The 2024 Paris Olympics have concluded. The medals have already been given to the winners, while the others have been told to attempt again in four years. In every sport, some athletes performed extremely well and didn’t just get medals, but also their names in the record books. These were the ones who shattered the records present in the books before the start of the games by giving extraordinary performances in them. There have been numerous instances of this in swimming. It was a great competition in that sport, as athletes gave it their all and created history.

One of the main contributors to this was Leon Marchand, who gave a standout performance in all four categories he participated in, which were the 400m individual medley, 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke, and 200m individual medley. He won gold medals in all of them, making him by far the best performer in them. He also won a bronze in the 4x100m. There have been numerous performances other than that that stood out in their own right. Some of them were given by Team USA, which people had a lot of expectations going into the Olympics as historically, they are the best team in the Olympics. It was a mixed performance for them, as Bobby Finke was the only one who managed to win only one individual gold medal in the male section. However, the women made the nation proud with their extraordinary performances. Here are some of them:

U.S. swimmers who broke world records at the Paris Olympics

Team USA won 28 medals in the competitions, which consisted of 8 golds, 13 silvers, and 7 bronzes. While doing this, they set numerous new records. Bobby Finke created a new world record for the 1500m freestyle with a time of 14:30.67. Gretchen Walsh broke Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjoestroem’s record for the 100m butterfly set at the Rio Olympics. Walsh’s time was 55.38, compared to Sjoestroem’s 55.48. Walsh did this in the semi-finals. However, she struggled to replicate this performance in the finals as she settled for silver, with fellow American compatriot Torri Huske taking gold.

Katie Ledecky improved on her own record at the 1500m freestyle with a time of 15:30.02. The previous one was 15:37.34, set at the Tokyo Olympics. She won the gold medal in this category and won three other medals to cap off a brilliant tournament. For her exemplary performances, she was chosen to be the flag bearer for the US at the Olympics closing ceremony.

Regan Smith was another swimmer who gave a brilliant performance as she won five medals in the competition. She set a new world record in the 100m backstroke with a time of 57.28 seconds. Team USA can be proud of their performance in Paris, despite a few hiccups. However, many other records were broken at the Paris Olympics by different countries. The performances given by some were a treat to watch.

Swimmers from other countries who set jaw-dropping records in Paris in 2024

Many other countries broke records: the Australian relay 4×100 team broke their own record set in the Tokyo Olympics with a timing of 3:28.92. The man of the tournament, Leon Marchand, who broke Michael Phelps’ 2008 Belgium Olympics record at the 400m individual medley with a timing of 4:02.50 in 2023, set a timing a few seconds short of that with 4:02.95. Again, Marchand broke the records in the 200m butterfly at 1:51.21 and in the 200m breaststroke at 2:05.85. But his performance did not end right there, shattering another Michael Phelps record in the Olympics in the 200m individual medley with a timing of 1:54.06.

Sarah Sjoestroem managed to set a record in the women’s 50m freestyle, clocking 23.66. It was initially held by Emma McKeon at the Tokyo Olympics. Australian athletes would further break two other records as they broke the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay with a time of 7:38.08. Kaylee McKeown broke the women’s 200m backstroke record with a time of 2:03.73. Finally, at the 800m freestyle, the record was set by Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen at 07:38:19. The performances of the athletes are ones that will be remembered for many years since they were simply marvelous. There may be a possibility that the same names crop up at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Let’s wait and see. Their exploits in Paris will remain safe and secure in the records book until now, anyway.