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Tokyo Olympics 2020: Day One Predictions for Men’s 400m Individual Medley, 400m Freestyle, 100m Breastroke and Women’s 400m Individual Medley, 4×100 Meter Freestyle Relay
The swimming events for Tokyo Olympics 2020 starts today. After a five-year absence, the Olympic Games is back with a bang. The swimming event begins with many interesting events on display. The men’s heats events start with the 400-meter individual medley, 400-meter freestyle, and 100-meter breaststroke. Moreover, the 400-meter individual medley and the 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay are the women’s events on display today.
Likewise, these are the predictions for today’s events.
Predictions for Day one at Tokyo Olympics 2020
Men’s 400-meter Individual Medley
After a long time, the men’s 400-meter individual medley race starts today. There will be four heats in which the top two swimmers qualify for tomorrow’s finals. Notably, Daiya Seto is the outright favorite to win the event in Tokyo. The Japanese swimmer was the gold medallist in both the 200m and 400m individual medley events in the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju. With Phelps’ individual medley record up for grabs, Daiya Seto looks to smash the world record.
Leon Marchand, Jay Litherland, and Chase Kalisz are the other major competitors in the event.
Men’s 100-meter Breaststroke Event
One name that comes to our mind when we talk about this event is Adam Peaty. No other swimmer can come close to him in the breaststroke events in the swimming pool. The Brit is currently the world record holder for both the 50m and 100m breaststroke events. Moreover, he won the gold medal for both these events in the 2019 World Championships in South Korea. Therefore, there are no doubts regarding the winner of this event.
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 07: Adam Peaty of Great Britain celebrates winning gold and setting a new world record in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke Final on Day 2 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium on August 7, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Men’s 400-meter Freestyle Event
With two of the best swimmers not featuring in Tokyo, Elijah Winnington looks to win the event in this year’s Olympics. Mack Horton won the Rio 2016 but failed to qualify this time around. On the other hand, Sun Yang is banned for not meeting the anti-doping regulations and will only return in Paris 2024. The field is wide open for new swimmers to win the events. Martin Malyutin from Russia is another major medal contender. Subsequently, Jack McLoughlin set a time of 3:43.27 in the Australian Trials.
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 07: Elijah Winnington after winning the Men 400 LC Metre Freestyle during day one of the 2019 Australian National Swimming Championships at [VEUNE] on April 07, 2019 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)The event is expected to be one exciting watch for the fans in attendance.
Women’s prediction events for Tokyo Olympics
Women’s 400-meter Individual Medley
The ‘Iron Lady’ from Hungary is similar to Daiya Seto in terms of dominance in the medley events. She is the current world record holder for 200m and 400m individual medley events in the world. Having won two gold medals for the aforementioned events in Gwangju, Katinka Hosszu is once again the favorite to take home the gold. She smashed the record in the Rio Olympics and finished 5 seconds above her closest competitor.
Imádok itthon úszni! Köszönöm a mai napot is!
I love to race at home in Hungary! Thanks for tonight! #IronLady #IronSwim #hwapo pic.twitter.com/PzQPhviR46
— Katinka Hosszu (@HosszuKatinka) October 5, 2018
Apart from Hosszu, homegirl Yui Ohashi and Hali Flickinger are the other main competitors.
Women’s 4 × 100 freestyle relay
The first of the most exciting events in the games is the women’s 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay. Throughout the years, the USA and Australia have battled it out against each other to reign supreme in these events. But this time, Australia is expected to win the event. Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell are some of the fastest freestyle swimmers in the world. Along with Madison Harris and Meg Wilson, the Australian team looks to steamroll past their rivals.
Team USA may call Abbey Weitzeil and Simone Manuel upon in these events. Both these swimmers will be crucial to their success in the relay event.
As day one of swimming events in Tokyo starts, the onus is on these competitors to provide a good show to all the fans watching worldwide. Swimming is one of the most-watched events in the Olympics and swimmers are expected to raise the roof in Tokyo.
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