﻿{"id":590618,"date":"2024-07-09T05:29:20","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T12:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=590618"},"modified":"2024-07-09T05:29:20","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T12:29:20","slug":"which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Just two-and-a-half weeks remain until <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/meet\/2024-olympic-games-coverage-paris\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Olympic swimming<\/a> begins, and there are plenty of races expected to come down to the wire in Paris. In the women&#8217;s backstroke events,\u00a0defending champion\u00a0<strong>Kaylee McKeown<\/strong> of Australia will take on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/her-confidence-booming-regan-smith-ready-to-take-on-the-world\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">resurgent American\u00a0<strong>Regan Smith<\/strong><\/a>, while McKeown is also part of a likely-tight 200 IM with\u00a0Canada&#8217;s <strong>Summer McIntosh<\/strong> and American world champions\u00a0<strong>Kate Douglass <\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>Alex Walsh<\/strong>. Aussies\u00a0<strong>Ariarne Titmus<\/strong> and\u00a0<strong>Mollie O&#8217;Callaghan<\/strong> have both broken the world record in the 200 freestyle.<\/p>\n<p>For the men, <strong>Adam Peaty\u00a0<\/strong>goes for a three-peat in the 100 breaststroke against China&#8217;s <strong>Qin Haiyang<\/strong> while\u00a0<strong>Ryan Murphy<\/strong> will aim to take down world-record holder\u00a0<strong>Thomas Ceccon<\/strong> in the 100 back and reclaim the Olympic gold he previously won in 2016. A pair of Australians plus Germany&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>Lukas Martens<\/strong> are pushing the 3:40-barrier in the 400 free while\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/caeleb-dressel-ready-to-take-on-nathan-adrian-role-in-third-olympics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Caeleb Dressel<\/strong><\/a> is lurking in both his individual events but no longer the dominant force he was three years ago.<\/p>\n<p>But in several events, there is no doubt as to the identify of the favorite. Not to say all of these swimmers are locks for gold, but it would be a major surprise if a competitor knocks them off in an Olympic final. We have identified strong favorites in six out of 28 individual events, ordered based on their positioning in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/a-look-at-the-schedule-for-the-2024-olympics-in-paris-womens-200-free-1500-free-on-different-days\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Olympic swimming schedule<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Men&#8217;s 400 IM: Leon Marchand<\/h2>\n<p>In his first final of a home Olympics in Paris, no one is beating <strong>Leon Marchand<\/strong>. The 22-year-old Frenchman has been quiet in recent months since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/arizona-state-wins-first-ncaa-team-title-thanks-to-grateful-bob-bowman-really-proud-leon-marchand\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">leading Arizona State to its first-ever team title in men&#8217;s swimming<\/a>, but based on his performance at every championship meet since the Tokyo Games, Marchand will be ready. Respect to American\u00a0<strong>Carson Foster <\/strong>and the world-leading time of 4:07.64 he clocked at the U.S. Olympic Trials, but Marchand&#8217;s world record is five seconds faster.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Marchand <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/flash-leon-marchand-downs-michael-phelps-400-im-world-record\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">broke\u00a0<strong>Michael Phelps&#8217;<\/strong> final individual world record with a mark of 4:02.50 at the World Championships<\/a>. He could again beat that and perhaps even threaten 4:00 as he looks for his first Olympic gold.<\/p>\n<h2>Women&#8217;s 400 IM: Summer McIntosh<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_585710\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-585710\" data-attachment-id=\"585710\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/summer-mcintosh-27\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;3.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;MICHAEL P. HALL&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;General views from the 2024 Olympic &amp; Paralympic Trials present by Bell at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre in on May 15, 2024 in Scarborough, ON (Michael P. Hall\\\/Swimming Canada)&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1716070475&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;@mphcentral&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;3200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Summer McIntosh (27)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;General views from the 2024 Olympic &amp;amp; Paralympic Trials present by Bell at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre in on May 15, 2024 in Scarborough, ON (Michael P. Hall\/Swimming Canada)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-585710 size-medium-small\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-450x300.jpg\" alt=\"summer mcintosh\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-280x187.jpg 280w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-2000x1334.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-1350x900.jpg 1350w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Summer-McIntosh-27-533x355.jpg 533w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-585710\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer McIntosh &#8212; Photo Courtesy: Michael P. Hall\/Swimming Canada)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>We will see plenty of\u00a0<strong>Summer McIntosh<\/strong> throughout the Paris Games, with the 17-year-old Canadian set to contend for medals in five individual events. But in the 400 IM, thanks to butterfly and freestyle legs that are the best in the world and among the best ever, she is so far clear of anyone else in the world. McIntosh has shattered the world record twice in the past two years, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/flash-summer-mcintosh-breaks-400-im-world-record-at-canadian-trials\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">getting down to a mark of 4:24.38<\/a> that is two seconds quicker than the second-fastest woman in history.<\/p>\n<p>Only one other swimmer who will be in Paris has ever broken 4:30, and <strong>Kaylee McKeown<\/strong>\u00a0even swim the 400 IM. The next-quickest best time in the field belongs to American\u00a0<strong>Katie Grimes<\/strong>, whose top mark of 4:31.41 is a whopping seven seconds back.<\/p>\n<h2>Men&#8217;s 200 Freestyle: David Popovici<\/h2>\n<p><strong>David Popovici<\/strong> was magical in 2022 as he broke a 13-year-old world record in the 100 free and became the fastest swimmer ever in a textile suit over 200 meters. But in 2023, he struggled mightily at the World Championships, failing to win a medal. Would the real Popovici please stand up?<\/p>\n<p>Well, the 19-year-old has shown clearly that he is back in top form in advance of Paris. In his debut Olympics in Tokyo, he missed the podium by just four hundredths in the 200 free, but already this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/european-championships-day-5-david-popovici-blasts-world-leading-143-13-in-200-free\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he clocked 1:43.13 in the event at the European Championships<\/a>. No one other active swimmer has ever broken 1:44, and simply repeating his European Champs performance in Paris would surely be sufficient for gold. Popovici will also be in the 100 free mix alongside <strong>Pan Zhanle<\/strong> and\u00a0<strong>Kyle Chalmers<\/strong>, but no one is at his level in the 200.<\/p>\n<h2>Women&#8217;s 1500 Freestyle: Katie Ledecky<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_589933\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-589933\" data-attachment-id=\"589933\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/katie-ledecky-307\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/katie-ledecky-2024-Olympic-Trials-7873-Edit.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1000,750\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Peter H. Bick&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;OM-1MarkII&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;katie-ledecky-&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1719106688&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;\\u00a9Peter H. Bick&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;325&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;16000&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.001&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;katie-ledecky-&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"katie-ledecky-\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;7\/17\/24 &#038; 5\/1\/25&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/katie-ledecky-2024-Olympic-Trials-7873-Edit-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/katie-ledecky-2024-Olympic-Trials-7873-Edit.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-589933 size-medium-small\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/katie-ledecky-2024-Olympic-Trials-7873-Edit-450x338.jpg\" alt=\"katie-ledecky-\" width=\"450\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/katie-ledecky-2024-Olympic-Trials-7873-Edit-450x338.jpg 450w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/katie-ledecky-2024-Olympic-Trials-7873-Edit-267x200.jpg 267w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/katie-ledecky-2024-Olympic-Trials-7873-Edit-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/katie-ledecky-2024-Olympic-Trials-7873-Edit-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/katie-ledecky-2024-Olympic-Trials-7873-Edit.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-589933\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Katie Ledecky &#8212; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Beating\u00a0<strong>Katie Ledecky<\/strong> in the 30-lap race? Basically impossible. Even with an Olympic Trials performance that was well off her own best form (17 seconds shy of her world record), Ledecky clocked 15:37.45, faster than anyone else in history and 10 seconds ahead of anyone else&#8217;s best effort thus far in 2024. If Ledecky can approach the mark she clocked to win last year&#8217;s world title (15:26.27), this will be a blowout.<\/p>\n<h2>Women&#8217;s 800 Freestyle: Katie Ledecky<\/h2>\n<p>Ledecky is not as unstoppable in the 800 free, coming off her first defeat in the event in more than a decade earlier this year, and Australia&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>Ariarne Titmus<\/strong> actually did post a faster winning time at the Australian Olympic Trials then Ledecky did at her selection meet. But just looking at this year&#8217;s results does not tell the full story of the event: Ledecky beat the field by four-and-a-half seconds at last year&#8217;s World Championships, even as\u00a0<strong>Li Bingjie<\/strong> and Titmus became the second and third-fastest women ever, respectively, in their medal-winning performances.<\/p>\n<h2>Women&#8217;s 50 Freestyle: Sarah Sjostrom<\/h2>\n<p>She might compete in only one individual event this time around, but <strong>Sarah Sjostrom<\/strong> is the big favorite for Olympic gold in the 50 free, having broken her own world record last year and owning a best time more than three tenths ahead of anyone else in the field, a huge margin in the one-lap event. Sjostrom has previously won four Olympic medals, one of each color in 2016 and then 50 free silver in 2021 when she was just months removed from a wrist injury. Now, it would take a major upset to deny her this gold.<\/p>\n<h2>Just Missed<\/h2>\n<p>In addition to his 400 IM world record,<strong> Leon Marchand<\/strong> went undefeated at last year&#8217;s World Championships, but he will have some tough rivals to get through this time as he faces defending Olympic champions <strong>Kristof Milak<\/strong> in the 200 fly and <strong>Wang Shun<\/strong> in the 200 IM. As for the 200 breaststroke, Qin set a world record of 2:05.48 last year, but what can Marchand provide in his global debut in the event at the <a href=\"https:\/\/olympics.com\/en\/olympic-games\/paris-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Olympics<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>On the women&#8217;s side, <strong>Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/gretchen-walsh-shatters-world-record-in-womens-100-butterfly-with-55-18\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">took down the 100 fly world record at the U.S. Olympic Trials<\/a>, but <strong>Torri Huske<\/strong>, <strong>Zhang Yufei<\/strong> and <strong>Maggie Mac Neil<\/strong> sit within striking distance. <strong>Ariarne Titmus<\/strong> sits well ahead of her competition in the 400 free as the only woman to ever break 3:56, but the racing abilities of <strong>Summer McIntosh<\/strong> and\u00a0<strong>Katie Ledecky<\/strong> leaves a sliver of doubt in the outcome.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, China&#8217;s <strong>Tang Qianting<\/strong> scared the world record in the 100 breast this year, but can the 20-year-old repeat that effort with past champions <strong>Lilly King<\/strong> and\u00a0<strong>Ruta Meilutyte<\/strong> plus South Africa&#8217;s <strong>Tatjana<\/strong> (<strong>Schoenmaker<\/strong>)<strong> Smith <\/strong>among those in pursuit?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold? Just two-and-a-half weeks remain until Olympic swimming begins, and there are plenty of races expected to come down to the wire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":533894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,17,10],"tags":[70616,128885,25031,77336,32196,120547],"class_list":["post-590618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-commentary","category-world","tag-2024-olympic-games-coverage-paris","tag-david-popovici","tag-katie-ledecky","tag-leon-marchand","tag-sarah-sjostrom","tag-summer-mcintosh"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leon Marchand, Summer McIntosh, David Popovici, Katie Ledecky and Saah Sjostrom are all set to dominate at least one event in Paris.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leon Marchand, Summer McIntosh, David Popovici, Katie Ledecky and Saah Sjostrom are all set to dominate at least one event in Paris.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-09T12:29:20+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50454-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@David_Rieder\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af\"},\"headline\":\"Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-09T12:29:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-09T12:29:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/\"},\"wordCount\":1129,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50454.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2024 Olympic Games Coverage - Paris\",\"David Popovici\",\"Katie Ledecky\",\"Leon Marchand\",\"Sarah Sjostrom\",\"Summer McIntosh\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"Commentary\",\"World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/\",\"name\":\"Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50454.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-09T12:29:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-09T12:29:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"Leon Marchand, Summer McIntosh, David Popovici, Katie Ledecky and Saah Sjostrom are all set to dominate at least one event in Paris.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50454.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50454.jpg\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1600,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af\",\"name\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\"},\"description\":\"David Rieder is a staff writer for Swimming World. He has contributed to the magazine and website since 2009, and he has covered the NCAA Championships, U.S. Nationals, Olympic Trials as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. He is a native of Charleston, S.C., and a 2016 graduate of Duke University.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/David_Rieder\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/davidr\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?","description":"Leon Marchand, Summer McIntosh, David Popovici, Katie Ledecky and Saah Sjostrom are all set to dominate at least one event in Paris.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?","og_description":"Leon Marchand, Summer McIntosh, David Popovici, Katie Ledecky and Saah Sjostrom are all set to dominate at least one event in Paris.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2024-07-09T12:29:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50454-1024x683.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@David_Rieder","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/"},"author":{"name":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af"},"headline":"Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?","datePublished":"2024-07-09T12:29:20+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-09T12:29:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/"},"wordCount":1129,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50454.jpg","keywords":["2024 Olympic Games Coverage - Paris","David Popovici","Katie Ledecky","Leon Marchand","Sarah Sjostrom","Summer McIntosh"],"articleSection":["-Home Slider","Commentary","World"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/","name":"Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50454.jpg","datePublished":"2024-07-09T12:29:20+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-09T12:29:20+00:00","description":"Leon Marchand, Summer McIntosh, David Popovici, Katie Ledecky and Saah Sjostrom are all set to dominate at least one event in Paris.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50454.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50454.jpg","width":2400,"height":1600,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/which-swimmers-are-heavy-favorites-to-win-olympic-gold\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Which Swimmers Are Heavy Favorites to Win Olympic Gold?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af","name":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"David Rieder - Senior Writer"},"description":"David Rieder is a staff writer for Swimming World. He has contributed to the magazine and website since 2009, and he has covered the NCAA Championships, U.S. Nationals, Olympic Trials as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. He is a native of Charleston, S.C., and a 2016 graduate of Duke University.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/David_Rieder"],"url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Leon Marchand -- Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50454.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-2tE6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}