Olympic swimming preview: Ledecky’s, Marchand’s pursuit and the renewed USA-Australia rivalry

Swimming at the 2024 Olympic Games kicks off this Saturday in Paris, promising no shortage of superstars, drama and intense rivalries.

Held at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre and featuring 852 swimmers across 35 events, the competition in the pool will last for nine days, concluding on Aug. 4. Each day, except for the last, will have a morning session (starting at 5 a.m. ET) with preliminary heats, followed by a night session (2:30 p.m. ET) with semifinal and medal races. Aug. 4 will have just four medal races, beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET. The open-water 10km swimming races will take place on Aug. 8 (women) and Aug. 9 (men) in the Seine River.

Need a primer about what to watch for when the competition begins? Here are the key swimmers and storylines to watch in the pool.

Ledecky goes for gold — and more history — again

Katie Ledecky arrives to her fourth Olympic Games having already cemented her status as one of the best swimmers of all time. The 27-year-old has previously won 10 Olympic medals, including seven golds, and will have a chance to add four more in Paris in the 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 1,500m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle. She can also make even more history at these Games.

Ledecky is the overwhelming favorite in the two longer distances, having never lost a major international competition in either. She is also a serious medal contender in the other two events. With one more gold medal, Ledecky would tie Jenny Thompson for the most gold medals by a woman in the sport. With three more medals of any kind, she would become the most decorated female American Olympian in any sport. If she wins three gold medals, she would surpass former Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most gold medals won by any female Olympian and join Michael Phelps as the only Olympians in history to have won 10 or more gold medals.

And, worth noting, the 400m freestyle race could be one of the most memorable and talked-about races throughout the Olympic competition with four women, including Ledecky, who have cracked the four-minute mark. Australia’s Ariarne Titmus is the reigning gold medalist and world record holder, Canada’s Summer McIntosh is already a four-time world champion at just 17-years-old, and Erika Fairweather is a burgeoning star from New Zealand who took home bronze in the race in Tokyo. All four should contend for the podium — and potentially break a world record along the way.

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USA vs. Australia: ‘Duel in the Pool’ revived

The rivalry between Ledecky and Titmus in both the 400 and 800-meter races will be one to watch, but it’s just one part of the slightly contentious, mostly entertaining and fun competition between the United States and Australia.

Here’s the quick backstory for those who might have missed it: After the Australian team earned the most gold medals at the 2023 World Championships, eight-time Olympic medalist Cate Campbell (who has since retired) went viral with an interview on Australia’s Channel 9.

«Australia coming out on top is one thing, but it is just so much sweeter beating America,» Campbell said. «There were a couple of nights, particularly the first night of competition, where we did not have to hear the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ ring out through the stadium, and I cannot tell you how happy that made me. If I never hear that song again it will be too soon.»

Campbell also mocked the U.S. team’s use of a cowbell whenever a swimmer leaves the warm-up area to go to the competition pool, saying «I have never wanted to punch someone more and steal that cowbell.»

The video gained renewed attention at trials after NBC showed it to Phelps, who will be providing commentary during the Games for the network. The American swimming legend said he hoped his fellow countrymen and women were watching the clip every day as motivation before adding how it would have inspired him in the pool.

«I would literally make them eat every word they said about me,» Phelps said.

Since then, American and Australian swimmers alike have been asked about the rivalry and it will likely only get discussed more and more as swimmers from both countries compete for gold in many races.

«It’s super funny because we like the Aussies — they’re cool people and we do get along, but we also want to win and we want to win more medals,» American Lilly King, a five-time Olympic medalist, told Olympics.com. «So it’s a really healthy rivalry. Sometimes I wish it was a little less healthy, Like, ‘Let’s get at it, guys. Come on, let’s fight a little bit!’

«But yeah, the Aussies are a fun group to race and a fun group to beat. We take a lot of pride in that, and does it motivate the team? Yeah, I think it definitely does.»

The Australian team is led by Titmus, who also won gold in the 200m freestyle in Tokyo, 11-time medalist Emma McKeon, who is the reigning champion in the 50m and 100m freestyle races, former 100m freestyle gold medalist Kyle Chalmers and three-time 2020 gold medalist Kaylee McKeown.

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The American team

Ledecky and King, who will be competing in the 100m and 200m breaststroke races, are just two of the 46 swimmers — 20 women and 26 men — who make up the American swim team for the pool events. Among them are a mixture of superstars, seasoned veterans, new faces and a whole lot of medal contenders.

Here are a few you should know:

Caeleb Dressel: The seven-time Olympic gold medalist was one of the darlings of the Tokyo Games after his haul of five gold medals, but then spent seven months out of the pool after withdrawing from competition during the 2022 world championships for mental health reasons. He made his return to competition in 2023 and was triumphant in Indianapolis at trials, winning the 50m freestyle and the 100m butterfly. He will also compete on the 4x100m freestyle relay team.

Simone Manuel: A five-time Olympic medalist and the first Black woman to win an individual swimming gold medal, Manuel struggled in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games and during the Olympics and was diagnosed with overtraining syndrome. She then spent seven months away from physical activity as she recovered. But, like Dressel, she is officially back — and received a hero’s ovation at trials. Manuel will be competing in the 50m freestyle after winning the event at trials, as well as being a part of the 4x100m freestyle relay team.

Bobby Finke: One of Ledecky’s training partners, the 24-year-old is the reigning gold medalist in the 800m freestyle and the 1,500m freestyle. He won both races at trials to qualify, including a victory in the longer distance by more than 12 seconds over the rest of the field.

Regan Smith: The three-time medalist in the Tokyo Games looks slated for even bigger things in Paris. Smith, 22, broke the world record in the 100m backstroke at trials, and also won the 200m backstroke and the 200m butterfly. She holds a top-two qualifying time in all three events entering the Games.

Ryan Murphy: Now on his third Olympic team, the 29-year-old won gold in Rio in both the 100m and 200m backstroke and medaled in both in Tokyo. He will look to climb back onto the podium yet again in both races.

Kate Douglass: Perhaps the most versatile swimmer on the roster, the 22-year-old became the first American in history to qualify for the 100m freestyle and 200m breaststroke. She ultimately dropped the 100m race for Paris but will still be competing in the relay race of the event, in addition to the 200m individual medley and the 200m breaststroke. She won a bronze medal in the 200m IM in Tokyo but will likely come home with a few more medals this time.

Carson Foster: After narrowly missing out in qualifying to the team for Tokyo, the 22-year-old will be competing in both the 200m IM and 400m IM, having won both races at trials, and will look to challenge France’s Leon Marchand (more on him below) for gold in both.

Gretchen Walsh: The 21-year-old (and teammate of Douglass at Virginia) broke the world record in the semifinals(!) of the 100m butterfly at trials, and will also be competing in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and on the 4x100m freestyle team in her Olympic debut. Her older sister Alex, 22, is also on the team and competing in the 200m IM. The elder Walsh won silver in the event in Tokyo.

Chris Guiliano: The surprise of trials, the 21-year-old exceeded all expectations by becoming the first American man to qualify for the 50-, 100- and 200-meter freestyle races at the same Games since 1988. Also slated to participate in the 4x100m freestyle and 4×200-meter freestyle, there will likely be no one busier than Guiliano in Paris.

Katie Grimes: Grimes was the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo and the fourth-place finisher in the 800m freestyle. Now, the 18-year-old has one of the most interesting schedules among her teammates. Grimes will be competing in the 400m IM and 1,500 freestyle, as well as the 10K open water swim. She will be the first American woman in history to compete in both the pool and open water in the same Games.

Thomas Heilman: At just 17 years old, Heilman is the youngest male swimmer from the U.S. to compete at the Olympics since Phelps in 2000. He won the 200m butterfly at trials and currently has the fifth-fastest qualifying time in the Olympic field. He will also be participating in the 100m butterfly.

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Le superstar

There’s significant pressure on any medal favorite, but the expectations and attention are even higher for those who are competing at home. Perhaps no one will be feeling that more than Leon Marchand.

The 22-year-old French prodigy and star at Arizona State made his first Olympic team in 2021. Since then he has developed as a superstar in the sport and has been positioned to potentially be the face of the Paris Games. The reigning world champion in the 200m individual medley, the 400m individual medley and the 200m butterfly, Marchand broke — or perhaps more accurately, smashed — Phelps’ longtime record in the 400m IM by nearly a second and a half last year. Marchand, who works with Phelps’ coach Bob Bowman and is the son of two former Olympic swimmers, will be competing in four individual events in Paris and has the chance to become the first French swimmer in history to win multiple individual gold medals.

Competing in the 200m breaststroke, in addition to the three events in which he won at worlds, Marchand will also look to become the first swimmer ever to medal in breaststroke and butterfly races of any distance in the same Olympics. Only one swimmer in history has ever even made the finals in both strokes at the same Games — and that was almost 70 years ago.

So just how much fanfare are those around Marchand expecting for him during the Games? Bowman, who will be part of the French coaching staff, immediately found the side and back exits from the Aquatics Centre once they arrived in Paris in order to quickly and safely get his star pupil out of the building every day.

«He has an idea [of how suffocating it will be],» Bowman told the Washington Post. «But until you live through it, you don’t really have an idea.»