Wood takes top-five in Paris Medley clash

[Article images courtesy of Team GB]

The penultimate day of pool swimming action at Paris 2024 witnessed Wood in her second consecutive Women’s 200m Individual Medley final - while there was a top-10 swim for Anna Hopkin in the Women’s 50m Freestyle semi-finals before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion anchored home Great Britain’s Mixed 4 x 100m Medley relay effort.

Another Olympic final experience for Abbie Wood left the Dave Hemmings-coached swimmer feeling ‘proud’ as she closed out her Games with a highly respectable fifth in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley final.

Pushing the front end of her effort, Wood split quicker through the butterfly and backstroke legs of the race than in her semi-final and came through strongly with her closing of freestyle to pick off another of her competitors to gain another place down the final 50m.

Reacting to her fifth place finish on the sport’s biggest stage, Wood said:

“Looking at the line-up, it was crazy, and watching all the times come through throughout the season, it was definitely one of the most competitive races on the female side - so many world record holders, Olympic champions, so to come fifth among all those girls, I really can't complain.

“Holding my composure is something I've really worked on, and just holding my emotions together. I love swimming and I want to do it as long as possible, but it's not something I let tear me apart anymore, and I think that's really reflected this week. I'm really proud of myself.”

Anna Hopkin provided the opening British involvement on Saturday evening in La Defense Arena, lining up in lane eight of Women’s 50m Freestyle semi-final two.

It was a really solid swim for Hopkin – her fastest international championships swim over the distance since 2019 and a season’s best performance to place her tenth among the fastest women in water on the planet.

Pleased with that swim, Hopkin had to stay in competition mode and prepare for the Mixed 4 x 100m Medley relay later on the night.

Alongside Hopkin, Kathleen Dawson remained in the finals quartet that saw Great Britain become the inaugural Olympic champions in the event three years ago in Tokyo – while James Wilby retained his place from the heats on the breaststroke and Duncan Scott stepped in to fulfil the butterfly leg.

Sandwiched between male backstroke swimmer either side of her in lane two, Dawson did well to combat the waves she had to swim through, but unfortunately the team was always chasing despite admirable following legs from Wilby, Scott and Hopkin and they placed seventh overall.

Speaking on her enjoyment of getting back in the pool alongside her teammates, Dawson said:

“It was great to get back in and be a part of this relay again, and it was great just to be a part of this relay - I've been on the team with Duncan for the last eight years and I don't think I've ever been in a relay with him!

“It was great to change it up and race with these guys, it's so much fun to be a part of this one. It's been a journey to get here, and I've enjoyed myself.”

There were additional words of admiration from Wilby on the incredible support that has been afforded to himself and the wider swimming team to reach the world stage.

“I'm incredibly grateful for all the support I've had from my friends and family in particular. We all talk about the team that's stood in front of you here, but the staff working behind the scenes are the unsung heroes of this team,” he said.

“Finally, ever single person at home, we couldn't do this without the support of everybody at home - and in particular the National lottery players, they are absolutely the people who fund and support us here, I wouldn't be here without them.

“I was 20-something year old, struggling to make ends meet, and my funding fundamentally put me here, gave me the medals I've got and I may not be the most successful athlete on the team, but I damn well hope to be one of the most grateful for all the funding I've received.”

Earlier in the day Oliver Morgan, Adam Peaty, Joe Litchfield and Matt Richards combined to navigate their way through qualification of the Men’s 4 x 100m Medley heat, while the quartet of Kathleen Dawson, Angharad Evans, Keanna MacInnes and Freya Anderson unfortunately fell just short of the mark required to reach the Women’s 4 x 100m Medley final with a ranking of 10th in the Olympic standings on conclusion of the heats.

The morning session also featured Daniel Jervis in the Men’s 1500m Freestyle heats, with the Tokyo finalist placing 15th overall at his second Games. Metronomic with the consistency he produced across each 50m split across the longest distance race swam in the Olympic pool programme, it would ultimately have of taken a lifetime best in the qualifying rounds for Jervis to progress among the top eight but he was unable to stick with the pace of the leaders in his heat on this occasion.

The final day of pool swimming on Sunday 4th August features one final medal opportunity for Great Britain in the Men’s 4 x 100m Medley final at 6.10pm, while you can find details of all the upcoming aquatics disciplines schedules from Paris 2024 through our What’s On? Page.

Where can I watch?

The BBC will be covering the majority of the Games across BBC One and Two, the BBC Red Button and BBC iPlayer. You can find their coverage schedule by clicking here.

Discovery+/Eurosport will also be broadcasting every minute of the Olympic Games but these channels require a subscription fee.