The final day of the Olympic swimming competition ended with spectacular performances from Bobby Finke and the U.S. women's medley relay team, both shattering world records and securing gold medals, ensuring the United States finished atop the swimming medal table.

Floridian Bobby Finke broke Sun Yang's 12-year-old 1,500m world record, retaining his gold medal in the grueling event. Following this, the U.S. women's medley relay team broke their own world record, delivering a golden performance. These victories contributed to the U.S. ending the swimming events with eight gold medals, one more than second-placed Australia, whose hopes of dominating the Olympic pool for the first time since Melbourne 1956 were dashed.

While the Americans celebrated multiple victories, it wasn't an all-out American domination. The U.S. men's medley relay team experienced their first Olympic defeat since the 1960 Rome Games. China, anchored by the remarkable Pan Zhanle, won gold in this event, leaving the U.S. team, with Caeleb Dressel, to take silver. Dressel, who swam the third butterfly leg, earned his first non-gold Olympic medal. "For team USA, the expectation is gold," Dressel said. "That's traditionally what we strive for."

Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom capped off her Olympics by winning the women's 50m freestyle in 23.71 seconds. The 30-year-old, a seasoned Olympian, called this her best Olympic performance, surpassing her achievements from previous Games. "I'm definitely going to continue swimming for many years," she said. "But I mean, how can I top this ever?"

However, the competition was also marred by controversy. China's success came under scrutiny due to doping allegations. Despite finishing fifth on the swimming medal table with two golds among their 12 medals, China's team faced skepticism. Revelations in April indicated that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned heart medication but were allowed to compete in Tokyo. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the explanation of contamination from a hotel kitchen. Additionally, recent reports suggested that two Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned steroid in 2022 had their provisional bans lifted due to claims of contaminated food.

British swimmer Adam Peaty commented on the issue, emphasizing the importance of fair competition. "One of my favorite quotes I've seen lately is 'There's no point in winning if you don't win it fair'," he said. "I don't want to paint a whole nation or a whole group of people with one brush. I think it's very unfair. But there have been two cases, and I think it's very disappointing."

Despite the controversy, the mood at the pool remained jubilant. Following Sjostrom's victory, Finke won the 1,500m in 14:30.67, shaving 0.35 seconds off Sun Yang's previous mark. Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri took silver, and Ireland's Wiffen earned bronze, making history as Ireland's first male Olympic swimming champion.

France celebrated another medal with bronze in the men's relay medley, buoyed by Leon Marchand's four individual golds. "This medal has the same flavor as the others. Except that it's shared," said Marchand. "It's the cherry on the cake, and I will remember it because we had a super team."

Ultimately, the U.S. reigned supreme in Olympic swimming, continuing their dominance since the 1992 Barcelona Games. The women's medley relay team, composed of Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske, sealed the U.S. victory with a world record swim of 3:49.63, with Australia taking silver and China bronze. "It's awesome to see everybody improving and just an awesome way to cap off the meet," said King.