NANTERRE, France — The swimming competition so far has been fierce at the Paris Olympics, and we’re only about halfway through the events, which run from July 27 through August 4.
In the first four nights of finals here in France, Team USA has racked up 15 medals, headlined by two-time Olympian Torri Huske’s 100-meter butterfly gold.
As of Wednesday morning, Huske is the only individual American Olympic swimming champion — though that will likely change later in the day with Katie Ledecky in the 1,500-meter freestyle final — while Team USA’s men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay accounts for the other gold medal at this point. The women’s 4×100 freestyle relay also won silver.
Three-time Olympian Ryan Murphy extended his streak of winning an Olympic medal in the 100-meter backstroke to three consecutive Games with his bronze, while Regan Smith and Katharine Berkoff put on a thrilling 100 backstroke show, winning silver and bronze behind Australia’s Kaylee McKeown.
And there’s still so much more to come. In addition to Ledecky in her best event, we still have both 100-meter freestyle finals, both 200-meter individual medleys and several more relays. But from the first half of swimming at the Paris Olympics, here are 14 awesome underwater photos.
NANTERRE, FRANCE – JULY 27: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was captured using an underwater robotic camera.) Torri Huske of Team United States and Margaret Mac Neil of Team Canada compete in the Women’s 100m Butterfly Heats on day one of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 27, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138692 ORIG FILE ID: 2163904063
NANTERRE, FRANCE – JULY 27: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was captured using an underwater robotic camera.) Caeleb Dressel of Team United States competes in the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay Final on day one of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 27, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138692 ORIG FILE ID: 2163970624
An underwater view shows US’ Katie Ledecky competing in a heat of the women’s 1500m freestyle swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138696 ORIG FILE ID: 2163893582
NANTERRE, FRANCE – JULY 27: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was captured using an underwater robotic camera.) Torri Huske of Team United States and Margaret Mac Neil of Team Canada compete in the Women’s 100m Butterfly Heats on day one of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 27, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138692 ORIG FILE ID: 2163904065
NANTERRE, FRANCE – JULY 28: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was captured using an underwater robotic camera.) Carson Foster of Team United States competes in the Men’s 400m Individual Medley Heats on day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 28, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138693 ORIG FILE ID: 2164027249
TOPSHOT – An underwater view shows US’ Katie Grimes competing in the heats of women’s 400m individual medley swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP) (Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138694 ORIG FILE ID: 2163679859
An underwater view shows US’ Ryan Murphy competing in a semifinal of the men’s 100m backstroke swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 28, 2024. (Photo by François-Xavier MARIT / AFP) (Photo by FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT/AFP via Getty Images) ORIG FILE ID: 2163603946
TOPSHOT – An underwater view shows USA’s Bobby Finke competing in the heats of men’s 800m freestyle swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP) (Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138694 ORIG FILE ID: 2163690613
An underwater view shows US’ Lilly King competing in a heat of the women’s 100m breaststroke swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 28, 2024. (Photo by François-Xavier MARIT / AFP) (Photo by FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138693 ORIG FILE ID: 2163478028
NANTERRE, FRANCE – JULY 27: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was captured using an underwater robotic camera.) Ariarne Titmus of Team Australia and Katie Ledecky of Team United States compete in the Women’s 400m Freestyle Final on day one of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 27, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138692 ORIG FILE ID: 2163971166
TOPSHOT – An underwater view shows US’ Katie Grimes competing in the heats of women’s 400m individual medley swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP) (Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138694 ORIG FILE ID: 2163810957
NANTERRE, FRANCE – JULY 30: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was captured using an underwater robotic camera.) Chris Guiliano of Team United States competes in the Men’s 100m Freestyle Heats on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 30, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138696 ORIG FILE ID: 2164336100
NANTERRE, FRANCE – JULY 28: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was captured using an underwater robotic camera.) Reona Aoki of Team Japan, Lilly King of Team United States and Angharad Evans of Team Great Britain compete in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke Heats on day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 28, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776138693 ORIG FILE ID: 2164030781
An underwater view shows USA’s Emma Weyant competing in the final of the women’s 400m individual medley swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP) (Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP via Getty Images) ORIG FILE ID: 2163813109
