Swimming at the Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024

De_Gambassi · July 25, 2024

Just now, Jambo said:

Still, why they would choose a 2.2m pool for the OLYMPICS is beyond me lol

Because, you can't have a deeper one using that arena.

Jambo · July 25, 2024

8 minutes ago, De_Gambassi said:

Because, you can't have a deeper one using that arena.

They had 4 years to plan it and the best they could find was an arena that only allows a 2.2m pool... The olympics is meant to be the pinnacle of swimming a 2.2m pool is a joke

De_Gambassi · July 25, 2024

2 minutes ago, Jambo said:

They had 4 years to plan it and the best they could find was an arena that only allows a 2.2m pool... The olympics is meant to be the pinnacle of swimming a 2.2m pool is a joke

And people had 4 years to care about it. Yet no one did until two days ago.

Edited July 25, 2024 by De_Gambassi

Jambo · July 25, 2024

7 minutes ago, De_Gambassi said:

And people had 4 years to care about it. Yet no one did until two days ago.

I think people just assumed they were gonna get a standard fast pool, not a cheap shallow one

Timezone · July 25, 2024

10 hours ago, Topicmaster1010 said:

Relay Power Rankings: Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay

Other Power Rankings:

Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay

Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay

Men's 4x100m Medley Relay

Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay

Women's 4x200m Freestyle Relay

Women's 4x100m Medley Relay

Last rankings and we end with the most chaotic relay of them all, the mixed medley relay! Collecting the data was both fun and annoying. Funner for the bigger nations to see what their best combination cold be but a bit annoying for the smaller nations because then you have to take into account that certain relay only swimmers must swim this relay and that some other swimmers that would be part of the ideal combination weren't selected. Anyways, let's begin. Just for fun, let's see the splits between men and women for each stroke.

Backstroke: 7 men, 9 women

Breaststroke: 15 men, 1 woman

Butterfly: 7 men, 9 women

Freestyle: 3 men, 13 women

The men are highlighted in blue, the women are highlighted in pink.

16. Brazil - 3:47.81

Backstroke: Guilherme Basseto - 54.14

Breaststroke: Ana Vieira - 1:08.92

Butterfly: Kayky Mota - 52.20

Freestyle: Stephanie Balduccini - 54.05

The one team that's projected to use a female breaststroker and that makes Brazil the slowest team in these power rankings. Vieira is both a freestyler and breaststroker so Brazil chose her to save a relay quota. Basseto is also required to swim on this relay. No female butterflyer was selected which means that Mota automatically slides into the butterfly role and Balduccini into the freestyle role. With this combination, there are no particular standout legs.

15. Greece - 3:47.07

Backstroke: Theodora Drakou - 1:01.47

Breaststroke: Evangelos Ntoumas - 1:00.66

Buttterfly: Anna Ntountounaki - 57.62

Freestyle: Apostolos Christou - 48.82

Greece only has 3 women on the team, 2 of which are butterflyers so that makes it easy to select the team. Weird not seeing Christou on the backstroke leg.

14. Sweden - 3:46.80

Backstroke: Louise Hansson - 59.93

Breaststroke: Erik Persson - 1:01.47

Butterfly: Sara Junevik - 58.06

Freestyle: Bjoern Seeliger - 48.84

There are only Swedish men selected for freestyle and breaststroke so that once again made it easy to determined the order. Again, Sarah Sjoestroem hasn't swum a 100m butterfly this year so she doesn't slot into that role here but it's not even guaranteed that she swims this relay considering the fact that Sweden are unlikely to be competitive and that Junevik needs to swim on a relay. In fact, Hansson might not even swim and they'll just use Rosvall instead, saving their big weapons for the women's medley relay.

13. South Korea - 3:45.07

Backstroke: Lee Juho - 53.81

Breaststroke: Choi Dongyeol - 59.74

Butterfly: Kim Seoyeong - 58.29

Freestyle: Hur Yeonkyung - 54.73

Hur Yeonkyung needs to swim this relay. Otherwise, the ideal combination would be to have Hwang Sunwoo at freestyle and Lee Eunji on the backstroke leg. Either way, this relay will likely not make it to the final.

12. Israel - 3:44.85

Backstroke: Anastasia Gorbenko - 59.44

Breaststroke: Ron Polonsky - 1:00.07

Butterfly: Gal Groumi - 51.94

Freestyle: Andrea Murez - 54.90

Anastasia Gorbenko is the top ranked female Israeli in backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle and the top ranked butterflyer that's on the Olympic Team. However, Murez is required to swim this relay. Comparing the other 3 legs, Gorbenko is best used on the backstroke here.

After this, there's a big gap in the projected time and I could see any of the 11 teams below making the final.

11. Poland - 3:42.86

Backstroke: Adela Piskorska - 59.79

Breaststroke: Jan Kalusowski - 59.58

Butterfly: Jakub Majerski - 50.98

Freestyle: Kornelia Fiedkiewicz - 54.01

Jakub Majerski is the big name to watch on this relay as one of 13 swimmers to go under 51 seconds in the 100m butterfly this year. Adela Piskorska and Jan Kalusowski should also be decent on their legs.

10. Japan - 3:42.13

Backstroke: Riku Matsuyama - 53.72

Breaststroke: Taku Taniguchi - 59.43

Butterfly: Mizuki Hirai - 56.33

Freestyle: Rikako Ikee - 54.15

Japan will be one of 5 teams entered that will likely front load their relay with men. While Matsuyama and Taniguchi are far from the best in their strokes, they both have gone under the OQT this year which should help get some calm water for the junior butterfly standout Mizuki Hirai. That could be dangerous for other teams.

9. Italy - 3:41.46

Backstroke: Thomas Ceccon - 52.43

Breaststroke: Nicolo Martinenghi - 58.84

Butterfly: Costanza Cocconcelli - 57.77

Freestyle: Sofia Morini - 53.92

Like in the years before, Italy has the elite men in this relay to challenge for a medal but not the elite women. Expect them to be in the top 3 at the halfway point but then slowly be caught up by the stronger teams above them in these rankings.

8. Germany - 3:41.15

Backstroke: Ole Braunschweig - 53.48

Breaststroke: Melvin Imoudu - 53.84

Butterfly: Angelina Koehler - 56.11

Freestyle: Nina Holt - 54.22

The two standout legs here are the breaststroke and butterfly. Melvin Imoudu has been quietly having a career year going under 59 seconds for the first time in his career to rank 7th in the world. Angelina Koehler has also had a great year winning gold at the 2024 World Championships to rank 4th in the world this year. Like with Japan, the two guys could help get her some calm water.

You will notice that the top 7 nations all have one thing in common: Either an elite or good women's 100m freestyler.

7. Canada - 3:40.82

Backstroke: Kylie Masse - 57.94

Breaststroke: Finlay Knox - 1:00.66

Butterfly: Josh Liendo - 50.06

Freestyle: Penny Oleksiak - 53.66

The backstroke and butterfly legs are elite, the freestyle leg is decent (but has the potential to drop more time) but as always with Canadian medleys, the breaststroke is the biggest weakness. However, as mentioned in the men's medley relay preview, Finlay Knox is having a career year and has toe ability to drop some more time.

6. France - 3:40.55

Backstroke: Emma Terebo - 58.79

Breaststroke: Leon Marchand - 59.06

Butterfly: Maxime Grousset - 50.59

Freestyle: Marie Wattel - 53.61

This is a good French relay. They'll have their two best swimmers in the middle with Marchand and Grousset. The former of which has made significant progress in the sprint breaststroke this year and the latter is one of the best sprint butterflyer in the world. On the women's side, Emma Terebo set the French National Record in the women's 100m backstroke this year and Marie Wattel's time equals the nuclear women's 100m freestyle OQT.

5. Netherlands - 3:40.53

Backstroke: Kira Toussaint - 1:00.00

Breaststroke: Arno Kamminga - 58.87

Butterfly: Nyls Korstanje - 50.90

Freestyle: Marrit Steenbergen - 52.26

This is the best chance for the Dutch team to win a relay medal and the potential is definitely there. The breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle legs are all elite but like with the women's medley relay, backstroke will be the key. If Toussaint can get get closer to her 58.65 PB, it'll be a big boost. Kamminga has also been as quicker on the breaststroke leg before.

4. Great Britain - 3:40.15

Backstroke: Ollie Morgan - 52.70

Breaststroke: Adam Peaty - 57.94

Butterfly: Keanna MacInnes - 57.92

Freestyle: Anna Hopkin - 53.09

The men's side is locked in. Ollie Morgan has ascended as a potential medal contender in the men's 100m backstroke and Adam Peaty looks like he's returning to his old form. On freestyle, Anna Hopkin has looked the best she's had since the Tokyo Olympics. Butterfly is the weak leg here and we'll see if Keanna MacInnes can drop more time from her 57.92 PB this year.

3. China - 3:38.17

Backstroke: Xu Jiayu - 52.39

Breaststroke: Qin Haiyang - 58.24

Butterfly: Zhang Yufei - 56.36

Freestyle: Yang Junxuan - 52.68

Though China would for sure be in the top 2 Xu, Qin, and Zhang are all capable of going much quicker than their best times this year. Even despite that, those are still elite times that they've put up. Meanwhile, Yang Junxuan has gone a PB of 52.68 to rank 8th in the world this year to help ease the doubt of what was considered China's weak leg. That means that all 4 of their swimmers are ranked top 10 in the world this year in their respective strokes.

2. Australia - 3:37.58

Backstroke: Kaylee McKeown - 57.41

Breaststroke: Sam Williamson - 58.60

Butterfly: Matthew Temple - 50.60

Freestyle: Mollie O'Callaghan - 52.27

Breaststroke has been Australia's weakest leg for a while but thanks to the breakout of Sam Williamson, the breaststroke issue seems to have been solved and has moved Australia into 2nd in these rankings. The weak leg might now be butterfly. After going 50.25 at the Japan Open in December, and 50.61 at the NSW Championships in March, Temple was underwhelming at Australian Trials only going 51.15. We'll have to see what kind of form he is at the Olympics. Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O'Callaghan should need no introduction on this forum.

1. United States - 3:36.46

Backstroke: Regan Smith - 57.13

Breaststroke: Nic Fink - 58.57

Butterfly: Gretchen Walsh - 55.18

Freestyle: Jack Alexy - 47.08

For over a year now, fans have thought it would be two way race between China and the US for gold but the US has gained some separation thanks to a monster WR performance by Gretchen Walsh in the women's 100m butterfly. If she's in that kind of form in Paris, it's hard to see the US losing. The other leg which could maybe be a problem is the breaststroke leg. There's the potential for Qin and maybe Williamson (if Fink is off form) to gain some ground on him. It's also interesting to see that the US is one of 3 teams who's ideal quartet is a male freestyler. If that's the case, Alexy (or Guiliano) may touch in around 5th place only to chase down all the female freestylers on the final leg.