After Australia’s impressive early success in the pool, the red-hot action continues on Tuesday evening as nine Australian athletes plus a relay team compete in the heats – including in the star-studded 100m freestyle events.
Tokyo gold medalist Zac Stubblety-Cook scared the Australians as he appeared to be in serious trouble in the 200m breaststroke before surging into first place in the final stretch of sixth.
“He looked like he was almost gone,” said Mat Thompson in a commentary, while Ian Thorpe even admitted it was a “risk”.
“I think I stopped my run a little late, but it’s good to get the win,” he said after the heat.
It is nothing new for Stubblety-Cook, who won the 2022 Commonwealth Games 200m breaststroke final despite only taking the lead halfway through the final lap.
Stubblety-Cook has mastered the art of conserving energy at the front to finish faster and at the top of the rest of the pack and that was the case on Tuesday night, even if it kept everyone on the edge of their seats, including Giaan Rooney.
“That was too comfortable even for Zac,” she said in a comment.
“Those first 100 were too busy… talk about trust in the process.”
Stubblety-Cook qualified second for the semi-finals, while Australia’s Joshua Yong also crossed the line with a time of 2:10.68.
Elsewhere, Mollie O’Callaghan and Shayna Jack, who had already teamed up for gold in the 4x100m women’s freestyle team, finished first and second in their 100m women’s freestyle heat to progress to the semi-finals.
O’Callaghan finished with a time of 53.27 (fifth fastest overall), while Jack finished second in the heat with 53.40 (sixth fastest).
Giaan Rooney described it in Channel Nine commentary as a “very comfortable” dive from both women, adding that she believes O’Callaghan still has “a lot left in the tank”.
After O’Callaghan claimed a second gold in Paris by beating Ariarne Titmus in the 200m freestyle final on Tuesday morning, ‘The Missile’ James Magnussen predicted she would increase her total in the 100m.
Not only that, but Magnussen believes she will soon overtake Emma McKeon’s six gold medals and become Australia’s greatest Olympian of all time.
“I’m calling it Matty now, O’Callaghan is going to be our greatest Olympian in history and I think that was the monkey she needed to get rid of to become our most successful Olympian ever,” Magnussen said. on the Matty & The Missile podcast.
“I predict that now they will win the individual 100 meter freestyle, they will win the 4 x 200 meter freestyle (relay) and they will be close to win the (medley relay), which is five gold medals to one Olympic Games would result. for one swimmer.”
Earlier, the men’s 100m freestyle heats saw a strong swimming performance from Kyle Chalmers, who qualified sixth overall after winning his heat with a time of 48.07.
Mathew Thompson described it in his commentary as a “super swim”, although Ian Thorpe said he believes Chalmers can still shave a second off that time once he really gets going.
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“I didn’t really know what to expect,” Chalmers said after the heat.
“I think I’m lucky that in heat 10 I can see everyone leaving. That posted heat is pretty fast and we had a stacked heat, but I knew if I won the heat that was all I had to do.
While Chalmers finished, compatriot William Yang narrowly missed out after finishing seventh in the heat with a time of 48.46, which was 17th overall.
Only the 16 fastest swimmers qualify for the semi-finals, so Yang is a reserve for the time being.
One of the surprise results from the 100m freestyle heats was Pan Zhanle, the world champion and current record holder, who barely made it after recording a time good enough for a tie for 13th.
Whether he was just conserving energy or really flirting with elimination remains to be seen.
Matthew Temple was the first Australian to enter the pool, finishing seventh in the men’s 200m butterfly with a time of 1:57.39.
It left him in 23rd place overall and that wasn’t enough to get him through to the semi-finals.
Elsewhere, Moesha Johnson finished fourth in her 1500m freestyle heat with a time of 16:04.02 to qualify fifth overall, while Katie Ledecky came out on top.
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Speaking of the heat of the 1500m freestyle, it was confirmed that Lani Pallister had to withdraw from the event after testing positive for Covid-19.
The decision was made with the 4×200 relay event in mind, with the hope that the Olympic debutant will be able to conserve her energy to compete in that race.
It is an unfortunate setback for Pallister on her Olympic debut as she was the fifth fastest qualifier to compete at the Games and as a result had a medal chance in the 1500m freestyle.
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THE FINALE
When it comes to the final on Wednesday morning (AEST), there is defending champion Kaylee McKeown and teenage talent Iona Anderson in the women’s 100m backstroke final (4.57am) – for which McKeown qualified second.
However, McKeown faces a serious challenge in the form of American world record holder Regan Smith.
Elijah Winnington will be in the men’s 800m freestyle final (5:03) after qualifying fourth fastest, although Sam Short narrowly missed the finish after qualifying ninth.
Then, at 5.59am, the third and final final of the day is the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay, which Australia will attempt to qualify for in their heats on Tuesday evening.
Swimming (heat)
From 7 p.m
Men’s 200m butterfly – heats (Matte Temple)
Men’s 100 meter freestyle – heats (Kyle Chalmers, William Yang)
Women’s 1500 meter freestyle – heats (Moesha Johnson)
Women’s 100 meter freestyle – heats (Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack)
Men’s 200 meter breaststroke – heats (Zac Stubblety-Cook, Josh Yong)
Men’s 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay – heats (Australia)
Swimming (Final)
04:30 Semi-finals 100 meters freestyle men (Kyle Chalmers)
04:41 Semi-finals 200 meters butterfly men
04:57 Final 100 meters backstroke women [Medal Event] (Kaylee McKeown, Iona Anderson)
05:03 Men’s 800 meter freestyle final [Medal Event] (Elijah Winnington)
05:25 Semi-finals 100 meters freestyle women (Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack TBA)
05:46 Semi-finals 200 meters breaststroke men (Zac Stubblety-Cook, Josh Yong TBD)
05:59 Final men’s 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay [Medal Event] (Australia TBD)
