2024 Olympic Preview: Two WR Holders and an Olympic Champion Walk Into a Room (Men’s 100 Free)

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
  • Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024
• La Défense Arena — Paris, France
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Schedule
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By the Numbers — Men’s 100 Freestyle

• World Record: 46.80 — Pan Zhanle, China (2024)
• World Junior Record: 46.86 — David Popovici, Romania (2022)
• Olympic Record: 47.02 — Caeleb Dressel, USA (2021)
• 2020 Olympic Champion: Caleb Dressel, USA – 47.02

The 100 freestyle is one of the marquee events in swimming. It was one of only four swimming events competed at the 1896 Athens Games, the inception of the modern Olympic Games.

A lot has changed since then, and a lot has changed in the last two years. After standing for 13 years, Cesar Cielo’s world record was finally topped by a then-17-year-old David Popovici. Less than two years later another teenager, Pan Zhanle, clipped the record again at the Doha World Championships.

This will be the first Olympic Games since Beijing 2008 to feature the two most recent world record holders, but the two young guns will not be without a challenge.

Only 19 but the Times are Bolder

Post-supersuit era, only three men have been under the 47-second barrier in their careers. Two of them, Pan Zhanle and David Popovici, are just 19 years old. Born 42 days apart, they each have three sub-47 career outings to their name. (The third is Caeleb Dressel, who did not qualify for this event.)

Popovici burst onto the international scene in the leadup to the Tokyo Olympics when he broke the World Junior Record leading off Romania’s 4×100 freestyle relay at the 2021 European Junior Championships. While he wasn’t able to match that time in Tokyo, he still made his first Olympic final, finishing 7th in his slowest time of the three rounds.

David Popovici
2024 European Swimming Championship
courtesy of European Aquatics

A year later, the self-proclaimed “skinny legend” won world titles in the 100 and 200 free at the same meet, broke Cielo’s 100 free world record, and became the fastest textile performer in the 200 free.

While he struggled to replicate his performances in 2023, Popovici showed he’s back in form this year with a 46.88 at 2024 Euros, just two-hundredths back of his best time from 2022. Popovici should be a lock for the final and is in position to win Romania’s first Olympic medal in this event.

However, Popovici isn’t going in as the top seed. That honor goes to Pan Zhanle, who swam 46.80 leading off China’s 4×100 freestyle relay at Doha Worlds in February. All three of his 46-point performances were swam this season, starting with a 46.97 at the 2023 Asian Games. He matched that time exactly at Chinese Nationals in April.

Pan earned individual gold in Doha, but was over half-a-second back of his record in the final (47.53). While he got faster through the rounds at 2023 and 2024 Worlds, the times aren’t quite where they need to be to top the field in Paris.

This will be Pan’s first Olympic Games, adding another layer of pressure. His world title from Doha is the only individual international medal of his career outside of the Asian Games. While it feels odd to say the world record holder is largely unproven on the international stage, he will need to prove he can back up his relay performances in the individual event.

On paper, the race is between Pan and Popovici. In the pool, size might play a factor. Both athletes have a lither build than typical sprinter. While pure power matters less here than it does in the 50, both swimmers broke the world record with relatively clean water around them. If the rest of the field jumps out to an early lead, they could find themselves fighting through whitewater down the stretch and locked out of the podium.

A Message from the King

Kyle Chalmers with permission, Stephen Thomas
sharpfocuspics.com

Despite being wracked by injuries throughout his career, Kyle Chalmers has proven he’s still a force to be reckoned with. At 18 years old he became an Olympic champion in Rio, using a killer back-half to rise from 7th to gold. He wasn’t able to overcome Caeleb Dressel’s early lead in Tokyo, but still managed to tie his career-best from 2019 for silver (47.08).

Chalmers topped a Dressel-less field in 2023, winning his first 100 free world title in Fukuoka. That performance is his fastest of the qualifying period, slotting in at 4th on the preliminary entries. He’s been as fast as 47.63 this season and recently managed to put up a 47.75 at Australian Trials despite suffering from back spasms leading up to the meet.

Considering his longevity in the event and his ability to throw down clutch closing 50s, Chalmers is hard to count out despite never dipping under 47 seconds in his career. The race matters more than the times on the Olympic stage, and Chalmers is the only athlete in the field who has gotten it done before.

Everyone’s Favorite Freestylin’ Frenchman

Maxime Grousset finished just off the podium in the 100 free in Tokyo (47.72) after hitting a best time leading off France’s 4×100 free relay (47.52). He’s since lowered that time to a 47.33 at

Maxime Grousset, World Aquatics Championships
Fukuoka (JPN)
14-30 JULY 2023

French Trials, which slots in at 6th on the preliminary entries.

The 25-year-old has been a consistent medal threat since Tokyo, picking up Worlds silver and bronze. He’s finished behind a number of competitors in this field throughout this last quad, but has one advantage over the rest of the field: he’ll be racing on home soil.

(So does Grousset’s teammate Rafael Fente-Damers, entered at 25th, presuming a speedy shoulder recovery.)

In an event as tight as the 100 free, a crowd cheering your name can be the difference between a good performance and a great one.

They’ll Be Back

Including Popovici, Chalmers, and Grousset, six Tokyo finalists will be in the Paris field. Chalmers is the only medalist: Dressel did not qualify and bronze medalist Kliment Kolesnikov did not seek out neutral status, the only way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at this summer’s Games.

Alessandro Miressi, World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024
02 – 18 Feb 2024
Credit Fabio Cetti

Of the three remaining, 8th place finisher Nandor Nemeth of Hungary has the fastest entry time (47.49). Nemeth swam that time for silver at Euros a month ago, touching behind Popovici. He also picked up bronze in Doha earlier this year.

Right behind Nemeth is Italian record holder Alessandro Miressi, entered with a lead-off time from 2023 Worlds (47.54). He won silver in Doha (47.72), dropping time through the rounds. The Italian’s most recent outing comes from the Sette Colli Trophy, where he notched a meet record for the title (48.08).

South Korea’s Hwang Sunwoo is the last finalist making a return. While he holds a best time of 47.56, he’s entered further down with a 47.91. In Tokyo, Hwang struggled to manage his energy in the 200 free, arguably his better event. He fared slightly better in the shorter distance, but like most of the field popped his fastest time in semis.

These athletes all have Olympic experience to draw on. At risk of sounding like a broken record, in an event like the 100 free anything can be turned into an advantage in the race to the finish.

The American Promise

Caeleb Dressel settled for 3rd at U.S. Olympic Trials, missing the chance to defend his title from Tokyo. In his stead, two first-time Olympians will step up to the plate.

The faster of the two is Jack Alexy, who popped a career best 47.08 in Trials semifinals to tie Chalmers for the 8th fastest all-time performer. He faded to 47.47 in the final, allowing Chris Guiliano (47.38) to eke past him, but still earned an individual berth.

Guiliano also clocked a best time in semis (47.25) to slot in at 13th on the all-time rankings.

Chris Guiliano (photo: Jack Spitser)

They were Worlds teammates in 2023. Alexy finished 2nd behind Kyle Chalmers in a then-personal best (47.31), while Guiliano failed to advance to semis (18th). They also teamed up to earn bronze in the 4×100 free relay.

Both swimmers are coming off of stellar NCAA seasons and will look to make a splash in the big pool. While Alexy has the faster entry time, Guiliano is riding more momentum after becoming the first American man to qualify in the 50, 100, and 200 free since Matt Biondi in 1988.

However, that range might work against Guiliano, as he’ll have at least one 200 freestyle under his belt before the 100 free. On the other hand, it could help him shake off the Olympic jitters.

Either way, the U.S. is the only country with two men ranked in the top eight and looks poised to have a strong presence through the rounds.

The World’s Gonna Know Their Name

Canada’s Josh Liendo made his first Olympic team three years ago, where he made semifinals in the 100 fly (11th) and 100 free (14th). Since then, he started training with the University of Florida, Dressel’s alma mater. At NCAAs in March, he became the #2 performer of all-time in the 100 yard fly and 100 yard free, only behind Dressel.

He’s also picked up some hardware on the international stage, including a bronze in the 100 free at 2022 Worlds. While he’s more of a medal threat in the 100 fly, where he has the fastest time this season, his entry time of 47.55 puts him right in the mix to challenge for his first Olympic final.

Josh Liendo (photo: Jack Spitser)

Like Liendo, Jordan Crooks looks to be more dialed into a different event, in his case the 50 free. Crooks has never won a long course international medal in his career, but he’s proven he has the raw speed in both short course pools. As one of a two-athlete contingent representing the Cayman Islands, Crooks won’t have relays to worry about and will enter this event fresh.

Josha Salchow is a name to watch out for. He popped a German record at the Berlin Open in April, lowering his best time by over half-a-second (47.85). That’s just outside of the time it took to make the Tokyo final, but the 24-year-old is rounding into form just in time for the big show.

Another swimmer who hit a best time at Euros is Andrej Barna, who earned bronze in 47.66. Previously, the Serbian’s best time had stood as the 47.94 he swam for 9th in Tokyo. At Euros, he also popped a huge 46.86 anchor split to lift Serbia’s team to gold in the 4×100 free relay. Based on his relay performance, Barna’s ceiling could be much higher than his flat-start time suggests.

It’s unclear if we’ll see Matt Richards compete in this event. While he’s seeded 7th – up from 17th in Tokyo – he scratched prelims of this event to focus on the 4×200 free relay in the same session at the last Olympics. Great Britain ended up winning gold in that event, and will look to defend their title. They were just 0.03-seconds off the world record in that race, meaning Richards might forgo this event again to go all-in on a relay swim.

Time to Rise Up

Despite this field featuring the two fastest performers of all time, we’re picking experience for the win, and no man has more experience than Kyle Chalmers.

Our silver pick is Maxime Grousset. He has momentum, he has the hometown advantage, and Yanyan thinks he’ll podium so I will too. He’s also a big guy, so we have him passing both Pan and Popovici to the wall.

We’re giving Popovici the edge over Pan here, with the caveat that semifinals could play a huge part in the finish order. We’ve seen Popovici get bounced around by waves before, especially considering he prefers a back-half strategy, and if he gets sandwiched between two front-halfers he may struggle. Still, he’s been world champion before and seems to have an unflappable mindset. He should find his way to a medal.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse: Danas Rapsys (Lithuania) – The freestyle ace is more known for his prowess in the 200 and 400 events, where he is the Lithuanian national record holder, but he surprised with a 48.04 for 4th and another national record at the European Championships. Prior to this season, he had never been under 49 seconds in his career; now he’s knocking at the door of another time barrier. It will likely take a 47-point swim to make the final, but Rapsys could scorch another best in an event with less pressure.