As the first week in Rio comes to a close, the 2016 Olympic games in the pool has been nothing short of memorable. With plenty of drama, history, and fast swimming taking place, these Olympic games have made a name for itself. After watching most of the Olympic swimmers compete at these Rio games, here is the list of my top 10 races of the Rio Olympic games (in order of when the event occurred), complete with (partial) race footage. Right below the 10 includes honorable mentions:
1. Women’s 100m Fly: Sarah Sjostrom (WR) and Dana Vollmer
Dana Vollmer (pictured left), the self-proclaimed “Momma on a Mission”, looked to defend her Olympic Gold Medal in this event from 2012. But after leaving the sport for two years, Vollmer’s career seemed like it was over — until she returned to the pool in 2015. Going into this final, Sarah Sjostrom (pictured right) from Sweden was the heavy favorite, and she ended up winning the event by more than a second, smashing the world record in the process. Vollmer finished in third and became the second swimmer ever (the first was Dara Torres) to win a medal after giving birth to a child.
2. Men’s 100m Breaststroke: Adam Peaty (WR) and Cody Miller (AR)
Adam Peaty of Great Britain (pictured left) has reinvented the limits of breaststroke speed. His incredibly high stroke rate resulted in an otherworldly time, overpowering the rest of the field in this event by more than 1.5 seconds! The defending Olympic Gold Medalist (and breaststroke cheater) Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa followed up with a second-place finish in this event. American Cody Miller (pictured right), who suffers from pectus excavatum, fulfilled his Olympic dream with a bronze medal, setting a new American Record in the event.
3. Women’s 400m Free: Katie Ledecky (WR)
There’s almost not much to say here — Katie Ledecky was expected to dominate this event from start to finish. Swimming a couple of body lengths ahead of the field, she broke her own world record from 2014. Ledecky’s teammate Leah Smith finished in bronze, just behind Jazz Carlin of Britain by less than a second.
4. Men’s 4x100m Freestyle: United States
After the French took the gold in this relay in 2012, America had to wait four long years to redeem their silver medal disappointment from London. After Caeleb Dressel’s lead off leg, Michael Phelps had a stunning turn and swam the best 100 free relay split of his career, placing the Americans ahead of the field. Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian held onto their lead to beat France and Australia, who won silver and bronze, respectively. But the biggest highlight of this event was the medal ceremony when Ryan Held broke down into tears at the sound of the national anthem.
5. Men's 100m Back: Ryan Murphy (OR)
Sitting as the top seed going into the final, Ryan Murphy was destined to become the next great American backstroker. Murphy’s underwater kicks on his flip turn got him ahead of the pack en route to an Olympic gold medal, becoming the second swimmer to break 52 seconds in this event, but just missing the WR set by fellow American Aaron Piersol in 2009. Joining him on the podium was his American teammate David Plummer, who took the bronze in this event.
6. Women's 100m Breast: Lilly King (OR)
This event couldn’t be any more hyped before the finals. Lilly King, who became Internet famous for the finger wag before her semifinal swim, sparked a huge rivalry between herself and Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova due to her comments about Efimova’s positive doping tests. During the finals, King held off a surge of speed from Efimova to win her first gold medal with a new Olympic record. Efimova took the silver, and King’s teammate Katie Meili happily took bronze.
7. Men’s 200m IM: Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte
Renewing their rivalry in the pool one last time, this was expected to be an epic swim for the ages between US rivals Michael Phelps (pictured right) and Ryan Lochte (pictured left). At the breaststroke leg, it was clear that Phelps was destined to win the gold medal and Lochte would join him by his side — but it was not to be. Lochte ended up fading near the end of the breaststroke and all of the freestyle, while Kosuke Hagino of Japan and Wang Shun of China charged in the finish to win the silver and bronze medals. Phelps’ victory earned him the achievement of becoming the first swimmer ever to win gold in an event for four consecutive Olympics.
8. Women’s 100m Freestyle: Simone Manuel
This result came as a little bit of a surprise. Australian swimmer Cate Campbell, the WR holder and expected gold medal winner, was out like a rocket on the first 50. However, in an unexpected turn of events, Campbell faded near the end; Simone Manuel from the United States (pictured above) charged towards the finish to take the gold in a TIE with Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak, both setting an Olympic record in the process. A historic swim, Simone became the first African-American woman to earn an Olympic gold medal in swimming.
9. Men’s 100m Butterfly: Joseph Schooling (OR) and Michael Phelps' TIE with rivals
If anyone in the world had accurately predicted the results of this event, I wouldn’t believe them. Seeded first going into the 100 Butterfly, Joseph Schooling of Singapore (pictured right) came out on the finals ahead of the pack and stayed there at the end, setting an Olympic record in the process. In second place, Michael Phelps (pictured left) and his famous rivals Chad le Clos and Laszlo Cseh all TIED for the silver medal, in a stunning result at the end that couldn’t have been scripted any better.
10. Men’s 50m Free: Anthony Ervin
Similar to the 100-meter dash in track and field, the crown of the world’s fastest man in the pool is determined by this event. In a stunner, 35-year-old swimmer Anthony Ervin of the United States touches ahead of France’s Florent Manaudou by one one-hundredth of a second, becoming the oldest swimmer ever to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event. Touching in third was Ervin’s teammate and fellow Cal swimmer Nathan Adrian of the United States.
Honorable Mentions:
- Men’s 400m Individual Medley (featuring Chase Kalisz getting 2nd)
- Women's 100m Back Women (featuring Kathleen Baker getting 2nd)
- Men's 200m Fly (featuring Michael Phelps getting 1st)
- Men's 200m Breast (featuring Josh Prenot getting 2nd)
- Women’s 200m Backstroke (featuring Maya Dirado getting 1st)
