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Follows 21st in the World on Electric Day Five

Day 5 Wrap – Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Day five of racing in Paris saw Kane Follows (Neptune & Swim Dunedin) as the sole Kiwi in the pool, back in action for his favoured event. The debutant took on the Men's 200m Backstroke, notching his best finish of the Games by placing 21st in the world.

Racing outside of the seeded heats, Follows and Australian Se-Bom Lee pushed the pace in the middle lanes from the start. Follows got his feet on the wall first on each wall, with a strong finish to touch second in his heat behind Lee. It was a strong swim on the international stage, with Follows recording the fourth fastest time of his career.

Follows' result marks his best finish in Paris, a significant rise up the ranks since his 33rd place in the 100m Backstroke a few days earlier.

Speaking with Sky Sport following his heat swim, Follows reflected on what it was like to live out an Olympic dream.

"It's pretty surreal. I've been wanting to be an Olympian since I was little kid. To be actually living it out is really awesome. I was talking to my coach (Lars Humer) before we went in and he said this is the dream so take in every moment."

Follows was pleased with the execution of his race plan.

"There haven't been too many people going crazy fast times here. I'm not disappointed with it, I swam it how I wanted to, just probably each split was slightly off."

Congratulations to Kane Follows on fulfilling a childhood dream and for his performances in Paris, with his debut making him Aquablack #287.

Whilst there were no other Kiwis in action, there were some incredible races during the finals session.

The Women's 100m Freestyle final was impossible to pick a winner with five metres to go, with swimmers spread across the pool. 30-year-old Sarah Sjöström (Sweden - 52.16), returned to the top step of the Olympic podium by getting her hand on the wall first. The World Record holder's reaction was priceless when she won from lane seven, after only deciding to enter the event weeks before the Games. American Torri Huske (52.29) continued her outstanding form in Paris, winning the silver medal marginally ahead of Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey (52.33) for bronze.

The next final saw local Leon Marchand (France) back in action against the World Record holder and reigning Olympic Champion Kristof Milak (Hungary). Milak led the race from the start, with Marchand sitting on the hip for the first three laps, before Marchand utilised his underwater skills to pull up alongside Milak off the final wall. The home crowd erupted as Marchand found something over the final 25m to win his second gold medal in an Olympic Record (1:51.21) ahead of Milak (1:51.75) and Canadian Ilya Kharun (1:52.80) the bronze.

The Women's 1500m Freestyle final saw a race within the race, with American Katie Ledecky leaving nothing to chance as she established a body length lead in the opening 100m. She initiated a battle with the World Record line, going faster than her best mark for the first 400m, before settling in to a consistent pace. The battle for the other medals was taking place behind, with French Anastasiia Kirpichnikova remaining clear in second with German Isabel Gose and Italian Simona Quadarella inseparable in third. Whilst Ledecky (15:30.02) took off to win her eighth Olympic gold medal and reset the Olympic Record, the crowd came alive to help Kirpichnikova (15:40.35) claim the silver while Gose (15:41.16) held off Quadarella to win bronze.

The Men's 200m Breaststroke saw Leon Marchand return to the pool aiming to take his second gold medal of the session. Reigning Olympic Champion Zac Stubblety-Cook (Australia) sat a body length behind Marchand as he led from the front, hoping to execute his last lap blitz to come from behind. However, Marchand had established a two metre lead that couldn't be caught, as he won gold in another Olympic Record (2:05.85) for the second time that night. Stubblety-Cook (2:06.79) added a silver to his gold from Tokyo, whilst Caspar Corbeau (Netherlands - 2:07.90) won bronze.

The Men's 100m Freestyle was the final event of the session. The World Record holder, Zhanle Pan (China), took off like a rocket to turn comfortably ahead. With Rio Olympic Champion, Kyle Chalmers (Australia), turning last at halfway it looked like a bridge too far for even him to motor home. Pan (46.40) blitzed his second 50m to smash his World Record by 0.4 seconds, making it the first World Record broken at the pool in Paris. Pan won the gold medal by more than one second over Chalmers (47.48) and Popovici (47.49). It was incredibly close for the minor placings, with Chalmers finishing prowess and experience crucial in getting his hand on the wall for the silver.

Action from day six in Paris gets underway tonight, with Taiko Torepe-Ormsby (Wharenui) making his Olympic and international debut in the Men's 50m Freestyle. Lewis Clareburt (Club 37) returns to the pool for his final event, the Men's 200m Individual Medley. Finally, our Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay dive in, with Laticia Transom (Club 37) and Caitlin Deans (Neptune & Swim Dunedin) opening up their Olympic campaign alongside Erika Fairweather (Neptune & Swim Dunedin) and Eve Thomas (Coast). Racing starts from 9pm on Thursday 1 August NZST.

Day Six

Heats (from 9pm NZST – Thursday 1 August)

Men’s 50m Freestyle (Torepe-Ormsby)
Men’s 200m Individual Medley (Clareburt)
Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (Fairweather, Transom, Thomas, Deans)

Potential Finals Swims (from 6.30am NZST – Friday 2 August)

Men’s 50m Freestyle Semi-Final (Torepe-Ormsby – 6.44am)
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Semi-Final (Clareburt – 7.35am)
Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final (Fairweather, Transom, Thomas, Deans – 7.49am)

Day six gets off to a fast start, with Taiko Torepe-Ormsby debuting in the men’s 50m freestyle. The fastest Kiwi of all time arrives in Paris in excellent form, breaking the New Zealand record in April to qualify for the team. Always a popular event at the Games, this event could see the world record under pressure, as Australia’s Cameron McEvoy closes in on dipping under 21 seconds. With the barest of margins separating the field, it will be another one to watch.

Our women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team will also take to the pool on day six, where Caitlin Deans and Laticia Transom will make their Olympic debut alongside Erika Fairweather and Eve Thomas. Fresh off their fifth-place finish in Doha, the team will be full of confidence having broken the New Zealand record earlier this year. With all four swimmers in good form, the team looks like they are shaping up to go faster again.

Lewis Clareburt returns to pool for the heats of his final event of the Games – the men’s 200m individual medley. Clareburt arrives in Paris as the 13th fastest seed in the event, having been a finalist in Tokyo.

Day Seven

Heats (from 9pm NZST – Friday 2 August)

Men’s 100m Butterfly (Gray)
Women’s 800m Freestyle (Fairweather & Thomas)

Potential Finals Swims (from 6.30am NZST – Saturday 3 August)

Men’s 50m Freestyle Final (Torepe-Ormsby – 6.30am)
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Final (Clareburt – 6.43am)
Men’s 100m Butterfly Semi-Final (Gray – 7am)

Erika Fairweather and Eve Thomas head into the women’s 800m freestyle as the eighth and ninth fastest seeds, respectively. This will be another competitive event to watch, with the battle in the heats bound to be close as they vie for a spot in the final.

Cameron Gray takes on another stacked field in the men’s 100m butterfly, featuring reigning Olympic champion and world record holder, Caeleb Dressel, who continues his return to competitive swimming after some time off.

Day Eight

Potential Finals Swims (from 6.30am NZST - Sunday 4 August)

Men’s 100m Butterfly Final (Gray – 6.30am)
Women’s 800m Freestyle Final (Fairweather & Thomas – 7.08am)

The penultimate day of the swimming in Paris is the final day we could see our Kiwis in action, with potential finals spots available for Fairweather and Thomas in the women’s 800m freestyle and Gray in the men’s 100m butterfly.

Don’t miss any of the action on Sky Sport during these Games. For those who don’t have Sky Sport on a regular basis, you can stream all 12 channels and more via their Olympics Pass for a special rate (available for purchase from Thursday 25 July), or you can watch free coverage of selected live content and highlights free-to-air on Sky Open (freeview channel 15).

How To Watch - Sky Sport

Follow Swimming NZ on Instagram (@swimming_nz) and Facebook, and keep an eye on our website, to stay up to date with all the swimming action from Paris.

Schedule & Results

You can also download the NZ Team app to track your favourite sports and Kiwi athletes as they strive for gold in Paris.

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Swimmer Entries

Kane Follows

100m Back (Entry time: 54.46)
200m Back (Entry time: 1:57.13 – NZ Record)

Lewis Clareburt

200m Butterfly (Entry time: 1:55.82)
200m IM (Entry time: 1:57.36)
400m IM (Entry time: 4:09.72 – 7th fastest seed)

Cameron Gray

100m Butterfly (Entry time: 52.53)
100m Freestyle (Entry time: 48.26 – NZ Record)

Taiko Torepe-Ormsby

50m Freestyle (Entry time: 22.86 – NZ Record)

Hazel Ouwehand

100m Butterfly (Entry time: 57.43 – NZ Record)

Eve Thomas

1500m Freestyle (Entry time: 16:07.46)
400m Freestyle (Entry time: 4:05.87 - 13th fastest seed)
800m Freestyle (Entry time: 8:22.27 – 9th fastest seed)
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (Entry time: 7:53.02 – NZ Record)

Erika Fairweather

200m Freestyle (Entry time: 1:55.45 – 8th fastest seed)
400m Freestyle (Entry time: 3:59.44 – NZ Record – 4th fastest seed)
800m Freestyle (Entry time: 8:21.06 – 8th fastest seed)
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (Entry time: 7:53.02 – NZ Record)

Caitlin Deans & Laticia Transom

4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (Entry time: 7:53.02 – NZ Record)

Daily Schedule

*start times are subject to change, while semi-finals and finals are subject to athlete progression.

Thursday 1 August

Day Six Heats – from 9pm NZST

Men’s 50m Freestyle (Torepe-Ormsby)
Men’s 200m Individual Medley (Clareburt)
Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay (Fairweather, Transom, Thomas, Deans)

Friday 2 August

Day Six Finals – from 6.30am NZST

Men’s 200m Backstroke Final (Follows*) – 6.37am
Men’s 50m Freestyle Semi-Final (Torepe-Ormsby*) – 6.44am
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Semi-Final (Clareburt*) – 7.35am
Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay Final (Fairweather, Transom, Thomas, Deans*) – 7.49am