Olympics Swimming Betting Tips: Men's 200m Freestyle

In this post, you can find Men’s 200m freestyle tips and betting odds ahead of the final at the Paris Olympics.

Olympics Men’s 200 Metres Freestyle Final Odds

Olympics Men’s 200m Freestyle Tips & Preview

Men’s 200m Freestyle Lane Order

Lane 1 – Matthew Richards (GBR)

Lane 2 – Maximillian Giuliani (AUS)

Lane 3 – Luke Hobson (USA)

Lane 4 – David Popovici (ROU)

Lane 5 – Duncan Scott (GBR)

Lane 6 – Lukas Maertens (GER)

Lane 7 – Danas Rapsys (LTU)

Lane 8 – Katsuhiro Matsumoto (JPN)

Betting Favourites

David Popovici – 1/8

The overwhelming favourite for the 2024 Men’s 200 Metres Freestyle is Romanian David Popovici (19) whose odds of 1/8 suggest he has an 88.9% chance of winning the Olympic gold medal for this event.

To book his spot in the final the Romanian won his heat in a time of 1:45:65 before then winning his semi-final by clocking a time of 1:44:53.

Popovici is the current junior World Record holder in the long course 200-metre freestyle with a 1.42.97. At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, Popovici won gold medals in both the Men's 100-metre freestyle and Men's 200-metre freestyle, becoming the first swimmer to do so at the same edition of the World Championships, since Jim Montgomery in 1973.

2022 was arguably the strongest season of his career to date where he won 11 gold medals and 2 silver medals and became only the third swimmer in history to set an under 1:43 time in the long course 200-metre freestyle.

In 20224 at the European Aquatics Championships, he won the gold medal in the 100m and 200m freestyle events and heads into this race as a worthy favourite.

Lukas Martens – 10/1

The second favourite for the 2024 Men’s 200 Metres Freestyle is German Lukas Martens (22) whose odds of 10/1 suggest a 9.1% chance he causes a shock in this event.

Martens came second in his heat in a time of 1:46:33, just pipping fellow finalist Duncan Scott by one by 0.01 of a second. It was another second-place finish in the semi-final which sees Martens through to this Olympics Final.

Luka's personal best for the 200m freestyle event came at the European Swimming Championships in 2021 where he posted a 1.44.33 in a 25m pool. He has also stopped the clock during the 2024 German Championships in 1.44.14 in a 50m pool and if he can post a similar time in this competition he has medals claims.

However, despite his obvious speed, it’s the 400m event where he truly shines with his recent 3.40.44 at the German Championships just 0.26 seconds off the World Record and fourth for fastest on the All-Time leaderboard.

Matthew Richards – 33/1

Next in the betting is the British swimmer Matthew Richards (21) at odds of 13/2 suggesting a 13.3% chance that he lands the gold medal for Great Britain.

The Brit clocked 1:46:19 to finish second in his heat before a 4th place finish in semi-final 2 in a time of 1:45:63, which was good enough to earn him a spot in this final.

Richards is another strong performer on the international stage having won gold medals in the 200-metre freestyle at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, Olympic gold in the 4 x 200-metre freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics and World gold in the same event at the 2023 World Championships.

Ahead of the games, Matt Richards has spoken confidently about his chances saying that he senses his time is now and how a positive Olympic experience in these next few weeks could catapult him into superstardom. He has already won an Olympic medal in the relay but now has his sights firmly set on individual glory.

*Prices are subject to fluctuation.

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