Olympic Swimming: Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Final Prediction
We are headed into our sixth day of Olympic action in the pool at the Tokyo Aquatic Center, and there will be five medal events this evening and afternoon.
One of the swimming events that will be concluding at the end of tonight will be the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
Who to Watch Out for?
After finally capturing her first gold medal of these 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Katie Ledecky will headline Team USA’s relay team and try to add to that total in the 4x200m freestyle event.
One thing to take note of is that Ledecky is a much stronger swimmer when it comes to longer distances. She took home the silver medal in 400m freestyle, and the gold medal in the 1500m freestyle, but failed to medal in the 200m freestyle, the distance she will be swimming in this race.
Last night’s victory for Ledecky in the 1500m freestyle marked her second medal of this year’s and first overall gold for 2020. That gold medal was also her 6th gold medal in her Olympic career after winning five at the games in Rio in 2016.
She is still hoping to break the record of Olympic golds by an American woman, a mark that is set at 8 by Jenny Thompson.
Joining her on the relay team will likely be two of the four swimmers that competed in this morning’s heat for the Americans. Either Bella Sims, Paige Madden, Brooke Forde, or Katie McLaughlin will compete with Ledecky and other confirmed relay member Allison Schmitt.
Those four swimmers from this morning’s heat took first in their individual heat and second overall by time. The American coaches will look at the four swimmers split times, along with their experience to determine who will join the other two swimmers.
Their biggest competition will be the Australians who feature some strong competitors up and down their relay lineup.
One of those competitors is Ariarne Titmus who set the Olympic record in the 200m freestyle last night on her way to her second gold medal of these games, the other coming in the 400m freestyle in which she beat out Katie Ledecky by less than a second.
The 20-year-old from Tasmania, Australia has become Ledecky’s biggest competitor in the freestyle competition, and they will continue that battle tonight.
Joining Titmus on the Australian team will be Madison Wilson who placed eighth in the 200m freestyle individual final, Emma Mckeon who is in search of tying the record for medals with seven at Tokyo, and Leah Neale.
None of these swimmers competed in the semifinal heats, yet Australia still came out with the best time of the heats with a team full of reserves. They bested the Americans by three seconds in the semifinal heats with a 7:44.61.
With the pace that the reserves were able to set, the quartet of swimmers for the Australians will have their sights on not only Olympic Gold, but a new world record, one they set back in 2019.
Joining Australia and the United States in the final will be the Russian Olympic Committee, China, France, Canada, Hungary, and Germany. While China has some strong swimmers in this event, the Australians and Americans are the clear favorites.
Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Final Prediction
Australia holds the clear advantage in this event, and it really isn’t close.
Every sportsbook in the country has them as the resounding favorites, with their odds reaching as high as -900.
That’s why I will be taking a different approach to these finals. IF you can find the option, bet on the final top-3 results of this race and you will yield a lot more value, PointsBet originally had the odds up at -150 for a straight-up finish of AUS, USA, CHINA.
However, if you are looking for the most valuable bet, take the Americans at plus money. PointsBet sportsbook has them listed as +600 underdogs, but with multiple-time medalist Katie Ledecky, and former 200m Olympic record holder, Allison Schmitt, they have the potential to give the Aussies a run for their money.
I’ll stay patriotic and put my money on the Americans.
Final Pick: Team USA (+600)
