Ben Proud stormed to victory in his men’s 50m freestyle heat in a fruitful morning for Team GB’s swimmers in the pool.
Joining Proud in booking a spot in tonight’s semi-finals were Honey Osrin and Katie Shanahan in the women's 200m backstroke and Tom Dean and Duncan Scott in the men's 200m individual medley.
The women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team are one step ahead after booking a place in Thursday night’s final, with Laura Stephens Team GB’s other medal chance in Paris la Défense Arena this evening.
“In Tokyo I was sitting 14th or 15th and suddenly I had to completely change up my strategy,” said Proud.
“Whereas now, the training has gone well, I am in the right place and so it’s just a matter of tonight and coming back tomorrow and really switching on.”
Solid across all four strokes, Duncan Scott and Tom Dean have punched their ticket for the Men's 200m Individual Medley semi-finals 👊🎟️ #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/k2xuWREWJU
— Aquatics GB (@Aquatics_GB) August 1, 2024
The 50m freestyle is Proud’s only event at Paris 2024 but he isn’t letting the pressure of his do-or-die semi-final get to him.
“It can go wrong within 21 seconds and that’s it, four years of training and it’s over,” he said.
“Unfortunately we saw Luke (Greenbank) the other day get disqualified. He’s the same, he only has that one race and that’s such a tough place to be in.
“That makes the challenge more special about why we are here and what we are doing and putting all your eggs in one basket is something I am very comfortable with.”
Freya Anderson, Abbie Wood, Lucy Hope and Medi Harris secured a lane for Team GB in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay final after finishing third in their heat.
Wood, who also competes in tomorrow’s 200m individual medley heats, says the atmosphere inside Paris la Défense Arena was as good as any she has encountered previously.
“I was actually quite shocked as I walked out, it was so loud,” she said.
“I whispered to Lucy (Hope) ‘it sounds fake’. In training Dave (Hemmings, coach) was playing a crowd noise so we would get used to it and was dead on what we have been practising in, so credit to him.
“It was amazing, it was the loudest pool I have ever heard.”
Shanahan, meanwhile, remains on course for a second Olympic final of Paris 2024 after progressing from her 200m backstroke heat and will be joined in tonight’s second semi-final by British champion Osrin.
Shanahan said: “It was quite hard this morning for a heat swim but hopefully after a bit of rest it can get a bit easier tonight.
“I’d say I really like doing 200 back, it’s one of my favourite events to do so I’m excited to be racing and hopefully see if I can produce a good time.”
Sportsbeat 2024