Just as we witnessed in Tokyo, history has repeated itself in Paris. The Great Britain team, comprised of James Guy, Tom Dean, Matt Richards, and Duncan Scott, successfully defended their Olympic 4x200m freestyle relay title, earning Team GB’s inaugural gold medal in the swimming events at these Games. They outpaced both the USA and Australia, finishing with over a second to spare.
This victory marks Scott’s seventh Olympic medal, placing him level with Chris Hoy for third place on the list of the UK’s most decorated Olympians. He must be especially pleased to secure this gold, as he already owns five silver medals, a fact he often mentions.
Currently, only Bradley Wiggins and Jason Kenny have more medals than Scott, although several athletes boast more than his two golds. Nevertheless, he has additional opportunities to enhance that tally in the coming four days, with events in the 200m individual medley and the medley relay on the horizon.
The team clocked in at 6 minutes 59.43 seconds, just shy of the European record they achieved in Tokyo. Scott delivered the fastest split of all 32 competitors, with a time of 1 minute 43.95 seconds. He was pushed hard by the USA’s Kieran Smith during the first 100 meters. Ultimately, the USA secured second place, followed by Australia in third. The British quartet led for nearly the entire race, with only a brief moment when Australia’s Flynn Southam overtook Dean during the second leg; however, Dean regained the lead before completing his 200m segment.
This was also Guy’s sixth Olympic medal, a fitting accolade for someone who propelled the team through both competition rounds.
They showcased impressive form in the preliminary heats, with Guy initiating the relay with his fastest 200m free yet, setting a personal best since 2015. The team utilized their relay swimmers, Jack McMillan and Kieran Bird, during the middle stages, while Dean, the reigning Olympic champion, anchored the team. They finished the heats in 7 minutes 5.11 seconds, making it the fifth-fastest time globally this year. Of course, they also included Richards and Scott, who had performed well in the previous evening’s individual events, finishing second and fourth, respectively.
The strategy involved keeping Guy on the lead-off, moving Dean to the second leg, placing Richards third, and having Scott as the anchor.
Richards had a notably busy day, having swum in the morning heats of the 100m freestyle before competing in the semi-finals during the evening session. Competing from lane one again, as he did in the 200m final, presented its challenges. While he had performed well previously from this lane, the 200m is his stronger event. Unfortunately, in the semi-final of the shorter race, he struggled to close the gap on the 2016 Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers, initially finishing third at the turn before ultimately placing sixth.
He wasn’t the only one putting in extra effort. Léon Marchand also faced a double-header, competing in the semi-finals of both the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke, timed just an hour and 15 minutes apart. He triumphed in both, setting the stage for a challenging repeat in the finals on Wednesday night.
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Meanwhile, Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen made history by securing the nation’s first gold medal of the Games in the men’s 800m freestyle. The 23-year-old from County Down trains at Loughborough alongside Adam Peaty. His performance was remarkable, as he took the lead at the 400m mark, momentarily lost it with 150m remaining to Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri, but fought fiercely to reclaim it before entering the final lap. He finished strong, covering the last 50m in just 26.94 seconds, ultimately winning in an Olympic record time of 7 minutes 38.19 seconds.
Wiffen has made history as the first Irishman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming, being only the second Irish athlete ever to achieve this distinction, the first being Michelle Smith de Bruin who won three gold medals at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics before facing a four-year ban for tampering with her urine samples. Wiffen was born long after those events, and while it may not affect him, many in the Irish swimming community will be thrilled to see their sport finally celebrate another Olympic champion after so many years.
