Six races and rivalries to watch in Paris Olympic pool

Swimming at the Paris Olympics promises to be one of the best and loudest spectacles at this summer’s Games.

It all gets under way on 27 July – the day Adam Peaty begins his quest for a third successive Olympic gold.

His battle is one of six races BBC Sport has picked out of ones to watch among a highly anticipated schedule in France…

Will Qin stop Peaty’s three-Peat?

The 100m breaststroke competition could be the ultimate showdown between a champion and the young pretender.

Britain’s Adam Peaty is the greatest sprint breaststroker in history, having swum the 14 fastest times of all time and taken gold at the past two Olympics.

Victory in Paris would complete the ‘Three Peat’ and mean the 29-year-old joins the great Michael Phelps as the only men to have won three consecutive golds in the same event at the Olympics.

But, having been unbeaten in eight years, Peaty has struggled since Tokyo. In his absence a new star has emerged – China’s Qin Haiyang.

Qin won gold at the World Championships last year and did so in a time of 57.69 seconds, making him the second-fastest man in history behind Peaty. Peaty has not posted a time that quick since the Tokyo Olympics.

Can he lift himself to go again or will a new champion be crowned?

When is the final? 20:54 BST, Sunday 28 July

Ledecky v Titmus v McIntosh – the three fastest of all time

The women’s 400m freestyle promises to be an epic event, featuring the three fastest swimmers of all time across the distance.

One of those is American great Katie Ledecky, who won the event in 2016 and needs two golds in Paris to become the most successful female swimmer in history.

Tough competition will come from a familiar and a new rival, however.

Australian Ariarne Titmus pipped Ledecky to gold in Tokyo and comes in having produced the second-fastest time ever last month.

Then there is 17-year-old Summer McIntosh – the Canadian set to be one of the breakout stars of the Games.

She broke Titmus’ world record in March last year, only for Titmus to go quicker when beating Ledecky in silver at last year’s World Championships.

It could be anyone’s race.

When is the final? 19:55 BST, Saturday 27 July

A relay record for Team GB?

Team GB go into these Games wanting to beat the eight swimming medals won in Tokyo.

The race they should be most confident is the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay – an event Britain won in 2021.

The British team will be able to call upon 2023 200m freestyle world champion Matt Richards, Olympic silver medallist Duncan Scott and Olympic champion Tom Dean, who was beaten by his two team-mates for a spot in the individual event this time around.

James Guy will likely take the final spot to reunite the gold medal-winning quartet.

That day they finished just 0.03seconds outside the world record set by the United States in 2009. Could they go quicker?

When is the final? 20:59 BST, Tuesday 30 July

Can Scott stop ‘new monster’ Marchand?

Any race involving Leon Marchand at the Olympics should not be missed.

The French superstar will be one of the faces of his home Games and has been tearing up the record books in recent years.

He has been given the nickname of ‘the new monster’ – the successor to Phelps – and last year, having been taken under the wing of Phelps’ former coach Bob Bowman, broke the American legend’s last world record in the 400m individual medley.

Marchand will race that event, plus three others, and is likely to be a contender in each.

In the 200m medley he will come up against Britain’s Scott and Dean, who won silver and bronze at last year’s World Championships behind Marchand.

Can either stop him?

When is the final? 19:49 BST, Friday 2 August

A world-class women’s showdown

The women’s 200m medley will be similarly eye-catching.

Canada’s McIntosh, Australia’s three-time Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown and Americans Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh were supposed to go head-to-head in a final billed as one for the ages at 2023’s World Championships, only for McIntosh to pull out to focus on other events and McKeown to be disqualified in the semi-final.

Barring any more unexpected twists, the swimming world will get what it wanted 12 months on in Paris.

Half a second separates their respective best times in recent years.

Throw in the rivalry between the Australian and American teams – last year Aussie swimmer Cate Campbell ramped up the noise by calling the Americans “sore losers” – and this really should be one to watch.

When is the final? 19:59 BST, Saturday 3 August

Will Proud get a medal in the ‘splash and dash’?

One of the races of the Games is always the 50m freestyle – also known as the splash and dash.

The one length sprint will crown the fastest swimmers on the planet and Team GB have a real contender.

Ben Proud has won world, European and Commonwealth gold throughout his career but has never won an Olympic medal.

Will this be his year?

The men’s race also has extra intrigue with the return of American superstar Caeleb Dressel.

The 27-year-old has seven Olympic golds, including five last time out in Tokyo, but pulled out of the 2022 World Championships midway through the event and subsequently took a break for his mental health.

On his return to the world stage at the US trials last month, Dressel impressed to book his slot to defend his 50m freestyle title.

The final can be a lottery, however…

When is the final? 19:30 BST, Friday 2 August