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It is the domain in which the gold rush is nominally aplenty for Australia – but can the Dolphins redeem themselves following a dismal Olympic swimming campaign in 2012?
Join The Roar for the live call of swimming, including the men’s 400 individual medley final, men’s 400 freestyle final and the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay final, from 11am AEST on Sunday morning for night one in the pool from Rio 2016.
» Follow Day 2 of the Olympic swimming
Six events, including four finals, are up for contention in the pool. Below is a preview of each of our races:
11.03 AEST – Men’s 400m Individual Medley Final
With a qualifying time of 4.08.12, American Chase Kalisz is the fastest qualifier, albeit comfortably well short of the record set by Michael Phelps of 4.03.84 in the 2008 Games.
The challenge will come from Japan’s Daiya Seto, who finished with 4.08.47, while fellow Japanese Kosuke Hagino and the US’ Jay Litherland will be the favourites to battle for bronze. Expect the world record to pass by unhindered.
Two Australians will contest the final, with Thomas Fraser-Holmes occupying Lane 7, while Travis Mahoney sits in Lane 1. With qualifying times of 4.12.51 and 4.13.37, the performance of the Americans and Japanese swimmers may elude the best the two Australians have to offer.
11.14 AEST – Women’s 100m Butterfly Semi-Finals
One Australian will contest the 100m Butterfly Semi-Finals, namely NSW Institute of Sport’s Emma McKeon, who will be in the second semi starting from Lane 2.
Swede Sarah Sjostrom is the world record holder and favourite to take out gold, although American Dana Vollmer is a former record holder, and she and fellow American Kelsi Worrell and Canada’s Penny Oleksiak are all sub-57 second racers. On evidence of the present field, qualifying for the final tomorrow will be an achievement for McKeon and Australia.
11.30 AEST – Men’s 400m Freestyle Final
Australia’s best hope of a first gold in the pool lies on the shoulders of Victorian Mack Horton, who has qualified second fastest behind American Conor Dwyer.
Fellow Aussie David McKeon will start in Lane 2 as fifth fastest, so the possibility remains for Australia to win a double in the 400m Freestyle.
Along with Dwyer, Australia’s main challenge lies in China’s Sun Yang and Italy’s Gabriele Detti. The field is well short of the fastest mark set by German Paul Biedermann back in 2009, in a race that Murray Rose, John Konrads, Kieran Perkins and Ian Thorpe have made a favourite for Australians.
Horton stands a strong chance to win a medal, possibly gold.
11.49 AEST – Women’s 400m Individual Medley Final
Hungarian Katinka Hosszu is the overwhelming favourite, having finished her semi-final a clear four seconds faster than her closest rival, Spaniard Mireia Belmonte Garcia.
Hosszu’s time of 4.28.58 was marginally off the world pace set by China’s Shiwen Ye in the 2012 Olympics during the bodysuit era.
No Australians will contest this final, but in a race where Hosszu will likely dominate, the real battles will be for silver and bronze, where the rest of the field are only separated by three seconds.
12.08 AEST – Men’s 100m Breaststroke Semi-Finals
The big news from the heats was the setting of a new world record by Britain’s Adam Peaty, beating his own PB with a time of 57.55 seconds.
With Japan’s Yosuhiro Koseki a full second off this time as the second fastest heat swimmer, Peaty’s hopes of gold are high ahead of tomorrow’s final.
Australia’s Jake Packard will contest the first semi from Lane 3. With a time of 59.26 seconds however, Packard’s hopes of a medal in the final are realistic within a congested field of sub-60 second swimmers. On this evidence, silver and bronze may be the contests to watch out for.
12.24 AEST – Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay Final
Starting from Lane 4, Team Australia are the nominal favourites to take out gold. Yet the everpresent challenge of the Americans remains thus, while both Canada and Italy can take advantage of any slip-ups from the front two.
Australia will field the Campbell sisters Bronte and Cate, while Emma McKeon is likely to start in her second race of the evening. Contenders for the fourth berth will come between Alicia Coutts, Emily Seebohm and 2012 gold medallist Brittany Elmslie.
Join us for live updates on all the swimming action from Day 1 of the Rio Olympics from 11am AEST.