Celeb Dressel and Katie Ledecky are bursting with young talent from a post-Michael Phelps-era Michael Phelps-era title to a new-look US swim team in Tokyo as they seek to dominate arch-rivals Australia.
The mighty United States has long owned the Olympic pool, collecting 33 medals, including 16 gold, to sweep the table in Rio, far ahead of Australia, who finished second with just 10 overall .
But with Phelps, who won big in the last four Olympics, now retired and Ryan Lochte, Nathan Adrian and Tony Ervin failing to qualify, they could struggle to match the race when the starter’s gun. A fire breaks out at the newly-built Tokyo Aquatics Center. Saturday.
There are finals every morning to satisfy American broadcasters, with the heat in the evening, a scheduling quirk that hasn’t been dealt with since Beijing in 2008.
Boasting some top-class athletes, the Americans also have a group with 35 newcomers to the world’s biggest stage, including 11 teens—the most since 1996.
“I think everyone who is on the team, we have to pick up the pace because what they have left is huge,” said Phelps’ successor, multi-event star Dressel.
Dressel won two Olympic relay golds in Rio, though no individual title. But he has since become a giant, winning 13 crowns in the last two world championships.
He will swim the 50m freestyle, and will also go for gold in the 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle, three events in which he is the defending world champion, with a possible four relays also on the cards.
American Rio gold medalists Ryan Murphy (100m and 200m backstroke) and Lily King (100m breaststroke) also make a comeback like Simone Manuel, but only in the 50m free and the 100m free they did not win in Rio.
Ledecky, who won four golds and one silver in Brazil, has a tough schedule – swimming the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle, a discipline added to the Olympics for women this year.
His performance with Australian Ariane Titmus, who troubled him over 400m at the 2019 World Championships, is shaping up to be the most anticipated.
Known as “The Terminator”, Titmus clocked the second-fastest times in history at the Australian trials, over the 200m and 400m, and set a new personal best in the 800m. But she knows it won’t be easy to beat the American great.
“The race I’m in, I feel like I have to be in my best form to win on the field with Katie,” Titmus said. “He is the current Olympic champion, so it will be difficult to hit the wall first.”
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Australian sensation Kylie McCain could dazzle by breaking American Regan Smith’s 100m backstroke world record in June, claiming the fastest times in the 200m backstroke and 200m medley this year.
Australia’s Dolphins follow in line with 21 debutants, but also claim Emily Seebohm and Kate Campbell in their fourth Olympics.
Emma McKeon will be the favorite in the 100m freestyle against teammate Campbell and Swedish world record holder Sarah Sjöström, who is back in February after breaking her elbow.
While the twins have traditionally dominated the powerhouses, they face stiff competition.
Hungary is third in the Rio medal tally, led by poster boy Christoph Milak, who stunned the world in 2019 by breaking Phelps’ 200m super-suit backstroke record.
She is in excellent form and a strong medal prospect, although versatile compatriot, “Iron Lady” Katinka Hoszu, has been able to defend her Rio golds – she will swim medleys but has dropped the 100m backstroke – in her fifth Olympics. are to be seen.
Dai Seto leads the Japanese charge and will be a medal threat in the medleys, while world record holder Adam Peaty is trying to become the first British swimmer to successfully defend an Olympic title in the 100m breaststroke.
PT sent out an ominous warning this year with a world-leading 57.39 seconds and is not disappointed with what lies ahead.
“The pressure, to me, is more freedom than anything that’s going to control me,” he said.
China would also be in contention, but without three-time Olympic champion Sun Yang, who is serving a ban for refusing to sample doping inspectors.
Her hopes are pinned on Zhang Yufei, who was called the “new butterfly queen” by the Chinese media.
As with the women’s 1500 m freestyle, the men’s 800 m race will be at the Olympics for the first time since 1904, while a new mixed 4×100 medley relay, with two men’s and two women’s teams, adds a novelty factor.
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