U.S. swimmers on Monday added two additional medals following their historic opening day performance Sunday at the Tokyo Olympics.
Australia’s Ariarne Titmus defeated American Katie Ledecky Monday to win one of the more expected races of the Summer Games. Ledecky procured a silver decoration in 3:57.36 – the fourth-quickest time at any point recorded.
Following her loss, Team USA won gold in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay – led by Caeleb Dressel.
“I felt good the whole way, I knew I had to get my hand in the wall first and get some clean water,” Dressel said, according to ESPN. “And everyone did their job. It’s a relay for a reason, it’s four guys for a reason, it’s certainly not just me. It’s certainly not just one guy.”
On Sunday, Team USA swimmers got off to a blasting beginning. They earned six medals – one gold, two silver, and three bronze – which were the most won on the main day of the Olympic swimming finals, as indicated by the Wall Street Journal.
It was viewed as a promising beginning in the post-Michael Phelps period. U.S. men’s group colleague mentor Jack Bauerle noticed the group made the platform in occasions they weren’t required to decoration.
“It’s obviously a really proud moment,” he said, according to the paper. “I can’t really feel anything, I’m so happy.”
In the first event of the day, American Chase Kalisz won gold in the men’s 400-meter singular medley. Kalisz completed in 4:09.42 while Jay Litherland, his preparation accomplice at the University of Georgia, procured silver by contacting second in 4:10.28.
Japan’s Yui Ohashi won gold in the ladies’ 400 IM, however two American’s actually made the platform. Emma Weyant acquired the silver, and the bronze went to Hali Flickinger. It was the first run through in quite a while that two American ladies medaled in the occasion, as indicated by the Wall Street Journal.
“After we saw (Kalisz and Litherland go 1-2), we kind of looked at each other and said, ‘It’s our turn,’” Weyant said. “I think that really got our team going.”
In the men’s 400 freestyle, Kieran Smith won bronze in 3:43.94 behind Australia’s Jake McLoughlin and Ahmed Hafnaoui, a 18-year-old from Tunisia who won an unexpected gold from path eight.
Group USA’s last medal of the session, a bronze in the ladies’ 4×100 freestyle relay, was its most improbable – after the group qualified fifth on Saturday night.
U.S. women’s team coach Greg Meehan faced a challenge by giving the anchor spot to Simone Manuel, the shielding gold medalist in the ladies’ 100 free-form who neglected to make the last of the occasion at the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in June.
Manuel said she has endured with “overtraining syndrome” – a condition where athletes experience fatigue, raised heart rates, and declining performance during regular preparing – this year, however was “feeling better” in Tokyo.
She turned in the second-quickest split for the Americans, who completed 0.03 seconds behind Canada in 3:32.81. Australia broke the primary world record of the meet, swimming 3:29.69 on the way to gold.