“Special,” was the one-word response of Kaylee McKeown when she emerged victorious at the 100m backstroke final race. Only one reason reigned supreme in her mind – she could soar ahead of American rival Regan Smith, by a 0.33-second gap. This marked only one of the several encounters between Aussies and Yankees in the swimming world. The battle rages on, as James Magnussen stokes the fire.

However, in what marks a first in several years, yellow seems to be dominating this time. But the stars-and-stripes team is persistent, clawing out avenues to maintain their superiority. This drew some sarcastic jibes from Magnussen, an Aussie legend, who also accused Americans of drawing up excuses.

James Magnussen shuts down pool problems

Soon after the Paris Olympics flagged off, some swimming authorities had complaints. Famous US coach Bow Bowman observed that the pool is shallower, while American commentator Rowdy Gaines posited that the shallow pool’s waves have troubled the athletes. Then German swim coach Bernd Berkhahn opined that the “clutter of tech furniture on the floor” has slowed down the swimmers. However, James Magnussen, Australian silver medallist, is intent that the Americans are yet again using a ploy.

James Magnussen took a jibe at his plaintive rivals: “A lot of complaints about this pool, most of those complaints are being aimed from our friends in America, they’re not happy with the depth of the pool, they’re saying there’s too many cameras in the pool, it’s causing waves for the swimmers.” This line of argument can be narrowed down to the raw fight for medals in the Olympics.

This time, Australia has an edge over America, boasting four gold medals. US swimmer Katie Ledecky achieved the third gold, so the Americans are inching closer. Yet Magnussen believes that the kangaroo lovers will soar high this season. “We’re on track to make it our most successful Olympics ever. Not only is Australia winning races, but America is losing events they would’ve been banking on for gold medals so this rivalry is at fever pitch at the midway point of this swimming meet.”

However, even though James Magnussen thinks that the pool problems are hogwash, there is some truth to them. The pool is clearly shallower, at 2.15 or 2.17 meters deep. In shallower pools, the water displaced can cause more turbulence, which slows down the athletes. But American swimmer Katie Grimes broke custom and took Magnussen’s side. “Sure, the times have been slower, but everybody’s in the same boat, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Even though the pool debate is undecided, the gold medal run may be. Australia ranks strongly in favor of toppling the US this year and the American media may change the narrative again.

The battle is raging

Over the course of eight Olympic games, the US has fetched the highest number of swimming medals and the most golds. Australia has trailed close behind, being second in the medal count at five of those Games. But according to NBC’s Steve Kornacki, the Aussies may be finally primed for a revolutionary overthrow. The NBC Olympics’ research projection model predicts that Australia will snatch more swimming golds for the first time since it hosted the 1956 Games in Melbourne.“At this point, probably fair to say the U.S. is the underdog, a very unfamiliar position, in the gold medal chase, but they have some big opportunities,” Kornecki said.

And Katie Ledecky has already delivered the third gold to her team. Yet even if Australia manages to topple its rival, the latter may have a sneaky trick up its sleeve. At last year’s World Aquatics Championships, Australia beat the US for the first time with 15 gold and 30 total medals. Right then, American broadcasters sneakily overturned the highest-ranking model in terms of total medals achieved. Bob Bowman said: “There are a number of ways to calculate it. Total number, USA. Gold medals, pick which one you like. Which one do you like?”

Despite the endless number of schemes on both sides, only the final results will tell us. We cannot wait to see which team’s medal tally shines more in the Paris Olympics!