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Olympics Entries: Sarah Sjostrom Will Swim 100 Fly, Katinka Hosszu Won’t Defend 100 Back Gold Medal
After FINA published the official entry lists for the Tokyo Olympics, where the swimming competition is scheduled for July 24 through August 1, we now know which events several of sport’s top stars will be pursuing at these Olympics. While larger countries like the United States and Australia had already set their teams for Tokyo (with some changes following, like Emma McKeon dropping the individual 200 free) through an Olympic Trials process, this is the first chance to see what swimmers coming from non-powerhouse nations have chosen to swim in Tokyo.
Most interestingly, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom has decided to enter the 100 butterfly. Sjostrom had stated that she planned to focus on the 50 and 100 freestyle in Tokyo and that she was unsure if the 100 fly would be on her Olympic program after she fractured her elbow in February and then dealt with a months-long recovery process. Sjostrom could still change her mind and scratch the 100 fly, but it appears she is planning on participating.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu has also had a rough year, and she will not be defending her 2016 Olympic gold medal in the 100 back. Hosszu is best known for her 200 and 400 IM talents, and she holds the world record in both events along with being four-time world champion and defending Olympic gold medalist in each. But while she also won the 100 back in a surprising turn of events in Rio, she will just swim the IMs and the 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly in Tokyo.
Japan’s Kosuke Hagino is not defending his Olympic gold medal in the 400 IM, which he had previously announced, and Hagino will only swim the 200 IM in his home Olympics. Other 2016 medalists not competing in their events from Rio are Spain’s Mireia Belmonte, South Africa’s Chad le Clos, Italy’s Gabriele Detti and Hungary’s Boglarka Kapas. Belmonte captured gold in the 200 butterfly in 2016 but will just swim the 400 IM, 800 free and 1500 free in Tokyo, le Clos, the surprise silver medalist in the 200 free in Rio but typically a butterflyer and, in Tokyo, only a butterflyer. Detti, meanwhile, won bronze medals in the 400 free and 1500 free in Rio but will race only the 400 and 800-meter distances this time around as he has dropped his focus on the longest pool event. Finally, Kapas won bronze in Rio in the 800 free but has shifted her focus primarily to the 200 fly, where she is the defending world champion.
Mitch Larkin’s decision to skip the 200 back at Australia’s Olympic Trials has been well-publicized, and the 2016 bronze medalist in that event will focus on the 100 back and 200 IM in Tokyo. In other already-known entries, the USA’s Simone Manuel will not defend her Olympic title in the 100 free after she did not qualify for the Olympics in that event, and fellow American Regan Smith did not qualify for the 200 back despite holding the world record in that event. Russia’s Yuliya Efimova won silver medals in both breaststroke events in Rio, but she only qualified for the 100-meter event in Tokyo.
Great Britain’s Duncan Scott is also out of the 100 free as he chooses to concentrate on the 200 free, 200 IM and a heavy relay load. Penny Oleksiak, the 100 fly silver medalist in Rio, did not swim that event at Canada’s Olympic Trials to focus on the freestyles, while veteran Laszlo Cseh of Hungary will only compete in the 200 IM in his fifth Olympics. He has previously also won Olympic medals in the 100 fly (in 2016), 200 fly and 400 IM.
