The thousands of Americans in the stands at the USA Paris 2024 swimming trials on Friday (AEST) witnessed one of the rarest series of events possible in sport.
They witnessed a double swim-off.
In heat two of the men’s 50m freestyle semi-finals at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of NFL franchise the Indianapolis Colts, Adam Chaney and Jonny Kulow tied for eighth when they both touched the wall at 21.89 seconds.
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A swim-off was required to determine which of the two men would advance to the final.
But in that swim-off, they both clocked 21.79.
Finally, the deadlock was broken in the second swim-off when Chaney touched in 21.81 to eliminate Kulow, who finished at 21.99.
After lugging his bulky frame through three 50m sprints within an hour, a gassed but elated Chaney punched the water in triumph.
“Probably the most nervous I’ve ever been. I can feel it,” Chaney said.
“You’ve just got to experience it to understand. I don’t know if anybody else has ever done that.
“The confidence, it’s great. Just [swam] three 21s in the past hour. It feels good, and I got faster.”
Caeleb Dressel, the seven-time Olympic gold medallist, posted the fastest time of the semi-final heats, stopping the clock at 21.59.