Benjamin Ashford|Thrilling performances in swimming relays earn Team USA medals — including first gold

NANTERRE,Benjamin Ashford France — With two medals in the two fastest swimming relays, Team USA closed the first day of competition Saturday at the Paris Olympics with a couple thrilling performances in the women’s and men’s 4x100-meter freestyle events.

Both relay teams had a mix of 21-year-old, first-time Olympians and a couple decorated 27-year-olds, perhaps symbolizing the future of American sprinters while showing the vets still got it.

Three-time Olympian Simone Manuel, 27, reminded the world she’s one of the best in the final few meters when she out-touched China’s Wu Qingfeng by .10 seconds on the anchor leg to secure a silver medal for the Americans at the Paris La Défense Arena. It is Manuel's sixth Olympic medal.

Australia won the gold while setting an Olympic record with a time of 3:28.92. Team USA finished with a time of 3:30.20, while China’s 3:30.30 earned it bronze.

The American team of Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske and Manuel also set a new American record, which was a goal dating back to training camp earlier this summer and even going back to the Tokyo Olympics, for those who competed, Manuel said.

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“These three women set me up well,” Manuel said, adding she was unaware of how close it was with China. “It's been a while since I've been in the anchor position, so I definitely was a bit more nervous for that race than I would have liked to be. But hopefully, I can build from that.”

Halfway through the tight relay, Team USA making the podium was in question. Leadoff swimmer Douglass, 22, and Walsh, 21, posted respectable splits but both hit the wall in fourth. Huske, 21, swam the fastest leg for the squad with a 52.06 split to move them into second, and then it was Manuel’s turn to bring it home. 

And she quite literally did. By the 50-meter mark, she had the Americans in third, and although Wu had a .30-second faster split, Manuel hit the wall first in a jaw-dropping finish. 

Then it was the men’s turn for the last final of the night — though their victory was hardly in doubt.

Three-time Olympian Caeleb Dressel, 27, won his eighth Olympic gold while anchoring the men’s 4x100 free relay, which the Americans dominated nearly the entire way, finishing with a time of 3:09.28. Despite predictions to the contrary, the team finished 1.04 seconds off world-record pace — the oldest long-course swimming world record set by Michael Phelps and Team USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“Relays are a little more special, to be honest,” Dressel said. “So doing it with these guys has been awesome. It takes me right back to my first gold (at the 2016 Rio Games). It really doesn't get old.”

Jack Alexy opened with a 47.67 split, hitting the wall second to China’s 100-meter freestyle world record holder, Pan Zhanle. But Chris Guiliano’s second leg bumped the Americans into first, Hunter Armstrong’s blistering 46.75 gave Team USA a sizable lead, and Dressel just had to hold on. 

“I definitely didn't expect it,” Armstrong, 23, said about seeing his split afterward. “I will give my entire body and soul up for these boys, and I knew I had to give Caeleb everything I had. And so I'm glad I was able to get my job done.”

The foursome topped silver medal-winning Australia by 1.07 seconds, while Italy won the bronze. 

First-time Olympians Alexy, 21, and Guiliano, 21, won their first Olympic medals, while two-time Olympian Armstrong won his second gold.

For both Manuel and Dressel, their respective medals signify successful comeback attempts, as both took time away from the sport following the Tokyo Games. 

“It just feels good to be back here, honestly,” Manuel said. “I didn't know if I would ever be performing at this level again. And so just to kind of have the full-circle moment of being on this relay again from 2021 to now, but just in a happier and healthier place, I think it's really special.”

Back for their second Olympic Games, Huske and Douglass each earned their second Olympic medals, while Walsh won her first in her Olympic debut. 

Walsh — who also swam the 100-meter butterfly prelims and broke the Olympic record in the semifinals Saturday — said getting her first race out of the way helped her “leave the nerves in the pool.”

“I was able to come out tonight and use my front-end speed and just get to the wall and put up a really good time for myself,” she said. 

“It set me up really well for the relay and for tomorrow night.”