USA stunned by stars' dead heat in trials swim-off
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.
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.