{"id":593803,"date":"2024-08-02T01:43:43","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T08:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=593803"},"modified":"2024-08-02T01:43:43","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T08:43:43","slug":"paris-olympics-day-7-prelims-caeleb-dressel-pan-zhanle-highlight-mixed-relay-prelims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/paris-olympics-day-7-prelims-caeleb-dressel-pan-zhanle-highlight-mixed-relay-prelims\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris Olympics, Day 7 Prelims: Caeleb Dressel, Pan Zhanle Highlight Mixed Medley Relay Qualifying"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paris Olympics, Day 7 Prelims: Caeleb Dressel, Pan Zhanle Highlight Mixed Medley Relay Qualifying<\/strong><\/p>\n

The mixed 400 medley relay prelims will take place at the conclusion of Friday’s prelims session at the Olympic Games, and several top countries will deploy big names in their bid for finals spot and a shot at medals.<\/p>\n

View the full prelims lineup here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The top-seeded Chinese squad will swim four swimmers who have earned individual medals in their events this week:\u00a0Xu Jiayu<\/strong>, the silver medalist in the 100 backstroke, leads off ahead of 100 breaststroke runnerup\u00a0Tang Qianting<\/strong> and 100 butterfly bronze medalist Zhang Yufei<\/strong>.\u00a0Pan Zhanle<\/strong>, who smashed his own world record in the 100 freestyle on his way to gold, anchors.<\/p>\n

The Americans will swim one lane over, with a team of\u00a0Regan Smith<\/strong>,\u00a0Charlie Swanson<\/strong>,\u00a0Caeleb Dressel<\/strong> and\u00a0Abbey Weitzeil<\/strong>. The swims come in the midst of big days for Smith, who has\u00a0 the 200 back final in the evening, and Dressel, who has the first two rounds of the 100 fly along with the 50 free final.<\/p>\n

The Americans typically change out their entire lineup for the final, so the inclusion of Smith and Dressel, the top women’s backstroker and men’s butterflyer, respectively, in prelims indicates that neither will swim in the final, which would suggest a male backstroker (likely\u00a0Ryan Murphy<\/strong>) and female butterflyer (either\u00a0Torri Huske<\/strong> or\u00a0Gretchen Walsh<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Also in the final heat is defending Olympic champion Great Britain, with a lineup of\u00a0Kathleen Dawson<\/strong>,\u00a0James Wilby<\/strong>,\u00a0Joe Litchfield<\/strong> and\u00a0Anna Hopkin<\/strong>. The women swimming here are the same ones who bookended the gold-medal-winning team in Tokyo three years ago. Provided he is recovered from a COVID-19 diagnosis,\u00a0Adam Peaty\u00a0<\/strong>should handle breaststroke in the final.<\/p>\n

In the first heat of the event, Australia will go with\u00a0Iona Anderson<\/strong>,\u00a0Zac Stubblety-Cook<\/strong>,\u00a0Emma McKeon<\/strong> and\u00a0Kyle Chalmers<\/strong>. The Aussies could also turn over their entire team for the final, with Kaylee McKeown<\/strong> and\u00a0Mollie O’Callaghan<\/strong>, both individual gold medalists this week, likely inclusions to bookend the squad.<\/p>\n

Canada will swim\u00a0Maggie Mac Neil<\/strong> and\u00a0Taylor Ruck<\/strong> on the fly and free legs, respectively, while the Netherlands has 200 breast bronze medalist\u00a0Caspar Corbeau<\/strong> on the second leg and\u00a0Marrit Steenbergen\u00a0<\/strong>anchoring. Italy will swim 100 breaststroke Olympic champion\u00a0Nicolo Martinenghi<\/strong> on his signature stroke, with 100 backstroke winner\u00a0Thomas Ceccon<\/strong> sitting out but available for the final.<\/p>\n

French and Swedish squads will leave off their biggest stars,\u00a0Sarah Sjostrom<\/strong> and\u00a0Leon Marchand<\/strong>, respectively, but both would be obvious inclusions if their respective teams advance.\u00a0Apostolos Christou<\/strong>, the silver medalist in the 200 back, leads off for Greece.<\/p>\n