Three Individual Olympic Champions Will Face Each Other In The Women’s 200 IM

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
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The women’s 200 IM looks to be an even higher-stakes race than expected.

Prior to the start of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, it was already known than the women’s 200 IM would be one of the most competitive events, with four of the top eight performers of all time—Kate Douglass, Kaylee McKeown, Alex Walsh, and Summer McIntosh—all participating. But six days into the games, the event still feels impossible to predict, as the three top seeds have all won Olympic gold medals and set personal best times.

Douglass won the 200 breast in American record fashion, McKeown tied her best time in the 100 back and is favored to win the 200 back, and McIntosh won both the 400 IM and 200 fly while setting a textile world record in the latter race. And then there’s Walsh, who has the 200 IM as her only race of the meet and won’t have to deal with the event load that her competitors have.

With all competitors seemingly in top form, nobody can be ruled out for being “off” yet. Every swimmer must be at their absolute best if they want a shot at winning.

In addition, the 200 IM could also determine who is the most decorated female swimmer of the meet in terms of individual performance. Assuming McKeown wins the 200 back, both she and McIntosh will be at two individual golds, and their placings in the 200 IM will determine who has a better individual tally. Meanwhile, if Douglass wins, in addition to McKeown winning the 200 back and Katie Ledecky winning the 800 free, there will be four different women at this meet with two individual gold medals.

In that scenario, McIntosh would likely take the crown as the only swimmer with four individual medals — but if Douglass breaks the 200 IM world record and is the only woman at this meet to do so, will she have a case to make for swimmer of the meet?

Another interesting variable for this 200 IM race will be the conditions of this pool, which is shallower than recommended and has been responsible for slower-than-normal times across the board in several events. The shallow pool has generated more waves and turbulence — how will that affect swimmers in this race? Douglass, McKeown, Walsh, and McIntosh are all known to have different race strategies and strengths in different strokes, and it will be interesting to see whether the pool affects how they swim.

After three years of these four swimmers trading top timers, they will finally come together to compete in one race on the highest stage. And with everyone on-form, this race is going to be even better than what we thought it would be.