Ryan Murphy is aiming to accomplish something no other male swimmer has ever done in Olympic history, and he faced a key test of that goal on Sunday in Paris.
Murphy was trying to become the first male swimmer to win medals in both the 100 and 200 backstroke in three consecutive Olympic Games, and competed in the semifinals of the 100-meter event on Sunday.
Murphy, competing in the first of two semi-final races, qualified fourth with a time of 52.72 seconds. The top three runners in each semi-final automatically advance to the final, with the two fastest times also competing in a field of eight.
Fortunately for Murphy, his time was comparable to the competitors in the second semi-final, ultimately finishing fifth best, earning him a spot in Monday’s final.
China’s Xu Jiayu came close to breaking the world record in the 100m backstroke, finishing in 52.02 seconds, half a second faster than Italy’s Thomas Ceccon.
Murphy’s fellow American Hunter Armstrong finished 11th and failed to qualify for the final.
Murphy’s efforts continue on Monday with the 100m final scheduled for 2:19pm CST.
He’ll begin his path to the 200 backstroke final with a qualifying race on Wednesday, with the starting gun scheduled to go off at 4:33 a.m. CST.
