Olympic Games: Adam Peaty Ignites Day One Prelims With 57.55 WR In 100 Breaststroke

Welcome to the SwimVortex coverage of the 31st Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The team of Craig Lord and John Lohn will report live from the Rio Aquatics Centre, with the keen eye of Patrick B. Kraemer providing photographs. Action gets under way this afternoon with the first preliminary heats – men’s 400 individual medley, women’s 100 butterfly, men’s 400 freestyle, women’s 400 individual medley, men’s 100 breaststroke and women’s 400 freestyle relay. Continue to visit this file (and hit the refresh button) for running updates from the pool.

The end of the first sessions brings the 4x100m freestyle, in which Australia are one of the strongest favourites for any crown in the pool. Cate and Bronte Campbell will fire up in heats with Brittany Elmslie and Madison Wilson racing to see who will get the last slot with the Campbells and Emma McKeon in the final. And for the USA: Katie Ledecky steps up for the 4x100m at the start of a mega week that includes the 200, 400, 800m free and 4x200m free.

Day 1 heats … on your marks… Adam Peaty Rockets To World Record 57.55 In 100 Breaststroke

It doesn’t happen often, but talents like Great Britain’s Adam Peaty don’t come around often, either. So, when the British standout shattered his world record in the prelims of the 100 breaststroke, the performance was a combination of awe-inspiring and unsurprising. Looking smooth and powerful with each stroke, Peaty blazed a time of 57.55 to take a sizable chunk off his previous global standard of 57.92.

Peaty joined exclusive company in the 100 breaststroke with his world-record showing, joining the likes of Chester Jastremski, Nobutaka Taguchi, John Hencken and Norbert Rozsa as athletes who set a world record in a prelim.

From the start, it was clear that Peaty had something special to deliver to the 14,000 fans in attendance, and that delivery was confirmed when he turned for home in 26.69, more than three tenths under world-record pace. Peaty remained strong down his final lap and generated a huge applause from the crowd upon touching the wall.

The dominance of Peaty is so vast that he made the rest of a superb field look mediocre, including reigning Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh (59.35) of South Africa. Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki was the only other athlete to eclipse the 59-second barrier, going 58.91, but trailing the effort of Peaty by well over a second.

Simply, the semifinal and final will not be a race of Peaty vs. the field. Rather, it is Peaty vs. the clock. Just how much faster he can go, if at all, will have the venue buzzing this evening. While medals will be doled out in four events, Peaty has made a semifinal one of the can’t-miss spectacles of the evening.

After Koseki, Brazil’s Felipe Franca was third-quickest, going 59.01, with Americans Kevin Cordes (59.13) and Cody Miller (59.17) following. The top eight was completed by Aussie Jake Packard (59.26), van der Burgh (59.35) and Brazil’s Joao Gomes (59.46). Also reaching the semifinals were Britain’s Ross Murdoch (59.47), China’s Li Xiang (59.55), Lithuania’s Giedrius Titenis (59.90), Russia’s Vsevolod Zanko (59.91), Colombia’s Jorge Mario Murillo Valdes (59.93), Germany’s Christian Vom Lehn (1:001:00.13) and New Zealand’s Glenn Snyders (1:00.26).

Katinka Hosszu Blasts European Record 4:28.58 In 400 Medley

One of the questions facing Katinka Hosszu on her way to the Rio Games centered on her ability to handle the pressure of the quadrennial event. Four years ago, the Hungarian went home without a medal from London, a surprising development and one connected – in part – to the overwhelming nature of the Olympics.

As Hosszu opened her latest Olympiad, there was no sign of nerves as she produced the second-fastest time in history, a mark of 4:28.58 that was good for the European record. Hosszu was under world-record pace through 350 meters, chasing the 4:28.43 that China’s Ye Shiwen managed for the gold in London. Like other instances, however, Hosszu couldn’t …

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