2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES

After two days of competition, six world records have fallen and eight gold medals have been up for grabs. The United States leads the charge with eight total medals including two gold, and will be looking to add continue their dominance in the pool this morning.

Up first is Katie Ledecky in the 200m freestyle. She’s not the absolute favorite in this event, having to face competitors such as Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom and world record holder Frederica Pellegrini. What Ledecky does have going for her is that it appears as though her speed is where it needs to be right now.

Ledecky split a sub 53-second 100 freestyle on the silver medal winning 4×100 free relay, proving that the 200 might be within reach her. Her 400 world record from last night only puts icing on the cake.

Michael Phelps will be competing in the heats of the men’s 200m butterfly shortly after where he’s not exactly the favorite. It looks to be a three man race right now between Phelps and his two rivals: Chad le Clos of South Africa and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary. Both have said their fair share of talk about Phelps making this one of the most anticipated races of the games.

The last event on the docket this morning will be the women’s 200m IM where world record holder Katinka Hosszu is the clear favorite. She dominated the field in the 400m IM on the first night of competition, smashing the world record and claiming her first Olympic medal.

WOMEN’S 200m FREESTYLE

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Top Seed: 1:54.31 – Sarah Sjostrom – Sweden

World Record: 1:52.98 (2009) – Frederica Pellegrini – Italy

JR World Record: 1:56.12 – Shen Duo – China

Olympic Record: 1:53.61 (2012) – Allison Schmitt – USA

2012 Olympic Champion: 1:53.61 – Allison Schmitt – USA

Katie Ledecky of the United States absolutely dominated the heats of the women’s 200m freestyle, clocking in a time of 1:55.01 to establish herself as the clear leader. The defending world champion finished well ahead of Emma McKeon who grabbed the second overall time in 1:55.80.

Ledecky and McKeon were the only two swimmers to break 1:56 this morning. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, who’s in the running to win this race in the finals after her stunning world record victory in the 100m butterfly last night, dropped a 1:56.11 to take third overall.

Charlotte Bonnet of France and world record holder Frederica Pellegrini posted similar times to Sjostrom, also establishing themselves as potential medal threats. Bonnet was a 1:56.26 and world record holder Pellegrini was a 1:56.37.

One of the most shocking performances of the heats was a 1:56.91 from Siobahn Haughey of Hong Kong in order to finish ninth overall. Haughey wasn’t even in the circle-seeded heats, neither was Canada’s Katerine Savard who finished 13th overall.

American Missy Franklin squeezed into the semifinals with a 1:57.12 performance. She goes in 12th overall and will need to step things up if she wants to qualify for tomorrow’s final.

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MEN’S 200m BUTTERFLY

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Top Seed: 1:52.91 – Laszlo Cseh – Hungary

World Record: 1:51.51 (2009)- Michael Phelps – USA

JR World Record: 1:55.92 – Andrew Seliskar – USA

Olympic Record: 1:52.03 (2008) – Michael Phelps – USA

2012 Olympic Champion: 1:52.96 – Chad le Clos – South Africa

The two Hungarians Tamas Kenderesi and Laszlo Cseh took the top spots in the men’s 200m butterfly this morning, displacing defending Olympic champion Chad le Clos of South Africa and world record holder Michael Phelps of the United States.

Swimming in the same heat as Phelps., Kenderesi took things out hard, finishing strong on the last 50 in order to drop a 1:54.73. He was the only swimmer in the entire field this morning to go under 1:55 – appearing to put forth a full effort.

Phelps cruised to third in his heat, clocking in at 1:55.73 behind both Kenderesi and Grant Irvine of Australia. Irvine was fourth overall in 1:55.64.

Both Cseh and le Clos won their respective heats, sportig times of 1:55.14 and 1:55.57 to take the second a third seeds heading into tonight’s finals. Both swimmers didn’t appear to be putting in a full effort as Cseh cruised the first 150 only to finish strong. Le Clos did what he had to do to get his hands on the wall first, but not much more, glancing at his opponents through the side while approaching the wall.

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WOMEN’S 200m IM

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Top Seed: 2:06.12 – Katinka Hosszu – Hungary

World Record: 2:06.12 (2015) – Katinka Hosszu – Hungary

JR World Record: 2:10.76 – Imai Runa – Japan

Olympic Record: 2:07.57 (2012) – Ye Shiwen – China

2012 Olympic Champion: 2:07.57 – Ye Shiwen – China

Katinka Hosszu dropped a new Olympic record in the final heat of the women’s 200m IM this morning, touching in with a time of 2:07.45 to absolutely blow away the rest of her heat and establish herself as the clear favorite.

Hosszu’s time wasn’t as fast as she’s been this year but is a great indicator that there’s possibility for her to break yet another world record. Hosszu set the current world record at last year’s world championships, but has already proven that she’s in better shape than last year after demolishing the world record in the 400m IM on the first night of competition here in Rio.

Siobhan-Marie O’Connor also put up a very dominant swim. Representing Great Britain, O’Connor swam a 2:08.44 to take the second seed overall behind Hosszu. She touched over a full second ahead of third overall Melanie Margalis of the United States. Margalis and her American teammate Maya DiRado took the third and fourth overall seeds respectively with times of 2:09.62 and 2:10.24.

The defending Olympic champion Ye Shiwen of China managed to grab a spot in the semifinal with a 2:10.56 performance. That ranks her seventh overall heading into the semifinals where she’s a hopeful to advance.

On the first day of competition Shiwen missed out on qualifying for the final of the 400m IM despite being the world record holder and defending Olympic champion.

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