I’m not going to try to recap all the swimming because it gets more than enough coverage but I will share my top moments.
Lydia Jacoby’s Gold Medal
There is nothing better than a young athlete defying expectations to win a Gold Medal and lead the charge of a new generation of amazing US swimmers. She was so shocked by her win and her story is amazing, only 1 Olympic pool in the state of Alaska! (we are not talking about goggles though, just her first final)
And watching her high school get so fired up, probably the best reaction video of the games so far.
Caeleb Dressel Getting Emotional (and all his golds)
You know all he accomplished at these games (and how handsome he is). It was his reactions to winning gold, to breaking records, to seeing his family that really pushed it over the edge for me into making him one of my favorite people at the games so far. Must be something in that Florida water that makes him so great?
Ahmed Hafnaoui’s Victory for Tunisia
He pulled a major upset from Lane 8 to win the 400m freestyle for Tunisia. He wasn’t even talked about as a threat in that final. And what really stuck out to me was when they were showing the athlete’s cheering sections near the end. Australia was filled with other athletes and coaches. Ahmed had a single coach jumping around and screaming his heart out. It made his victory all the more impressive.
Anything Katie Ledecky
Again, I don’t need to write out everything that happened during these games regarding Katie Ledecky since you’ve probably heard it already. She did so much to try and help the US bring home as many medals as possible. And maybe now she will be switching to Archery to bring home golds in a different sport? And we all knew the moment was going to come when Katie doesn’t win every single race she enters. It happens to all our favorite athletes but maybe the fact it was Australia, our eternal rival in swimming, that made it sting a little bit more but she still showed why she is the queen of the pool by the end of the games.
Bobby Finke’s Final 50 meters
His electrifying finishes are what the Olympics are all about. It is never over until someone crosses the finish line/touches the pool wall (do you think swimmers ever get jealous of runners for having a “finish line)? The reason I like Finke so much is he swims the way I like to try to run, saving something in the tank for the end. After seeing what he could do in the 800 I think the 1,500 got a lot more attention and people watching to see if he could do it again, and he did!
There are so, so, so many more amazing swimmers and moments from these games but there are so many hours in the day to google pictures of swimmers so had to stop after 5.
Royer's Olympic Blog 