Day 8 Wrap – Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Day eight of racing in Paris saw Erika Fairweather (Neptune & Swim Dunedin) race in her fourth final in Paris in the Women's 800m Freestyle.
It was a battle of titans, with all eyes drawn to the middle of the pool from the start as American Katie Ledecky looked to win the Olympic title for a fourth consecutive time. Australian Ariarne Titmus hoped to upset the American party, going with Ledecky through the first 500m.
Fairweather settled into her rhythm early, swimming alongside German Isabel Gose for the opening quarter of the race. From that point onwards, the bronze medallist from Doha World Champs didn't hold pace with Gose and dropped back into eighth position.
Ledecky started to pull away with her consistent high pace in last 300m, whilst fellow American Paige Madden was taking water away from the leaders rapidly. Titmus put in a late surge to make up the body length gap in the final lap, but it wasn't enough to de-throne the queen of distance swimming as Katie Ledecky stamped her greatness by taking gold for the fourth time in the event (8:11.04). Titmus produced an Australian Record for silver (8:12.29) ahead of Madden (8:13.00) for bronze.
Fairweather finished strongly to close the gap on Anastasiia Kirpichnikova (France - 8:22.80) in seventh, finishing just behind in a time just outside her heats performance to qualify for the final (8:23.27).
Speaking to Sky Sport, Fairweather gave it all in her fourth final of the Games.
"That was all I had left in the tank. I'm pretty buggered after this week but I'm pretty proud of how it ended up. Physically I was prepared for this, I didn't realise how much of an emotional toll the week probably took on me. After that 800m heat yesterday I was pretty tired and pretty gassed."
Fairweather had the chance to reflect upon racing in front of the crowd in Paris.
"It was so cool. It never gets old swimming in an Olympic final and tonight was no exception. At the start of the week I was a little bit disappointed with my performance in the 400m but I feel like the way I've turned it round is something to be proud of."
Congratulations to Erika Fairweather, coach Lars Humer and her support team for achieving fourth, seventh and eighth in the world plus eighth in the relay.
This completed our campaign in the pool, in which our team produced top performances including one relay, four individual finals, and one semi-final. Congratulations to our Aquablacks who represented us proudly on the biggest international stage in Paris.
Other finals on day eight saw some world-class performances and mouth-watering contests in the pool.
The Men's 100m Butterfly took place without reigning Olympic Champion and World Record holder, Caeleb Dressel (USA), making the final. It meant there was an opportunity for a new champion over the distance, and Canadian Josh Liendo laid down his best effort to do so. Leading from the start and into the final 10m, it was only the World Record holder over 200m, Kristof Milak (Hungary), who could claim the gold. Milak (49.90) timed his touch on the wall better to go one better than his silver medal from Tokyo. Canada continued their rise in the pool, taking silver and bronze with Liendo (49.99) getting under 50 seconds and teammate Ilya Kharun (50.45) rounding out the podium.
The Women's 200m Individual Medley had a stacked field and drama to follow as Canadian Summer McIntosh looked to take the medley double in Paris. The field included three individual gold medallists from Paris, with American Kate Douglass and Australian Kaylee McKeown also in the final. Before the race got underway, the eighth fastest seed was a late scratching and the two reserves weren't ready to take the spot, so lane eight was empty for the final.
In the race, McIntosh put in a strong butterfly and backstroke to lead at halfway, with McKeown again proving she is the queen of backstroke by moving into second. American Alex Walsh produced a blitzing breaststroke leg to move ahead and put McIntosh under immense pressure for the gold, but McIntosh showed her fight and freestyle prowess to overrun Walsh in the final 10m to win her third gold medal in an Olympic Record (2:06.56). Douglass showed off her freestyle sprinting skills to edge ahead of Walsh for silver (2:06.92) with Walsh third on the wall. However, the drama continued as Walsh was disqualified for turning on to her stomach before touching the wall from backstroke to breaststroke, resulting in McKeown adding a bronze to her haul in Paris (2:08.08).
The Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay was one not to miss, with tactics at play in finalising relay orders. The United States and China loaded up with males to lead off and set up a lead, with the Australian team leading off with Kaylee McKeown and coming from behind in the butterfly leg. The Americans were in a battle with China in butterfly and freestyle, but moved away with a strong finish to win gold in a World Record (3:37.43) marginally ahead of China (3:37.55) with Mollie O'Callaghan bringing Australia home for bronze (3:38.76).
Day nine is the final day of action in the pool, however our Kiwis have finished their campaigns. There are no heats on the last day, but the finals session will start from 4.30am on Monday 5 August NZST. The last finals include the Women's 50m Freestyle, Men's 1500m Freestyle, before the Men's and Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay round out the competition.
Swimmer Results
Lewis Clareburt
200m Butterfly (21st Place - 1:57.12)
200m Individual Medley (14th Place - 2:00.06)
400m Individual Medley (6th Place - 4:10.44)
Caitlin Deans
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (8th Place - 7:55.89)
Erika Fairweather
200m Freestyle (7th Place - 1:55.59)
400m Freestyle (4th Place - 4:01.12)
800m Freestyle (8th Place - 8:23.27)
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (8th Place - 7:55.89)
Kane Follows
100m Back (33rd Place - 55.01)
200m Back (21st Place - 1:58.63)
Cameron Gray
100m Butterfly (32nd Place - 53.83)
100m Freestyle (31st Place - 49.24)
Hazel Ouwehand
100m Butterfly (18th Place - 58.03)
Eve Thomas
400m Freestyle (17th Place - 4:11.86)
800m Freestyle (12th Place – 8:33.25)
1500m Freestyle (12th Place - 16:13.74)
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (8th Place - 7:55.89)
Taiko Torepe-Ormsby
50m Freestyle (19th Place - 22.01)
Laticia Transom
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (8th Place - 7:55.89)
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