By Jamison Ness
The first finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics was nothing short of legendary. The 400m women’s Freestyle finals were a highly anticipated race. With some of the best swimmers in the world including American legend Katie Ledeckey, Canada's young bull Summer McIntosh, Australia's Ariane Titmus, and Erika Fairweather, product of New Zealand. From races in previous years setting the stage of intensity and motivation, up until the finals, these swimmers made the races ones to remember with upsets, records, and one of the greatest female swim races of all time. The talent in the pool was truly unbelievable and unmatched.
It started in the 2023 World Championships. During this race, Titmus broke the race open and made the race her own. In this race, Titmus broke Summer McIntosh’s previous record in this event of 3:55.58. . Beyond that, Ledecky ended up with a silver, and Erika Fairweather came in with a massive upset to beat Simmer McIntosh for bronze in an event that she had previously set the record for.
A race full of upsets and surprises in 2023 set the stage for the race in the 2024 Olympic Games. Another part of what makes this race so interesting is the range of experience and age. Katie Ledecky is 27 years old and has all the experience and legendary performances behind her. Ledecky went to Stanford and won eight NCAA titles, and set 15 NCAA records in her time there. Beyond that, Ledecky has 12 Olympic medals. Summer McIntosh is a seventeen year old swimmer for team Canada. From Toronto Ontario, Summer is truly just getting started in her Olympic journeys. In the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Summer was the youngest athlete on team Canada at fourteen years old. In those games, she finished fourth individually at 400m freestyle, and was the lead off swimmer for the 200mx4 relay, which placed fourth. As she geared up for the 2024 Olympics, she was one to watch. Ariane Titmus won 4 medals at her previous Olympics in Tokyo. Her rivalry with Katie Ledecky has become infamous since the 2020 Tokyo games when she was quite a ways behind Ledecky, and came back to win. At only 23 years old, Titmus has solidified herself as one of the fastest female swimmers in the world. Additionally, after the 2023 World Championships, she was the one to beat. Lastly, Erika Fairweather out of New Zealand has Olympic experience also from Tokyo 2020. Fairweather upset Summer McIntosh for the bronze medal in 2023, and was hoping to upset again in the 2024 Olympic Games. This mix of age and experience, along with tense rivalries, makes these races all the more exciting.
When the finals for the 2024 Olympic 400m Women’s Freestyle finally happened on Sunday, July 28, it was nothing short of a storybook race. The race ended up with Ariane Titmus taking gold, and being three seconds ahead of Ledecky. Summer McIntosh ended up with silver for Canada's first medal of the games, and her first Olympic medal ever, and Ledecky won her first ever Olympic Bronze Medal. The race was fierce, and full of talent. Women’s swimming has immense talent in the pool right now; and we will have the opportunity to see these athletes grow and compete for many years to come.
References
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sophiekaufman/2024/07/22/2024-paris-olympics-swimming-races-to-watch/
https://olympic.ca/team-canada/summer-mcintosh/
https://olympics.com/en/athletes/ariarne-titmus