LSU Swimmer Brings Home The Gold For Team USA At Tokyo Olympics
By Sarah Tate
July 26, 2021
Louisiana State University swimmer Brooks Curry helped bring home the gold during the men's 4x100 meter freestyle relay on Sunday (July 25), adding to Team USA's growing list of accolades at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
According to LSU, Curry is the school's first athlete to earn a gold medal for swimming and the first Tiger to compete in the relay since Sion Bonn represented Great Britain at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Curry, alongside Blake Pieroni, Zach Apple and Bowen Becker placed first during the second heat of the prelims. He took the lead on the team, starting with a 23.51 split in the first 50 meters and finishing his leg with a time of 48.84, per Fox 8 Live.
He didn't swim during the finals, but all swimmers of winning teams who participate during prelims are also awarded medals, KATC reports.
GOLDEN 🥇
— LSU Swimming & Diving (@LSUSwimDive) July 26, 2021
Brooks Curry becomes the first LSU swimmer in program history to take home the gold! #OlympiansMadeHere | #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/8f6b1CMHV3
During the finals, Curry was replaced by Caeleb Dressel, who helped lead the relay team to gold.
"I had the easiest job last night out of everyone here, I got to watch it on TV, so I felt like (Brooks) deserved that a little more than me," Dressel said, according to a tweet by USA Swimming showing Dressel tossing a gold medal to Brooks in the stands.
"I had the easiest job last night out of everyone here, I got to watch it on TV, so I felt like (Brooks) deserved that a little more than me.“ - Caeleb Dressel
— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) July 26, 2021
Class act. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WJhsjYx77Y