2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Swimming: August 6-13
- Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
- Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
- SwimSwam previews
- Rio Schedule & Results
- Live Stream (NBC)
On day 6 of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Team USA’s Simone Manuel made history in the women’s 100 freestyle final. Manuel pulled off a huge upset, earning the gold in the women’s 100 free while becoming the first American woman to break 53 seconds in the process.
In a stunning twist, Manuel set a new American Record with a 52.70 that put her in a tie for 1st place with Canadian standout Penny Oleksiak, and took down the previous mark of 53.02 set by Amanda Weir at the 2009 World Championships in Rome. That time places Manuel and Oleksiak as the 7th fastest 100 meter freestylers in history.
Splits Comparison:
| Swimmer | 1st 50 | 2nd 50 | Final Time |
| Simone Manuel | 25.24 | 27.46 | 52.70 AR |
| Amanda Weir | 26.26 | 26.76 | 53.02 |
After flipping 3rd at the 50 in 25.24, Manuel ran down Australia’s Cate Campbell, the heavy favorite who had the early lead at the 50, and held off a charging Oleksiak down the stretch. She’s now a two-time Olympic medalist, adding to her silver from the women’s 4×100 free relay. Still to come in her schedule is the women’s 50 free and women’s 4×100 medley relay, which will both be swum in prelims tomorrow morning.
Woohoo!! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!! Congratulations Simone and Team USA!!????????
miracle in the pool…
It was a great day for Simones at the Olympics.
AWESOME!!!!!!!
Wow I didn’t realize Weirs AR splits were only .5 apart, that’s why it was so hard to take down. BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO SIMONE FOR ALL OF HER HARD WORK AND DETERMINATION
Right?! Definitely have never seen that kind of even pacing in a swim that fast. (I thought Chalmers in heats here were tight…)
It seems to be really common in super suit era races. The old world record splits by Steffen were less than a second apart. Also look at Biedermann’s splits. Super suits led to some crazy backhalfs.
One thing is for sure. Stanford is going to have a pretty good 4 x 100 Free Relay next year.
This is so great for swimming! I am pretty sure this is the first Individual Gold medal for an African American. Our sport needs so much more multi-cultural representation at the national level. We need more role models at the national level to inspire all communities to learn to swim and join this great sport in competition.
Simone is a great role model for all of the young swimmers. Performing at her best when it matters with humility and no-nonsense, drama-free. So impressed by her!
Ervin in 2000.
unbelievable! the time is crazy for the US — 52.7 from flat start — new era –happy for US women’s sprinting
Usa has re- invented their new Sprint heroes : held , Dressel , Manuel and Weitzeil ( she sill rebound in the 50 for Bronze ) !!!! Fantastic news . BOBO must be completely shocked and happy too