Team USA dominated the swimming competitions at the Olympics despite a doping scandal involving Team China. Swimming great Michael Phelps has long been a proponent of harsher bans for those who are caught cheating. He spoke with the Associated Press about a one-and-done punishment for those who test positive.
“If you test positive, you should never be allowed to come back and compete again, cut and dry. I believe one and done.” He continued by criticizing the current testing process, “What has to happen is everybody has to come together and figure out one way to test everybody all over the world. Period. And if you test positive, you should never be allowed to come back and compete again.”
The World Anti-Doing Agency announced that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance before the 2020 Tokoyo Olympics. The agency and World Aquatics accepted the explanation that the tests were caused by tainted food. Nine of those athletes won swimming medals in the 2024 Olympics.
Current swimmers are also up in arms, including Great Britain's Adam Peaty. He was on the relay team that lost a medal to China in the Paris meet, leading to his frustrations. There is no proof to this point that China's doping has continued into the Paris Games.
Despite all of the conversation around Team China, it was Team USA that came out on top when the swimming ended at the 2024 Olympics.
Team USA dominates swimming in the Paris Olympics
The biggest rivalry in international swimming is between the Americans and Australians. The gold medal count came down to the last day with the Men's and Women's Individual Medley Relay races set to go last. America took silver, losing to China. It was only the second gold for Team China but stirred the controversy.
Team USA won the final gold of the meet in the Women's Individual Medley to clinch the title. Reagan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske set the World Record in the process. They beat the Australians by over three seconds to clinch the eighth and final gold.
The team was led by Katie Ledecky, who brought the team two golds and four total medals. Ledecky won the 800-meter freestyle race for the fourth consecutive Olympics, joining Michael Phelps as the only swimmers to ever win the same event four straight times. She also clinched gold in the 1500-meter freestyle and clinched the top 20 times ever recorded in the race.
The men's competition did not have the same star power as when Phelps was in the races. The only man to win an individual medal was Bobby Finke in the 1500-meter freestyle. A training partner of Ledecky's, Finke took silver in the 800-meter freestyle and was out for revenge. He did so in world-record fashion.
Despite the announcement that members of Team China had tested positive for banned substances at the last Olympics, Team USA powered through the distraction to dominate the pool. This marks the ninth consecutive Olympics where the United States has won the medal count in the swimming competition.
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