Men’s 200m freestyle: Sun Yang, Yannick Angel, Ryan Lochte, Paul Bidermann and Park Thewan. An Olympic fantasy team or 5 of the competitors for the 200m freestyle final? Luckily for everyone, it’s the latter and we should be set for a scorching final between 5 great swimmers, 4 of which have already medalled, while the other holds the world record, which is enough to make you forget that defending champion Michael Phelps has sadly dropped this event. Given the quality of the competitors, the 4/1 freely available on the exchanges for a new world record is interesting and might be worth an interest at the least, with plenty of records going and the effort level guaranteed to be at its highest.
Picking the winner is extremely difficult, with plenty of evidence that any of the big 5 could win. The first Chinese man to win an Olympic swimming gold (when beating Park Thewan into second after the Korean was let into the final on appeal), Sun clocked the fastest time of one minute, 45.61 seconds in Sunday's semi-finals although Lochte, who won the 400 individual medley gold on Saturday, swam a more conservative semi, saving his energy for the men's 4x100 freestyle relay final, in which he finished second as part of the USA, where Yannick Angel pulled the swim of his life to beat him in the final 100m. Yang looks to be a strong favourite after his 400m but at 3/1 there’s a temptation to side with Angel, knowing that he has a slight measure of Lochte, although this is a final to watch and savour rather than go all in, with the knowledge that a gold for China’s Su Yang would be good for us on the whole.
Men’s 100m Backstroke: It must be a source of frustration for many that there’s no 50m backstroke at the Olympics much loved Brit Liam Tancock has won gold in that event at the last two World Championships and would rank a strong favourite to take gold. As it is, he’s got to go double the distance and that takes a lot of the raw speed away from him after the turn. It’s to be hoped that he can repeat Rebecca Adlington’s performance on Sunday and take a bronze medal anyway, but a gold looks to be a step too far.
Women’s 100m breaststroke: This looks to be a straight fight between Lithuanian teenager Ruta Meilutyte (left) and American Rebecca Soni, and with the former having posted a new European record, it’s hard to switch allegiances at this moment in time. Just 15, she blazed to a near Olympic record in semifinal two of the event with a scorching 1:05.21, the fourth fastest of all time in the event's history, surpassing the European record of 1:05.41 from the 2009 World Championships in the process.
Picking the winner is extremely difficult, with plenty of evidence that any of the big 5 could win. The first Chinese man to win an Olympic swimming gold (when beating Park Thewan into second after the Korean was let into the final on appeal), Sun clocked the fastest time of one minute, 45.61 seconds in Sunday's semi-finals although Lochte, who won the 400 individual medley gold on Saturday, swam a more conservative semi, saving his energy for the men's 4x100 freestyle relay final, in which he finished second as part of the USA, where Yannick Angel pulled the swim of his life to beat him in the final 100m. Yang looks to be a strong favourite after his 400m but at 3/1 there’s a temptation to side with Angel, knowing that he has a slight measure of Lochte, although this is a final to watch and savour rather than go all in, with the knowledge that a gold for China’s Su Yang would be good for us on the whole.
Advice
1 pt Yannick Angel (3/1 Youwin)
Men’s 100m Backstroke: It must be a source of frustration for many that there’s no 50m backstroke at the Olympics much loved Brit Liam Tancock has won gold in that event at the last two World Championships and would rank a strong favourite to take gold. As it is, he’s got to go double the distance and that takes a lot of the raw speed away from him after the turn. It’s to be hoped that he can repeat Rebecca Adlington’s performance on Sunday and take a bronze medal anyway, but a gold looks to be a step too far.
This should come down to a straight fight between American Matt Grevers and Frenchman Camille Lacourt (pictured above), and while it’s hard to argue with Grevers being a hot favourite – He’s been the fastest on the planet at this distance for a long time, posted the fastest time in the heats, and now has no Aaron Piersol, the world record holder courtesy of his gold at the last Olympics, to contend with), a price of 2/9 overall (he’s 3/5 with Youwin) is far too short and World Champion Lacourt, who won the other semi-final in 53.03 to be second overall, is 5/1 in a virtual match despite the fact that he eased up late on in his semi. The ½ for him getting a medal seems to be better value than the 2/9 on Grevers.
Advice
1 pt Camille Lacourt (5/1 Stan James)
4 pts Camille Lacourt to medal (1/2 Ladbrokes)
Women’s 100m Backstroke: 4 years ago Emily Seebohm couldn’t handle the pressure of the Olympics and was only ninth in the final of the 100m backstroke, but she heads into today’s final a much stronger woman and athlete and it’ll take something exceptional to knock her off the top spot. Seebohm broke the Olympic record with 58.23sec in the heats - just 0.11sec short of the world record, set by 2009 world champion Gemma Spofforth at the height of the supersuit era - and backed it up with a dominant 58.39 in the semi-final, when more than a second ahead of US sensation 17 year old Missy Franklin. With more in the tank to come, she can win another gold for Australia and possibly threaten the World Record in doing so. The 1/2 about Missy Franklin getting a medal of any kind is interesting despite the price given how strong she’s looked in her heats, while Australian Belina Hocklin and Japanese Aya Terkwaka are bronze medal contenders.
Advice
3 pts Missy Franklin to medal (1/2 Ladbrokes)
Women’s 100m breaststroke: This looks to be a straight fight between Lithuanian teenager Ruta Meilutyte (left) and American Rebecca Soni, and with the former having posted a new European record, it’s hard to switch allegiances at this moment in time. Just 15, she blazed to a near Olympic record in semifinal two of the event with a scorching 1:05.21, the fourth fastest of all time in the event's history, surpassing the European record of 1:05.41 from the 2009 World Championships in the process.
Rebecca Soni won her semi-final in 1:05.98 and looks a banker to medal, although her chances of overturning the favourite on times look to be quite slim and she may have to settle for another silver medal following Beijing four years ago. Breja Larson did beat her in the US Olympic trials and while that form wasn’t confirmed in the semis, she is evens to win a medal (essentially racing for Bronze if the top two turn up) and that might tempt some, with Australia's Leisel Jones, the defending Olympic champion who won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Games when she was 15, finishing sixth overall.
Advice
2 pts Ruta Meilutyte (8/11 Betfair)
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