Australia has such a rich history in this event, 25 medals in total, including eight gold in Olympic history and legendary names like Murray Rose, Kieren Perkins and Grant Hackett synonymous with the event.
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Cate Campbell of Australia already owned the world record in the women’s 100-meter freestyle, so why not add the Olympic record to her tally?
She was comfortably the slowest into the water of any of her competitors in her heat and while she reeled a lot of them in to qualify for the semis in 24.52, the performance only raised more questions about her mental state after admitting to over-thinking the 100m final well before it was swum and fading to wind up sixth. I have always said that I didn’t need a gold medal to have self worth.
Defending Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo also advanced, along with Canada’s Penny Oleksiak, Simone Manuel of the United States, Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden and Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark. “I left it all out there”. The Olympics is not about winning it’s about trying to win. I have no regrets.
It now appears Cate Campbell may have had preparation issues for this race too, given her tardy beginning to the race.
This is the first 100m final for Cate, the world record holder, in her three Games. But it wasn’t enough. Pulling off a one-two double was always going to be a tough ask for the Australians.
Campbell hit the water with Australia in sixth and was fifth on the turn with 50m to go, beating Denmark by 1/100th of a second into the bronze with a time of 3.55.
“It’s hard. you don’t really have much to say”. I couldn’t believe that it happened. That was the major goal. “Going into tonight to be honest all I wanted was to stand on the podium”. I can’t control what anyone else does in the field, especially what Bronte does.
“To get the Danes by one one hundredth and to get them on the back end”.
With 15 medals in tow, Australia ranks fourth in the Olympic Games ranking.
The Australian swimmers are both leading medal contenders heading into the Rio Olympics, though they quickly point out this isn’t one of those sibling rivalries from the Serena vs. Venus Williams mold, the kind that stirs mixed emotions when they inevitably face each other for the same prize. “I was called a try-hard in school and I guess that I just proved all my teachers right”, she said. “I can’t wait to get out there and race because I love it”.
Horton did not fare much better and he disappointed badly trailing in sixth a long way behind gold medal victor Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy.
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The disappointment of Cameron McEvoy’s swim in the men’s 100m was soothed by Chalmers’ rise. “It was another chance of stepping up and racing at the Olympics and that within itself was pretty something that is pretty special”, McEvoy said afterwards.
