The swimming events at the Paris 2024 Olympics concluded on August 4 with a thrilling victory for Team USA over Australia. French swimmer Leon Marchand made a significant impact, earning four gold medals and setting four Olympic records, becoming the standout star of the games.

Four Golden Girls Propel Team USA Past Australia in Swimming Medal Rankings

Team USA’s Impressive Victory Over Australia

The Olympic swimming events in Paris, spanning 35 competitions over nine days, ended in a nail-biting finish. To secure the top spot, the U.S. women’s swimming team set a world record in the 4×100-meter medley relay.

The American team, composed of Regan Smith (backstroke), Lilly King (breaststroke), Gretchen Walsh (butterfly), and Torri Huske (freestyle), completed the race in 3 minutes 49.63 seconds, breaking the world record and surpassing the Australian team (silver with 3 minutes 53.11 seconds).

This victory propelled the USA to the top of the swimming medal standings at the Paris 2024 Olympics with a total of 28 medals, including 8 golds.

“It’s great to finish on top in both the number of gold medals and the total medal count,” said U.S. women’s team coach Todd DeSorbo.

In the men’s 1500-meter freestyle, Bobby Finke delivered an outstanding performance, finishing in 14 minutes 30.67 seconds, breaking Sun Yang’s old world record (14:31.02) and defeating Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri (14:34.55).

Finke became the first American male swimmer to win an individual gold medal in Paris, saving Team USA from potentially not winning any individual men’s swimming golds for the first time in 124 years.

However, the U.S. men’s team fell short in the 4×100-meter medley relay, finishing second with a time of 3 minutes 28.01 seconds, behind China (3:27.46). This marked the first time since the event was added to the Olympic program in 1976 that the U.S. team did not win gold.

Team USA’s Thrilling Victory in Overall Swimming Standings

Leon Marchand Shines as the Brightest Star of Paris 2024

The brightest star of the Paris 2024 Olympics was none other than France’s Leon Marchand. He set four records and won four Olympic gold medals in the 200m individual medley (1:54.06), 200m breaststroke (2:05.85), 200m butterfly (1:51.21), and 400m individual medley (4:02.95).

Marchand shared after his 400m medley victory: “This was my last individual final, so I told myself to really enjoy it. I felt great and wanted to have fun in this final, and that’s exactly what happened.”

The 22-year-old is a source of pride for France

The 22-year-old swimmer became the first French athlete to win four individual gold medals at a single Olympics and the third male swimmer in history, after Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz, to achieve this feat.

For the women, 17-year-old Summer McIntosh from Canada was the standout performer with three golds and one bronze, all in individual events.

China’s Zhang Yufei earned the most medals at the 2024 Olympics but did not secure a gold. The 26-year-old won six medals (one silver, five bronze) in swimming, including three individual medals and three in relay events. This was a disappointing outcome for Zhang, who had won two golds and two silvers at Tokyo 2020.