The U.S. Swimming team is leaving the Paris Olympics with a total of 28 medals — eight gold, 13 silver and seven bronze — an impressive haul for the Americans after a slow start to the games.
The last swim event saw Team USA's women's 4x100 medley relay team of Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske break a world record on the way to claiming gold.
"It was incredible," said Smith. "It was just so, so special to end on such a high note and push us in the lead for the medal count."
Over on the men's side, Team USA capped off their time at the La Defense Arena with a silver in the the men's 4x100 medley relay with the team consisting of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Caeleb Dressel and Hunter Armstrong.
"There's not many people that leave in Olympics 100% satisfied and I'd say Team USA is is definitely in that category," said Murphy. "But I think it's one of those scenarios where a couple of weeks from now, we're going to be able to look back and feel really proud of the effort we put in to get these results and ultimately what ended up happening."
One thing Team USA is proud of, after some pre-Olympic banter, is having beaten Australia not only in total medals —18 for the Aussies — but in total gold medals, earning one more than their rivals.
"It's hard to call this a rivalry because, you know, a lot of us are such good friends, and we respect how well they compete," said self-appointed team cheerleader Kieran Smith. But he did add, "I think we solidified ourselves again this summer as the world's strongest team."
That strongest team title was in question at the start of the Games, with Australia, Canada and France claiming the majority of gold medals for the first few days of swimming. But when asked about what the future of U.S. Swimming looks like, especially as the team looks ahead to being the hosts at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Dressel says the slow start doesn't slow down any competition.
"Maybe it wasn't our best Games, but it doesn't mean I think we're any less attractive to be the ones to beat," said Dressel. "The rest of the world is getting faster in the water. And there's nothing wrong with that. Makes the sport more exciting."
In addition to being exciting, Dressel admits swimming can be very emotional. He had a viral moment at that Games with cameras caught him crying after he failed to qualify for the butterfly final. It was a moment he says he hopes others learn from.
"I hope maybe I humanized the Olympic experience a little bit," said Dressel. "It's just something that comes with the sport. It's not broadcasted as much and it shouldn't be, it should be the excitement and the joy around it. So yeah, I'm okay if that got brought out there. I'm not very good at hiding my emotions. And I was upset. It's as simple as that."
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