Paris Olympics, Day 1 Prelims: Pan Zhanle Anchors in 46.98 to Give China Top Seed in Men’s 400 Free Relay
A dramatic finish is the norm in an Olympic final of the men’s 400 freestyle relay. Think back to Australia beating the United States for the first time ever in this event in 2000 or South Africa’s first-ever relay win for the country four years later. The American men came from behind to stun France in 2008, only for France to return the favor at the 2012 Games. Only the last two Olympic cycles, when American teams led off by Caeleb Dressel, have produced relatively comfortable margins of victory.
Can Dressel, returning to the international stage after an extended hiatus from the sport, lead the U.S. back on top after the team settled for bronze at last year’s World Championships. Perhaps, but China, Great Britain, Australia and perhaps others will be out to prevent a third consecutive American gold. China in particular looks strong after leading qualifying in the event by six tenths, with 100 free world-record holder Pan Zhanle providing the spark.
Trailing Great Britain’s Tom Dean in heat one when he entered the water for the anchor leg, Pan fired off a 46.98 split to bring the Chinese team over the top and earn the group lane four for the final. Wang Haoyu, Chen Juner and Ji Xinjie handled the first three legs on the way to a time of 3:11.62. At the lightly-attended World Championships in February, China earned gold behind Pan, Ji, Zhang Zhanshuo and Wang, with Pan setting his world record on the on the leadoff leg.
One heat later, the U.S. men took the lead with Hunter Armstrong on the third leg, but Australia’s Kyle Chalmers overtook Dressel coming home. The two have a long rivalry in the 100 free, with Dressel beating Chalmers by six hundredths for Olympic gold in the event three years ago in Tokyo. Chalmers split 47.44, and Australia’s overall time was 3:12.25, the second-best of the morning. Jack Cartwright, William Yang and Flynn Southam swam the first three legs for the Aussies.
“It was good. It felt very controlled and calm, which is nice,” Chalmers said. “I wasn’t expecting too much, just to make sure we go through to the final and do what we need to do as a team to have success tonight.”
The 25-year-old Australian added that racing against Dressel “brings the best out of me personally, seeing him come into the marshalling room and then standing alongside of him on the block, I don’t want to let him win. It’s a very healthy rivalry we have, but it brings the best out of us in a heat on day one.”
Great Britain’s Duncan Scott, Jacob Whittle, Alexander Cohoon and Dean took third overall in 3:12.49, rebounding from a fiasco at last year’s Worlds when the Brits were strong medal favorites and contenders for gold before a disqualification in prelims.
“It felt like four really mature swims and not getting caught up in the hype of day one,” Dean said. “Cohoon, his first-ever Olympic race. So many GB guys have never swum in front of a full Olympic crowd apart from Duncan. I think everyone swam really mature, well-executed swims and it’s up to the coaches to how they approach the final.”
Just behind was the American team of Ryan Held, Matt King, Armstrong and Dressel. Armstrong’s 47.50 split was the team’s quickest and fourth-best of the entire field. “We got the job done, that’s all we had to do for this morning,” Dressel said. “I thought all the guys did great, got a good lane for tonight, we’ll get rolling.”
Canada’s team of Finlay Knox, Yuri Kisil, Javier Acevedo and Josh Liendo finished in 3:12.77, with Liendo coming home in 47.25. Italy, with Manuel Frigo coming home in 47.80, took sixth in 3:12.94, followed by Hungary in 3:12.96, led off by Nandor Nemeth in 48.07. Germany clocked 3:13.15 to be the last team into the final, four hundredths clear of Spain. Rafael Miroslaw’s 47.87 was the difference-maker for the Germans.
Most countries who qualified for the final put their four strongest 100 freestylers in the race in the morning, including top seeds China and Australia. The United States will bring in two new swimmers at night; Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano enter Paris as the third and fourth-fastest swimmers in the world this year in the 100 free, and they will likely join Armstrong and Dressel to compose a final quarter that remains a narrow favorite.
The British will add Matt Richards, last year’s world champion in the 200 free, to a veteran squad while Italy will insert Alessandro Miressi, likely in his usual position as leadoff swimmer, while 100 backstroke world-record holder Thomas Ceccon will likely take over anchor duties.
