By Alan Baldwin
PARIS (Reuters) – Ariarne Titmus got Australia’s women off to a golden start by winning a race of record breakers on a rocking opening night of the Paris Olympic swimming meet at the La Defense Arena on Saturday.
The Dolphins added another gold in the 4×100 metres freestyle relay, with Australia also taking two silvers from the four finals and with their reputation as a powerhouse of the pool as bright as ever.
Titmus set the tone by defending her 400 metres freestyle title in a huge battle with Canada’s Summer McIntosh and American great Katie Ledecky.
Ledecky, gold medallist in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and silver in Tokyo in 2021, had to settle for bronze as 17-year-old sensation McIntosh secured the silver and her first Olympic medal.
The race had been compared to the epic men’s 200 freestyle “Race of the Century” showdown between American Michael Phelps, Australian Ian Thorpe and Dutch giant Pieter van den Hoogenband in 2004.
“My legs are a bit tired, but I’m just relieved more than anything, I probably felt the expectation and pressure for this race more than anything in my life to be honest,” said Titmus.
Ledecky had hoped to go faster but could not complain.
“We have a lot of respect for each other and we love competing against each other, it brings the best out of each of us,” she said.
“It’s something special and something that we enjoy especially since we’re the top three performers in that event.”
Australia started with a silver when Elijah Winnington finished second to Germany’s Lukas Maertens in a men’s 400 metres freestyle final stacked with champions. South Korea’s world champion Kim Woo-min took the bronze.
After Titmus struck gold, the women then added another.
The quartet of Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris held off historic foes and runners-up United States in the 4×100 freestyle, while China took the bronze.
It was Australia’s fourth consecutive Olympic gold in the event, but the American men denied them another with their country’s first of the Games in the 4×100 freestyle relay.
Jack Alexy, Chris Giuliano, Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel combined to beat Australia, with Italy coming third.
The gold was the eighth of Dressel’s career after he bagged five in Tokyo and two in Rio.
World record holder Gretchen Walsh of the United States set an Olympic record of 55.38 seconds in her 100m butterfly semi-final to get the crowd up and roaring in the first action of the evening.
Compatriot Torri Huske was fastest in the other semi-final with a time of 56.00.
Britain’s Adam Peaty, seeking a third successive 100m men’s breaststroke gold, powered into Sunday’s final with the fastest time.
The Briton’s 58.86 was 0.07 quicker than China’s Qin Haiyang, with Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands, silver medallist from Tokyo, third fastest in 59.12.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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