Australia Survives the Sweden Scare as the American Swimmers Make a Statement at the Women’s 4x100M Relay Heats at the Paris Olympics

The team events in the swimming discipline kicked off at the 2024 Paris Olympics with the American women diving in the water for the Women’s 4X100m Freestyle Relay. Heat 1 of the event saw the US take on the likes of Great Britain and Italy in a packed field.

Assigned to Lane 4, Abbey Weitzeil, Simone Manuel, Erika Connolly, and Kate Douglass secured the top spot with a dominant display from the get-go. With each swimmer, the Americans built on their lead decimating the competition. The final swimmer, Douglass showcased incredible pace in her 100m swim, with a split time of 52.63 seconds.

Great Britain finished 2.84 seconds behind the US with a time of 3:36.13. And coming back from behind, the Italian took third place, marginally missing out on P2 by 0.15 seconds at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Defending champs Australia went for a swim in Heat 2, fielding Olivia Wunsch, Bronte Campbell, Meg Harris, and Emma McKeon. The Aussies could fend off a surprise challenge from Sweden, who led the race halfway through. Following the first leg, the Australians were outside the top three, with France in second place.

However, Meg Harris was having none of it as she swam her way to the lead with a split time of 52.23 seconds. France eventually fell out of the top three to finish fourth. The People’s Republic of China eventually finished second with as the Swedes slotted in third with a time of 3:34.35, a mere 0.04 seconds behind PRC.

Inaugural medal of the Paris Olympics in the bag for the US

As the competition rages on in Paris, the American contingent is up and running at the French capital. Partaking in the Women’s Synchronised 3M Springboard Diving finals, Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook were on point to earn their country’s first medal at the 2024 Olympics.

China’s Yani Chang and Yiwen Chen edged out the American duo to clinch gold. Meanwhile, the British divers secured Bronze as the home team had to settle for an eighth-place finish.