Lady Vols Swimmer Connolly Wins Third Career Olympic Medal

PARIS – For the third time in her career, Erika Connolly (formerly Brown) brought home Olympic hardware, as Team USA’s 4×100 free relay finished second overall on the opening day of competition.

After winning silver in the 4×100 medley relay and bronze in the 4×100 free relay during the 2020 Tokyo Games, Connolly became the first Lady Vol swimmer ever to win three Olympic medals and joined Melvin Stewart as the only swimmers in Tennessee history to achieve the feat. With Connolly’s silver, UT now boasts 16 Olympic medals between its men’s and women’s programs.

Connolly swam during prelims only for the U.S., clocking a 53.83 to help the squad finish second and secure its spot in finals. Also competing in prelims only, Brooklyn Douthwright made her Olympic debut by posting a 53.81 effort for Canada to take sixth and move on to relay finals. The USA posted a time of 3:30.20 to win silver, while Canada finished fourth overall.

In addition to Connolly and Douthwright, Tjasa Pintar also swam in the 4×100 free relay for Slovenia, placing 14th with a mark of 3:41.29. She anchored the relay with a 56.35 effort in her second career appearance at the Summer Games.