NANTERRE, France — It took until the very last race of the very last session, but a world-record swim by the U.S. women in the medley relay secured Team USA its spot atop the medal table in the pool at the Paris Games.
The Americans typically sit there, though usually in more dominant fashion. The U.S. finished its meet here with eight gold medals and 28 overall medals, eking past Australia’s seven golds and keeping a streak alive. The U.S. have won more swimming golds than their peers in every Games since 1988, which was also the last meet the Americans collected this few.
It was an up-and-down week for the U.S. in general. There were highs, like Katie Ledecky becoming the most decorated female Olympian in American history and Bobby Finke’s 1500-meter win in world-record time. But there were some brutal lows, from Caeleb Dressel failing to medal in either of his individual events to a disqualification that cost Alex Walsh a bronze medal in the women’s 200-meter individual medley.
There were sighs of relief, surely, that the Americans did not end up on the wrong side of the gold-medal count, especially after the Aussies nearly doubled the U.S. gold total a year ago at world championships. And Finke’s swim saved Team USA from making the wrong kind of history; had he not taken gold on the last night of the competition, it would have been the first Olympics since 1900 in which no U.S. male swimmer won gold in an individual event.
But, obviously, USA Swimming and other leaders in the sport have a lot to work on before Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Games. This type of performance can’t happen again, especially at a home Olympics.
“For Team USA, the expectation is gold,” Dressel, a nine-time Olympic gold medalist, said. “That’s traditionally what we strive for, and I don’t think that changes in the Olympic cycle. There are very competitive teams.
“Across the board, the wealth is being spread.”
Indeed, the world is deeper and better than it’s been in other Games. Some of that is because of training on U.S. soil — France’s Léon Marchand spent the past three years at Arizona State, Canada’s Summer McIntosh lives and trains in Florida — but a significant number of Americans also swam slower than they did at U.S. trials, and many of the young male swimmers failed to qualify for finals in their events. They weren’t close.
It will be fascinating to see what USA Swimming does in response to the underwhelming performance here at the Paris Games. That’s one of the top storylines coming out of these Olympics.
Here are others.
Breakout stars
There’s no question that these Olympics belonged to Marchand, the 22-year-old Frenchman who won four individual gold medals in four events. He joined Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz as the only Olympians to accomplish that feat in the sport’s history. All four golds set new Olympic records and delighted the thousands of French fans in attendance each night. He added a bronze to his medal haul on the final night of competition as part of France’s men’s medley relay.
“I don’t think anything went wrong this week,” Marchand said. “It was just perfect.”
On the women’s side, it was Summer’s Games, as McIntosh, the Canadian teenage phenom, won three Olympic gold medals in three individual events, plus a silver medal in the women’s 400-meter freestyle. She’s the first Canadian to win three gold medals at a single Olympics. She is becoming the face of women’s swimming, if she’s not it already.
Biggest disappointment
The American men overall. Dressel will bear the brunt of most of the criticism because he didn’t medal in the 50 free and didn’t even qualify for the 100 fly final — and he’d taken gold in both events in Tokyo — but he had some great relay swims (including a 49.41 fly leg of the men’s medley relay on the final night of competition) and still leaves Paris as a 10-time Olympic medalist. It was a weird meet for him, reminiscent of Phelps in London in 2012.
But there were other issues. Dressel was among the veterans that contended for gold. Ryan Murphy got bronze in the 100 back but didn’t qualify for the final in the 200, disappointing results for the backstroke specialist. Chase Kalisz, the reigning Olympic champion in the 400 IM, didn’t make the final for the event. And by and large, the young swimmers that emerged at U.S. trials didn’t step up to take the reins in the biggest meet of their careers. Chris Guiliano, who made history as the first U.S. man to qualify in the 50, 100 and 200 frees at the same Olympics, didn’t even qualify for the semifinals in two of them. Thomas Heilman, 17, didn’t reach the finals for either fly event.
This was always going to be a transitional time for the American men, but it has been bumpier than expected.
Most frustrating unanswered question
Was this a clean meet? It’s not an obvious yes, not after the information unearthed by The New York Times earlier this year about 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance but ended up competing in Tokyo. There were a few eyebrow-raising results here involving Chinese swimmers, but the two most notable were Pan Zhanle swims. He broke the world record in the 100-meter freestyle on Wednesday, lowering it by 0.4 seconds and beating the field by more than a second, in a pool that got a reputation for being slow because there were so few world records set here.
Then, China won the gold medal in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay on Sunday with a final freestyle leg from Pan — who was not among the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive in the Times’ reporting — that took just 45.92 seconds, the fastest split in history in the men’s 100 freestyle.
Pan said he was tested 21 times from May through July, according to The New York Times. Still, non-Chinese swimmers have alluded to their suspicions about these swims this week.
Best surprise for Team USA
Torri Huske. The 21-year-old from Stanford earned three gold and two silver medals this week, a bright spot amid disappointment elsewhere on the U.S. roster. Huske was not one of the headliners for Team USA coming into the meet, but her spectacular swim in the 100 fly to win gold and her anchor leg to secure gold in the mixed medley relay were highlights of the entire meet.
A Legend-ecky meet
Katie Ledecky is one of one. Everyone knew this, but now the history books reflect her status, as she’s now the most decorated female Olympian in U.S. history. She also earned her ninth gold medal at these Games, which ties her with Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most gold medals for a female Olympian in any sport.
Ledecky remains the most dominant distance swimmer on the planet and takes a great deal of pride in both the 800 and 1,500 frees. It’ll be interesting to see how the 27-year-old approaches the next four years leading up to LA. She’s said repeatedly that she wants to swim at the home Olympics, but the question might be: Which events? Does she still want to train for both grueling swims or drop one? Will the 400 free stick around, or is Ledecky willing to cede that ground to Australian star Ariarne Titmus, who has won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in it?
Ledecky has plenty of time to answer these questions and a lot left in her tank. Whatever records are left to break, she’ll do that in 2028.
GO DEEPER
Katie Ledecky, her Olympic legacy secure, seems to have so much left in the tank
(Top photo of Léon Marchand: VCG / VCG via Getty Images)
