Swimming
Is this the end of United States' domination in women's swimming at the Olympics?
USA's Katie Ledecky will have her work cut out against the Australian Ariarne Titmus in the 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, and 800m freestyle events at the Tokyo Olympics
Katie Ledecky could become the first American woman to win 5 Olympic golds at a single Olympics (Source: Getty Images/2016)
Swimming, one of the biggest sports at the Tokyo Olympics is all set to get started from Day 1(July 24) and there will be keen eyes on the Americans who have dominated in the previous Olympics.
To get some perspective about this dominance, especially in the women's category, the medal tally at the Rio Olympics tells the entire story. Out of the 17 gold medals that were available in the women's event, United States won eight of them and Katie Ledecky herself won four.
However, there is a growing sense that the Tokyo Olympics could be the stage for the proverbial passing of the torch moment from the United States to Australia especially in women's swimming.
Here's a look at why that can happen.
Rise of Kaylee McKeown and Ariarne Titmus
Kaylee McKeown caught everyone's attention when she brokethe 100m backstroke world record. She clocked a timing of 57.45s at the Olympic Trials in 2021 whilst still being a teenager.
The previous record held by Regan Smith of the United States was at 57.57s. Kaylee's timing helped her achieved the top spot in the Olympic qualification rankings. However, in the 200m backstroke event, she was just behind Smith and bagged the second place in the qualification ranking.
Similar to McKeown's story, Ariarne Titmus has been sensational in both the 200m and 400m freestyle events. The Australian set a timing of 3:56.90 in the 400m freestyle event and posted a timing of 1:53.09 in 200m freestyle event at the Olympic Trials. These timings helped her seal the top spot in Olympic qualification in both the events, while the nearest competitors were quite far off.
Experience of Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell
While the youngsters provide a good amount of hope not just for the Olympics but for the future of Australian aquatics, one cannot look away from the experienced duo of Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell.
Cate Campbell is currently ranked 2 in the 100m freestyle event and will be going into her fourth Olympics, whereas McKeon would be making a second appearance at the games.
In the 50m freestyle, Emma clocked a timing of 23.93s while Cate was at 23.94s at the trials which led to them finishing second and third respectively in the Olympic qualification ranking. However, the fortunes reversed in 100m, with Campbell coming second in the qualification ranking with a time of 52.12s finishing ahead of McKeon.
Katie Ledecky's dip in form post the Rio Olympics
One cannot question the class of a champion Olympian like Katie Ledecky but there will be minor concerns going into the Tokyo Olympics. After the utter domination at Rio 2016, Ledecky hasn't won a major international final in the 200m freestyle event since.
Her 200m freestyle qualification time for the Olympics was set at 1:54.40, while her competition Ariarne Titmus set a time of 1:53.09. The situation looks grimmer in 400m freestyle, where Titmus had a timing of 3:56.90 and Ledecky was at 3:59.25. The 24-year-old would be wary of the Australian as she has already beaten her once at the 2019 World Championship in the 400m event.
It is a realistic possibility that the Tokyo Olympics could be the stage where, at least in the women's category, the Aussies can break the domination of the United States swimmers. However, it would be foolish to rule out the Americans completely.