With four golds up for grabs and three more semi-finals, there is plenty of swimming action in store on day six of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Join The Roar for live coverage from 11am (AEST).
Australia will be favoured to take home gold in the women’s 100-metre freestyle, with sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell duking it out at 12:18pm (AEST).
In the women’s 200-metre breaststroke, Aussie Taylor McKeown has qualified fastest and will compete from the fourth lane.
The Aussies also have a serious shot at gold in the men’s 200-metre backstroke, with Mitch Larkin swimming from the fifth lane. Belinda Hocking and Emily Seebohm will compete in the women’s semi-finals of the same event.
The United States’ Michael Phelps – who has already claimed his 21st career gold at this tournament – has a chance to add to his tally in the men’s 200-metre individual medley. His main threat will be world record holder and long-time rival Ryan Lochte.
Phelps will also swim in the men’s 100-metre butterfly semi-finals, taking on Australians David Morgan and Grant Irvine, along with South African upstart Chad le Clos.
There will also be plenty of action in the men’s 50-metre freestyle semi-finals, with Aussie Cam McEvoy – who missed out on a medal in last night’s 100-metre final to fellow Aussie Kyle Chalmers – looking to stake a gold-medal claim.
Will Australia snare one, two or maybe three golds to push their way further up the medal table? Will Michael Phelps continue to prove he’s the fastest thing in the water without a dorsal fin? Stay tuned to The Roar to find out!
ozziechch
Guest
Hate to burst your bubble, but Australia just lost to China in BEACH volleyball. I repeat, BEACH volleyball
Monday QB
Guest
And that's the worry. It really seems to be an 'execution' issue rather than an ability issue. If you're not good enough so be it, but when swimmers seem to be underperforming (for the second olympics in a row) when it really matters that's a big problem and is either a technical/performance issue or a culture/environment issue...both of which come back to the coaching and management structures of the team. Suggest it's time for some new blood in the coaching ranks.
northerner
Guest
One of the things Penny Oleksiak's coaches are talking about in the Canadian press is how relaxed she always is going into big races. That may have made a big difference today.
JoM
Guest
Yep. If you look at the semis, Cate Campbell broke the Olympic record for the second time in the day. The young Canadian girl was 0.01 behind her in that semi and that would have and should have been a huge warning to her that she wasn't going to get it all her own way and so it proved.
Harry
Guest
Spot on. Also worth analysing is how many swimmers produced better heat and semi times than they did in the final. I don't wish to be vituperative or negative but it is worth asking how Australia, seemingly alone among the swimming nations saw their form fell way below the leadup performances.
northerner
Guest
Sure - the housing was bad for the Aussies (except for the ones that won) but just fine for the Americans, the Canadians, the Swedes, and all the other nation's athletes who played/performed/raced better on the day. It wasn't the housing that cost the Aussies, it was the preparation, both physical and mental. To claim otherwise is just sour grapes from poor losers. And I'm not referring to the athletes, but to their fans, when I mention poor losers.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
Joseph Schooling is putting in a superb show with the weight of the nation of Singapore on his broad shoulders. He swam a superb race yesterday in the heats and even better today in the Semis beating some all time greats in Phelps and Clos. He will step into the pool tomorrow full of confidence, and I for one am hoping he will break the OR, which in current form, will earn him the Gold. That would be the most amazing moment in Singapore's Olympic history.
Dingo
Guest
The Americans thrive in the high pressure competition world, form an early age they are thrust into the limelight with their schools, College games and then trials and comps. During the big events they are pumped and ready. In Australia nobody generally gives any attention to swimming until the Olympics, the trials are held a long way out from the games and the swimmers avoid the build up. Once the are thrust in front of the crowds and cameras they freeze like rabbits in the headlights, the pressure is overwhelming and the results we see for ourselves. It's sad because we expect so much from them because they do so well outside of the public eye (world championships etc) and then lambast them when they flop under pressure. But hey, that's sport, agony and ecstasy, that's why it grabs our collective attention so much!
HarryT
Guest
I tell you what is very stressful. When your opponents start doing times that are a half second plus better than their personal bests. Or 0.7 seconds better than their Olympic trials time. You have one day to adjust and change your race strategy.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Not even from last year, from this year! Cate Campbell's time at the Australian trials would have won this event by a long way, and just replicating her semi-final swim would have seen her just touched out for the gold. That's probably the worst swim she's put together in ages, and she saved it for the Olympic final!
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Agreed. Can't expect the Aussies to win everything, but it's just too frequent that swimmers who've set times this year that would comfortably win the final have gone no where near that when it's counted and flopped.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
There was so much heat on the team at London for underperforming. Here we've had one relay win, and two guys who few had paid much attention to prior to this meet get gold, and all our World Champs and "fastest in the world" swimmers failed miserably. In many cases worse than in London, where we failed to get a lot of Gold medals, but usually with those expecting to win still managing a minor medal, while here we've had a number of people among the faviourites to win races not even coming close to the medals. Cam McEvoy's 100m final swim was a lot worse than the one that Magnussen got slammed for at London. In fact his London time would have won the race here.
Tony
Guest
Is it just possible that the pressure got to the swimmers who we expected to at least come away with at least some sort of medal.The expectations we put on them when we come across a swimmer who has a chance of getting a medal at the Olympics can be enormous sometimes. If you make a Olympic final you only have to be slightly of and you will miss out on the medals.
Torchbearer
Guest
It has something to do with the mental side of things- MCEvoy and both Campbells swam fast enough in their relays to win these 100m events- but look what happens a couple of days later. Seebohm just seems to not want to be there at all, E and D McKeon are up and down like yo-yos..... this is hugely frustrating to be happening yet again to the Australian swim team.
Brendon
Guest
Well, I got criticised for saying Aus would only win 4 golds and unless Mack Horton can cause another upset against Sun Yang in the 1500m or the American women stuff up their 4x100 medley we're leaving with 3. The whole of Australian swimming is flawed. We need a total break from the past and all new management and coaching. And thats just the start.
Dan Wighton
Roar Guru
Thanks for joining us for The Roar's live coverage of swimming from the Rio Olympics on day six. It was a disappointing day for the Aussies, who were unable to add to their gold tally despite coming into the day with solid chances in a number of events. For the Americans - and in particularly Michael Phelps - it was another golden day in the pool.
Dan Wighton
Roar Guru
Tokyo 2020: Cate Campbell claims archery gold! I like the sound of that.
Dan Wighton
Roar Guru
Perhaps that was a bit mean to Dave Morgan, who finished in a respectable seventh and probably swims faster than I can run. Nevertheless, he has not qualified for the final and there will be no chance of an Australian medal in the 100m fly.
Dan Wighton
Roar Guru
Singapore's Joe Schooling has won by about a length, and a good .7 of a second faster than the winner of the first heat. Chad le Clos has finished second, and for Australian fans Dave Morgan is still swimming.
Damo
Guest
Of course the issue isn't too much funding, the issue is whether the current performance justifies the funding. Most of these results are 1-1.5sec outside PBs from last year, where it should be the other way around. Other sports that are much more amateur in comparison seem to rise to the occasion (we even won a medal in archery!) so why wouldn't they put their hand up and say gives us teh money and we'll show you what we can do!