Kudos to our incredible Dolphins – your dedication and spirit shone brightly in Paris day by day!
On the fourth day of competition, 13 Dolphins fought to secure a place in the upcoming finals. The Men’s 200m Butterfly kicked off the day, but Aussie Matt Temple’s time of 1:57.72 wasn’t enough to get him into the semi-finals.
Both the Men’s and Women’s 100m Freestyle events saw Kyle Chalmers (48.07s), William Yang (48.46s), Mollie O’Callaghan (53.27), and Shayna Jack (53.40) qualify for the night sessions.
A Covid-19 diagnosis led to Lani Pallister pulling out of the Women’s 1500m freestyle event, with hopes that this will protect her health so she can compete in the Women’s 4x200m relay on Day 5.
Despite this setback, Moesha Johnson, another Dolphin, advanced to the final of the 1500m event, where she will go up against American star Katie Ledecky on Thursday morning.
Zac Stubblety-Cook’s impressive final 50m push in the Men’s 200m Breaststroke helped him secure a spot in the semi-finals as the second seed, with a time of 2:09.49.
The morning session concluded with the Australian 4x200m Freestyle Relay team, consisting of Zac Incerti, Kai Taylor, Flynn Southam, and Thomas Neill. The team qualified in fourth place (7:05.63), while defending champions Great Britain posted the fastest qualifying time of 7:05.11.
The fourth night at the Paris’ La Défense Arena began with King Kyle’s determination to regain his title in the 100m freestyle event. In the Men’s 100m Freestyle semi-final, Australian newcomer Will Yang competed alongside Chalmers, who made a stunning comeback to win with the second fastest time of 47.58s after starting in fourth place. However, Yang missed out on a spot in the final, finishing 15th overall with a time of 48.42.
The highlight of the night was when our backstroke expert Kaylee McKeown, claimed victory in the Women’s 100m Backstroke Final.
McKeown was in a close race with American swimmers Regan Smith and Katherine Berkoff, but she pulled ahead in the last 25m to defend her Olympic title, setting a new Olympic Record with a winning time of 57.33s. In the Backstroke final, up-and-coming swimmer Dolphin, Iona Anderson, put in a remarkable effort and came in 5th place.
Shayna Jack and Mollie O’Callaghan, who have already won Olympic gold in 2024, qualified for the Women’s 100m freestyle final by finishing 2nd (52.72s) and 3rd (52.75) in the semifinals, just behind Hong Kong’s Siobhan Bernadette Haughey (52.64s).
The Men’s 200m Breaststroke Semi-Final came next, where Zac Stubblety-Cook and Joshua Yong both secured spots in the final. In the evening, Elijah Winnington took an initial lead in the Men’s 800m Final, but was quickly overtaken in the second half of the race by Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffen, who secured his nation’s first gold medal in the pool. Winnington ended up in eighth place, clocking a time of 7:48.36.
Following that, the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay event began. The youthful Australian squad secured the fourth position in the qualifications before the final.
Yet, it was Elijah Winnington who, in the third leg, consolidated the Australian team’s standing in 3rd place behind the USA and Great Britain, following his 800m final swim. Thomas Neill, the anchor of the Australian team, closely followed American Kieran Smith and won the first Bronze Medal for Australia in the games.
The Dolphins Olympic journey is only beginning, be sure to catch Day 5 as more of our Dolphins aim for the top prize!
