Tokyo Olympics 2020 Day 1 Swimming Results: Agony for Japan, Jubilation for USA and Great Britain

Published 07/24/2021, 9:03 AM EDT

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 swimming events are done. The heat events saw many shocks and happy moments as swimmers took to the pool to showcase their talents. The men’s events that took place are 400m individual medley, 400-m freestyle event, and the 100m breaststroke event. The women’s events are 400m individual medley, 100m butterfly event, and the 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay.

Here are the results from the swimming heats competition.

Men’s 400m IM & 400m freestyle event in Tokyo Olympics 2020

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The men’s 400-meter individual medley saw the first shock in this year’s Olympics. Daiya Seto got knocked out in the first round after failing to put up a good time. Brendon Smith, Lewis Clareburt, Chase Kalisz, David Verraszto, Alberto Razzetti, Jay Litherland, Leon Marchand, and Max Litchfield qualified for the finals of this event. Smith from Australia posted the best time in the heats by finishing the race first in his heats by posting a time of 4:09.27. Lewis Clareburt from New Zealand was also in fine form by finishing with a time of 4:09.49.

Incredible shock: The heavy favorite in the men's 400 IM, Daiya Seto, misses qualifying for the final tonight, after fading on the freestyle leg of the race. The first of many surprises at these Games, no doubt#Tokyo2020
— SwimSwam Live (@SwimSwamLive) July 24, 2021

Despite Seto not qualifying for the event, the Japanese swimmer hopes to qualify for the 200m individual medley race for now.

Meanwhile, the men’s 400-meter freestyle events saw most of the major competitors qualifying for tomorrow’s finals. Bennet Henning Muhlleitner, Felix Auboeck, Gabrielle Detti, Elijah Winnington, Jack McLoughlin, Kieran Smith, Jake Mitchell, and Ahmed Hafnaoui qualified for the finals. Notably, Bennet finished the heats with the best time by posting a time of 3:43.67. Thus, the German swimmer looks to continue his form into the final to win the gold medal for Germany.

Elijah and McLoughlin continued their forms from the trials and put in an incredible performance.

It's time for @adam_peaty at #Tokyo2020
Peaty starts his Olympic 100m Breaststroke title defence. #TeamGB pic.twitter.com/6UvtpinIJ1
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 24, 2021

The other men’s swimming event was the 100-meter breaststroke event. Notably, Adam Peaty is the most famous swimmer in this stroke. Being the outright favorite to win the event, Peaty posted a time of 57.56. Arno Kamminga from Netherland posted a time of 57.80 which was the second-best. With Michael Andrew dubbed to be the heir to Michael Phelps, he put in a good performance in the heats as well. Andrew finished third in the semifinals with a time of 58.62. The 100-meter breaststroke is an important event as Peaty looks to win the event, yet again.

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Women’s swimming results in Olympics

Likewise, the women’s swimming events were also a major part of Saturday’s qualification races. The 100-meter butterfly events saw most of the favorites advancing to the semifinals of the heats. Yufei Zhang, Emma McKeon, Sarah Sjostrom, Torri Huske, Margaret Macneil, Louise Hansson, Anastasiya Skhurdai, Marie Wattel, Elena di Liddo, Claire Curzan, Katerine Savard, Illaria Bianchi, Anna Ntountounaki, Arina Surkova, Svetlana Chimrova, and Brianna Throssel all qualified for the semifinals.

Zhang made the best time in the heats by posting 55.82. The 2016 Rio Olympics 2016 winner, Sarah Sjostrom qualified for the event as well with a time of 56.18. The semifinals will be held tomorrow as most of these swimmers look to advance to the next round.

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The other event to be held was the 400-meter individual medley, and most of the favorites advanced into the last round. Emma Weyant, Aimee Wilmott, Yui Ohashi, Mireia Belmonte, Hali Flickinger, Viktoria Farkas-Mihalyvari, Katinka Hosszu, and Illaria Cuisinato qualified for the finals of the individual medley. The ‘Iron Lady’ from Hungary managed to finish the event with the seventh-best timing by posting a time of 4:36.01. Emma Weyant set the fastest time in the heats by posting 4:33.55.

The 4×100-meter women’s freestyle saw team Australia posting the best time in the heats. Significantly, they posted a time of 3:31.73. The Netherlands finished second, while Penny Oleksiak and Canada finished third in the relay events. Team USA finished fifth in the relay events.

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The individual swimming events came to a close as day one of the Tokyo Olympics proved to be an exciting one. Most of the world-class swimmers managed to advance to the next round, but Daiya Seto will look back at disappointment thinking where he went wrong.

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Jacob Gijy is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. Gijy finished his Masters in Counselling Psychology and worked in a hospital for 2 years before his passion for sports compelled him to find his way to sports journalism. A fan of the great Tim Duncan, he is always ready to pick up a debate with anyone who does not offer the centre the respect he deserves.

Tokyo Olympics 2020 Day 1 Swimming Results: Agony for Japan, Jubilation for USA and Great Britain

Men’s 400m IM & 400m freestyle event in Tokyo Olympics 2020

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Women’s swimming results in Olympics