Tokyo Olympics 2020: Lilly King confident Americans will dominate women’s swimming events

Reviving memories of Gary Hall Jr’s smash the Aussies like guitars back in 2000, US swimmer Lilly King has made a claim that even Las Vegas bookmakers found outrageous.

At an Olympics where everything is eerily quiet, there’s one familiar noise still blasting through the silence.

It is the sound of the American swimming team blowing their own trumpet.

Showing that they still haven’t learnt their lessons from Sydney 2000, the US of A are at it again – casually dismissing the chances of their international opposition by counting gold medals before the races have even taken place.

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Reviving memories of Gary Hall Jr’s gaffe from two decades ago — when he wrongly bragged that the Americans were going to smash the Aussies like guitars – Lilly King has gone one step further, claiming the US women will win every individual gold medal in women’s swimming at Tokyo.

It’s such an outrageous prediction that Las Vegas bookmakers are already betting heavily that America’s top female swimmers will lose far more races than they win, especially after giving their foreign rivals a free motivational leg up.

US star Lilly King has made a bold claim ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

The Americans were given a taste of what to expect in Tokyo when Katie Ledecky was beaten by Australia’s Ariarne Titmus at the 2019 world championships then Regan Smith lost her 100m backstroke world record to Queensland sensation Kaylee McKeown last month but the message still isn’t sinking in with even senior US coaches now doubling down on King’s goofy comments.

“What I love about what Lilly said is that is who she is, that is her personality, she is competitive,” the US women’s head coach Greg Meehan said.

“That is someone we want on Team USA. She’s great on relays and regardless of the context of that, the reality is, is that competitive spirit is what Team USA is all about.

“(When) we get into international competition, that competitive spirit is what drives us. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s Australia or Team GB or China or Japan or whoever it may be, it’s about being the best that we can be as Team USA.”

If gold medals were handed out for bluster, the Americans would be unbeatable and they have the track record to prove it.

While the Dolphins haven’t won a single individual Olympic gold medal in women’s swimming since Beijing in 2008, the US has topped the medals tables in swimming at the past seven Olympics but the tide is turning.

All the latest data suggests the US could be knocked off the top perch for the first time since the fall of communism.

Of the 14 individual swimming events for women in Tokyo, the US are ranked No.1 in the world in just five races while Australia has the top-ranked competitor in seven events.

In the men’s races, the US ranked first in just three individual events. Of the seven relays, which the US traditionally dominates, the US is at serious risk of not winning any of them.

Katie Ledecky will be chasing more Olympic glory in Tokyo.

Rankings always need to be taken with a grain of salt because they are only guidelines and don’t mean anything when the pressure is on, as plenty of beaten favourites have discovered but the raw numbers are proof the US need to get faster in a hurry to deliver on their pre-Olympic boasts.

“We can’t get too distracted on what the rest of the world is doing. We’re really staying focused on ourselves on Team USA,” Meehan said.

“Our competitors will all be there when we get there but we‘re going to keep our focus where it needs to be.”