Editorial Coverage Sponsored By FINIS
By David Rieder
Any conversation about the men’s 100 breast begins and ends with Great Britain’s Adam Peaty. He won the event at last year’s World Championships, taking down Olympic gold medalist Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa in the process. Peaty is the only man ever to break 58 seconds in the event, and no one has swum within a half-second of his lifetime best.
Van der Burgh should be the favorite for silver, followed by a close battle for bronze among Peaty’s countryman, Ross Murdoch, and both Americans—Kevin Cordes and Cody Miller. This could also be a good opportunity for host Brazil to get involved in the medal race, as João Gomes Junior and Felipe França da Silva rank among the world’s top five.
TALK ON DECK
- Will this race be a blowout win for Peaty, or can van der Burgh stay close to him? Peaty’s best time going in is more than a half-second better than anyone else has ever swum—and the Brit could be in position to lower his world record.
- Will the British breaststroke revolution continue? Peaty and Murdoch finished 1-3 in the event at Worlds last year. Can they produce similar results in Rio?
- Can Cordes or Miller break the American drought in men’s breaststroke? No American other than Brendan Hansen has won a major international medal since 2001. And the last time the U.S. captured Olympic gold was in 1992 (100 breast, Nelson Diebel; 200 breast, Mike Barrowman). It will likely take much faster than Cordes’ American record time of 58.94 to win a medal in Rio.
PREDICTIONS
Gold: Adam Peaty, Great Britain
Silver: Cameron van der Burgh, South Africa
Bronze: Kevin Cordes, USA
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Jack Hosking