Morning Session Day 3
McKeon medals for second consecutive day
Emma McKeon got the morning off to a good start, backing up her extraordinary effort in yesterday’s relay with a bronze medal in the women’s 100m butterfly final.
It’s her sixth Olympic medal, and you’d imagine it’s not the last she’ll be winning at Tokyo.
Neill misses final by barest of margins
Thomas Neill finished fourth in his men’s 200m freestyle semi-final, ultimately missing out on qualification for the final by three-hundredths of a second.
It’s a hard pill to swallow for the 19-year-old, but his Olympic journey is just beginning.
Double heartbreak
After Neill narrowly missed out on qualifying for his final, Chelsea Hodges came even closer in the women’s 100m breaststroke semi-final, missing out on the final by just one-hundredth of a second.
At just 19 years old, Hodges is another bright prospect in Australian swimming.
EVERY AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING UPDATE: Dolphins Hub
Titmus vs Ledecky lives up to the hype
American queen Katie Ledecky has been dethroned by Ariarne Titmus.
Dubbed the greatest female swimmer of all time, Ledecky was pipped in the 400m freestyle by a methodical and poised Titmus.
The five-time Olympic gold medalist pushed to an early lead, but Titmus kept her at bay, never allowing Ledecky to extend her advantage beyond a body-length. And with 150m remaining, Titmus started to make her move, slowly reigning in the 24-year-old.
When they turned for the final 50m, Ledecky’s lead had been sliced to just 0.16 seconds, and Titmus motored home to clinch the gold medal.
While it was comfortably a two-horse race for gold, 14-year-old Canadian prodigy Summer McIntosh narrowly missed out on bronze having lead early and held third position for the majority of the race.
Titmus and Ledecky will be looking to set-up another showdown in the 200m freestyle, with their heats getting underway from 8:00pm AEST tonight.
Bitter-sweet men’s backstroke semis
Experienced campaigner Mitch Larkin secured a place in the 100m backstroke final, coming home second in his semi-final.
Unfortunately 17-year-old Isaac Cooper didn’t fare as well, his seventh placed finish not enough to progress.
McKeown, Seebohm cruise into women’s backstroke final
Kaylee McKeown and Emily Seebohm added to the list of Aussies competing for a medal tomorrow, their two-three finish in the 100m backstroke seeing them through to the final.
More relay medals for Aussies
A fast finish from Kyle Chalmers helped lift the Australian men’s 4x100m freestyle team to the bronze medal, Australia’s sixth in the pool.
Matt Temple, Zac Incerti, Alexander Graham and Chalmers weren’t expected to upstage the star-studded American relay team, meaning the bronze is a solid result.
The medal comes after the women’s team smashed their own world record on their way to gold yesterday.
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