Cool in the Pool

Exciting Finishes in the Pool as Caleb Dressel Sets Olympic Record, USA Wins 5 Swimming Medals (By Connor Groel)

There were five swimming finals in Tokyo on Wednesday night, and the United States had participants in each. 21-year-old Bobby Finke kicked off the action with an exhilarating victory in the men’s 800-meter freestyle. After entering the final 50 meters in fourth place, Finke rocketed through the pool, making a heroic comeback to take the gold medal.

After a fifth-place finish from Nic Fink in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke, Americans Regan Smith and Hali Flickinger won silver and bronze in the women’s 200-meter butterfly while China’s Zhang Yufei earned the gold.

Then came the record-setter. Caeleb Dressel followed with his first individual gold medal of the Olympics in the men’s 100-meter freestyle, taking the lead early and holding off a late charge while setting a new Olympic record in the event (47.02 seconds).

Watch: Dressel Sets Olympic Record in Men’s 100M Freestyle

Finally, in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay, the U.S. took the silver as all three medal-winning teams broke the previous world record, including China with the gold and Australia with the bronze. It was career Olympic medals No. 9 and No. 10 for Katie Ledecky and Allison Schmitt, respectively.

Cool in the Pool: Team USA continues to dominate the swimming events, leading all countries in swimming medals (21). Australia has 12, but no other country has more than four.

Other Team USA Highlights

Women’s 3×3 Basketball: USA Beats ROC for Gold

The USA women’s 3×3 team took gold in the first-ever 3×3 basketball tournament in Olympic history by beating ROC (Russia) 18-15 in the gold medal game. The team, consisting of Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum, Alisha Gray and Stefanie Dolson, went 8-1 throughout the tournament.

Men’s Synchronized Diving: Hixon and Capobianco Take Silver

In the 3-meter springboard final, American duo Michael Hixon and Andrew Capobianco came in second place behind the Chinese duo of Wang Zongyuan and Xie Siyi. Hixon took silver in this event at the 2016 Rio Games with Sam Dorman and has now matched that feat with a fellow Indiana Hoosier in Capobianco.

Beach Volleyball: Men and Women Score Pool Play Victories

It was smooth sailing for the American women’s beach volleyball duo of Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil, who beat their Kenyan opponents 21-8, 21-6 to move to 2-0 in their pool play. Afterwards, the male team of Beijing 2008 gold medalist Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena defeated Argentina in three sets, advancing to 2-1 overall.

Women’s Rugby Sevens: Strong Start for USA

In their opening match of these Olympics, the American women used a big second half to defeat China 28-14. After being tied 7-7 at the break, they scored three unanswered tries to put the match out of reach.

Additional Storylines

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