKeon in one of the most impressive all-purpose After strategic decisions had twice cost the Americans a medal in sprint performances ever, the gold from the 400 free relay appeared relays, one more decision remained for the men’s medley. Michael to be the one that opened the floodgates. Andrew, who set the American record in the 100 breaststroke at “We push each other and challenge each other, but we do that in U.S. Olympic Trials, but who finished fourth in the event earlier a really supportive way,” Cate Campbell said. “There is no malice in the Olympics, had been struggling. In the 200 IM final just two and no animosity toward one another, and I think that has just days before the medley relay, he ended up fifth, two seconds off his spoken volumes. This is the third Olympics in a row that Australia best time from six weeks earlier. Also, he would have to swim the has won this event, and that in itself really needs to be celebrated. To medley relay just an hour after the 50 freestyle final. do that for 13 years in a row is incredible.” — Matthew De George Would the American coaches consider a lineup switch? No, they would not. U.S. men’s coach Dave Durden and national team managing director Lindsay Mintenko stuck with Murphy on B EST MEN ’S RELAY PER FO R M ANC E : back, Andrew on breast, Dressel on fly and Apple on free. The stakes were high. The Americans had never lost the men’s 400 medley relay at an Olympics. The event was on the Olympic schedule for the 16th time, and the U.S. had won 14 of the previous t was a week that had produced the two worst finishes for the 15 gold medals, missing only in 1980 when the U.S. boycotted the United States in Olympic history. First, the U.S. men’s 800 Moscow Games. freestyle relay team faded to fourth after leading much of the race’s But in 2021, as in all those previous Olympics, the relay turned first half. The strategic decision to swim Zach Apple on the third out perfectly. leg backfired as Apple tightened up and slowed considerably on Murphy led off in 52.31, the top split in the field—and more than his last length. A few days after that, the U.S. team in the mixed 1.3 seconds faster than Great Britain’s Luke Greenbank. Murphy 400 medley relay finished fifth. The Americans had bucked had been disappointing with his 52.92 split on the 2019 medley conventional wisdom by placing male swimmers on the backstroke relay that ended up with silver, but he did his job this time. Andrew and freestyle legs, and that left Caeleb Dressel to dive in eighth surrendered the lead to Peaty and to Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi, with an eight-second margin to try to overcome...which he could but his 58.49 split was enough to give Dressel a chance. Dressel not. As Dressel was climbing out of the water, backstroker Ryan immediately passed Britain’s James Guy and opened up a lead of

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SEPTEMBER 2021

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