Somewhere out there is a swimmer capable of reeling in Katie Ledecky, the great white shark of the Rio pool. The only snag is that, on current evidence, it may not happen for a while. Overshadowing the vast medal haul of her prolific male counterpart, Michael Phelps, will be difficult but there is no mistaking the biggest dorsal fin in the women’s competition.
Already she has a gold and a silver medal here in Brazil, with every prospect of carving up the field again in her remaining two individual events, the 200m and 800m freestyle. After getting to bed at 2.45am following her previous evening’s stunning world record in the 400m freestyle, she was a tad sluggish in her morning heat of the 200m but was still comfortably the quickest semi-final qualifier, leaving the four-times 2012 gold medallist Missy Franklin to scramble home 12th fastest. Even Ledecky’s bad days tend to compare favourably to other people’s best ones.
To listen to her in the mixed zone afterwards, inches away from a heaving scrum of reporters who would struggle to win a race in their own bathtubs, was also to be reminded that, at 19, she has been building intently towards this week for a long time. She opted not to go for broke at the US Olympic trials, concentrating instead on honing the strong, chopping rhythm that sets her apart from her peers. “My stroke feels better than it ever has,” she said, after recording a time of 1min 55.01sec. “Once I get going it’s kind of hard to stop.”
It was a distinctly ominous quote from a distinctly short-odds favourite, who smashed her own world record on Sunday evening in a time of 3:56.46. Team GB’s silver medallist, Jazz Carlin, did well to stay in the frame but acknowledged afterwards it was a mentally difficult place to be. “It is tough being next to Katy. You’re not sure what she’s going to do because she has so much speed.”
All her opponents can do is hang in there and hope. There are some fine swimmers in the women’s 200m butterfly, including Italy’s Federica Pellegrini, who has held the world record in this event since 2009, Australia’s Emma McKeon and Sweden’s golden girl, Sarah Sjostrom, but there is widespread acknowledgement that something extra special will be required in the final. “It’s going to be the fastest race in history,” predicted Pellegrini.
Even if Ledecky somehow falls short these are developing into an increasingly good Games for US swimming, who have also tasted success in the men’s 100m relay with Phelps among their ranks. It was another remarkable effort, although Phelps did show some unaccustomed signs of mortality when he finished a modest third in his heat of the 100m butterfly behind Hungary’s Tamas Kenderesi and Grant Irvine of Australia. Having earned his 19th Olympic gold medal the night before and not gone to sleep until 3am, he was also slightly slow out of the blocks and finished only fifth fastest among the semi-final qualifiers, having slightly varied his customary pre-swim preparations.
As well as downing an unusually heavy load of pasta – “I’m not a spaghetti fan, I forced myself to eat it” – the 31-year-old opted for late-night massages and ice baths but all anyone wanted to hear him explain were the red circles on his shoulders caused by the ancient Chinese healing practice of cupping. The process is meant to draw blood to the affected area, reduce soreness and accelerate the healing of overworked muscles but leaves rather unsightly love-bite style marks on the skin. Phelps’s explanation was that his trainer had simply been a touch over-enthusiastic. “That’s where I usually hurt the most. I’ve done it before meets, pretty much every meet I go to. I just asked for a little cupping because I was sore. The trainer hit me pretty hard with one and left a couple of bruises.”
The proof will be in the low-calorie pudding as Phelps attempts to prove that the old irresistible magic is still there. He is well aware, however, that he will have to crank things up to guarantee a medal in the 200m butterfly having clocked 1:55.73. “I’ve been a little off on my predictions to make it into semis and final. I was thinking 1:57 would make it in this morning, but I saw a couple of 1:55s. I wanted to be somewhere in the front of the heat.”
Elsewhere, Britain’s Siobhan-Marie O’Connor cruised into the semi-finals of the women’s 200m individual medley, second only to Hungary’s eye-catching quick Katinka Hosszu, who set an Olympic record in her heat. Hannah Miley, having just missed out on a medal on Saturday, qualified 12th fastest. The 17-year-old Georgie Coates and her team-mate Ellie Faulkner both bowed out in the 200m freestyle heats.
