2019 PAN AMERICAN GAMES
- Villa Deportiva Nacional – Videna, Lima, Peru
- Tuesday, August 6th – Saturday, August 10th (pool swimming)
- Prelims 11 AM / Finals 8:30 PM (local time/US Central Time)
- Official Website
- Entry List
- Live Results
The United States continues to pull away from the rest of the nations competing here at the Pan American Games in terms of overall medal counts, but Canada, Brazil, and Argentina are fiercely competing for runner-up status.
As a refresher, here is how the medal situation looks for pool swimming heading into tonight’s finals in Lima, Peru.
| RANK | NATION | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1 | United States | 15 | 10 | 5 | 30 |
| 2 | Brazil | 6 | 6 | 7 | 19 |
| 3 | Argentina | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Canada | 0 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 5 | Guatemala | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Mexico | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | Colombia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Trinidad & Tobago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 24 | 24 | 24 | 72 | |
Day 4 Finals Event Schedule:
- Women’s 50m Freestyle
- Women’s 400m IM
- Men’s 400m IM
- Women’s 4x200m Free Relay
- Men’s 4x200m Free Relay
- Men’s 50m Freestyle
We’re looking at a scratch-less set of finals tonight.
- Women’s 50m Free –
- American Madison Kennedy finished 5th in this women’s 50m free race 4 years ago at the Pan American Games in Toronto, but she holds the top seed heading into tonight’s final. Having clocked a morning swim of 25.46, 31-year-old Kennedy holds a .04 advantage over Brazil’s Lorrane Ferreira. Kennedy owns a personal best of 24.39 in this event from the 2016 Olympic Trials and has been as fast as 25.12 this year.
- Taking the silver medal in Toronto back in 2015 was Brazil’s Etiene Medeiros, who touched in 25.53 for the 4th seed, while Kennedy’s teammate Margo Geer lurks as the 3rd seed for tonight in 25.51. For Medeiros, she competed in this event at the World Championships in Gwangju, but wound up 23rd in a time of 25.26. Geer already won gold here in the 100m free.
- Men’s 50m Free –
- For the men’s edition of the 50m free, all eyes will be on the center of the pool, where a showdown is taking place among 2 Americans and a Brazilian. Nathan Adrian and Michael Chadwick put up solid efforts this morning to sit among the top 3, with Chadwick producing a lifetime best to land lane 4. Chadwick shaved .01 off of his previous career-fastest mark of 21.96 to clock a 21.95 in the heats here in Lima as the only man to dip under the 22-second threshold.
- Adrian’s time of 22.12 was a promising swim for the man who collected silver in the 100m free already here, with Chadwick snagging bronze.
- World Championships silver medalist Bruno Fratus is in hot pursuit with his prelim time of 22.02 and is coming off a 21.45 runner-up performance from Gwangju. He finished with the silver in 2015 in Toronto in this event.
- Suriname’s Renzo Tjon-A-Joe could sneak in for a minor medal with his morning swim of 22.24 falling within hundredths of his own national record.
- Women’s 400m IM –
- The women’s 400m IM is looking for an entirely brand new podium as the top 3 finishers from 2015 are all not competing here. Two Canadians top the women’s finalists, with Mary-Sophie Harvey knocking down a morning time of 4:42.70, while teammate Tessa Cieplucha punched a time of 4:45.61.
- Harvey’s time checks-in as her season-best, overtaking her previous fastest of 2019 which rested at the 4:45.40 from last month. As for Cieplucha, she owns a season-best mark of 4:38.96, so look for her to turn things on for tonight.
- Canada has yet to win a gold medal here, individual or otherwise, so the nation is extra hungry to turn out a win with 2 solid chances in the aforementioned racers.
- American teenager Mariah Denigan represented the only other sub-4:50 swimmer out of the heats, producing 4:48.99 for the 3rd seed. Denigan has never been under 4:40, but will strive to make that feat a reality in tonight’s final.
- Men’s 400m IM –
- As for the men’s 400m IM, the defending Pan American Games champion is indeed in the field in the form of Brazil’s Brandonn Almeida. Almeida took the title in 2015 in a time of 4:14.47, then a World Junior Record, and cruised to a morning swim of 4:23.24 here. He finished 11th out of the heats at this year’s World Championships in a time of 4:15.92, so the 22-year-old is looking to claim a piece of hardware for this 2019 season.
- He’ll need to get through America’s Charlie Swanson, however, as the Club Wolverine Elite man just put up a top-5 personal best performance with his 4:16.66 morning swim.
- Women’s 4x200m Free Relay –
- If the entries hold true, America will be going with Greer, Lia Neal, Meaghan Raab and Claire Rasmus for this women’s 800 free relay. Rasmus and Raab went 1-2 in the 200m free individual event here.
- They’ll look at Brazil and Canada as its biggest competition, with the former nation carrying its 200m free bronze medalist Larissa Olveira into the race.
- As for Canada, Alyson Ackman and Katerine Savard will be the heavy hitters.
- Men’s 4x200m Free Relay –
- The men’s relay lineup for the United States, per the entries, lists Adrian, Grant House, Chadwick, and Drew Kibler as the foursome ready to roll in Lima. America and Brazil will be the central powers clashing in the center of the pool in this race tonight, with Brazil having already taken the gold and silver individually in the 200m free here.
- Fernando Scheffer and Breno Correia gave Brazil the top 2 finishers in the 2free, while Kibler claimed bronze for the Americans. The Brazilians also have Joao De Lucca and Luiz Melo in their arsenal, potentially putting up a roadblock to the Americans’ road to relay gold.
Expect to see Rasmus, Walsh, Gibson and Raab for Women’s 4 x 200 FR.
Are they really putting Adrian and Chadwick? The best bet would have been Bentz (who made the olympics in this relay but only if he is well enough) and Abruzzo (who is having a fantastic meet at the moment and may be able to put up a better 200 than Adrian or Chadwick). Both Adrian and Chadwick’s pb in the 2 free is from 2014. But this relay will be interesting
Time predictions for Lia Neal’s 200 Free?
I’m saying 2:03.74
If I was making the line-up, I would’ve gone Raab – Geer – Walsh – Rasmus
2:01.65
Definitely a mistake. They wouldn’t make them swim a 200 free right before the 50
Wow crazy lineups in the 4 x 2, never thought I’d see Adrian do a 200 free in a major competition after NCAA’s…genuinely curious with his time/splits. (Chadwick also) Brazil was always going to be tough to beat so nothing to lose I guess. Geer and Neal making the jump up in the womens relay too I see, very interesting….
Geer will be fine. Should’ve used Alex Walsh though
That’s the 4×1 relay but I would really want to see Nathan do a 200 free
Why are they using Neal??? Walsh or Stadden or Bacon will be faster
She’s about to drop a 2 minute plus.
2:05 at best
If she does that as a Brazilian I would be pissed if the girls lose this opportunity (also they need to do a time good enough to qualify for Olympics)
HUGE TRICEP