Swimming

The Men’s 200 Free Podium In Paris Is Guaranteed To Look Different

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By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2024 BRAZILIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

With the start of swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games now fewer than 80 days away, we are beginning to form pictures of what certain events may look like based on the outcomes of nations’ Trials.

For instance, based on the completed Aquatics GB Championships and the in-progress Brazilian Championships we know that the men’s 200m freestyle podium between Tokyo and Paris is guaranteed to look different.

In Tokyo, British speedster Tom Dean wowed the crowd by pulling a minor upset in getting to the wall first, snatching the 200m free gold away from teammate Duncan Scott, Korean Hwang Sunwoo, Romanian David Popovici and more.

Dean topped the podium in a national record-setting effort of 1:44.22, followed by Scott’s 1:44.26 and Brazilian Fernando Scheffer who secured bronze in 1:44.66.

Men’s 200m Freestyle Final at the 2020 Olympic Games

  1. Thomas Dean (GBR) – 1:44.22 – GOLD
  2. Duncan Scott (GBR) – 1:44.26 – SILVER
  3. Fernando Scheffer (BRA) – 1:44.66 – BRONZE
  4. David Popovici (ROU) – 1:44.68
  5. Martin Malyutin (ROC) – 1:45.01
  6. Kieran Smith (USA) – 1:45.12
  7. Hwang Sunwoo (KOR) – 1:45.26
  8. Danas Rapsys (LTU) – 1:45.78

We know from last month’s Aquatics GB Olympic Trials that Dean did not qualify to race in Paris in the men’s 200m free. At those trials in London, it was Olympic relay medalist Matt Richards who stormed to the 2free victory in a time of 1:44.69 followed by Scott who touched in 1:44.75.

Reigning Olympic champion Dean was relegated to 3rd in 1:45.09; good enough for a 4x200m free relay slot but not enough to earn an individual Olympic berth.

Flash forward to day 2 of the Brazilian Championships and 2020 bronze medalist Scheffer found himself in a similar boat.

On day 2 in Rio, Scheffer clocked a time of 1:47.60 to place 3rd in the 2free, well behind winner Murilo Sartori who notched 1:46.98 for gold and Guilherme Costa who snagged silver in 1:47.10.

None of the top 3 hit the Olympic Qualification Time of 1:46.26 needed for Paris, although Costa did so at the 2024 World Championships with his semi-final swim of 1:46.06 to earn an Olympic bid.

As such, Scheffer will also not be among the individual men’s 200m free field in Paris.

From the remaining racers of the Tokyo top 8, Romania’s Popovici has qualified for the Olympics via his 1:45.10 produced at last month’s Romanian Nationals/Olympic Trials while Hwang has made the grade with his 1:44.40 from last year’s Asian Games.

Lithuanian veteran Danas Rapsys will also be among the Paris field, clocking 1:44.96 at this year’s World Championships.

We’ll need to wait and see what happens at the U.S. Trials to know if Kieran Smith will be among the Olympic contestants in this event while Russian Martin Malyutin‘s status is in limbo as the nation’s swimmers’ only hope of competing is via neutral status.

Newcomers Maximillian Giuliani of Australia and Luke Hobson of the United States look primed for a run at the podium but need to get through their own Trials first, a tall ask for the powerhouse swimming nations.

Then there’s Germany’s Lukas Maertens, the top performer in the world this season. He cranked out a big-time personal best of 1:44.14 to lead the rankings. China’s Pan Zhanle has also proven he’s a threat, adding this event to his Olympic lineup from last month’s Chinese Trials.

SwimSwam: The Men’s 200 Free Podium In Paris Is Guaranteed To Look Different

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