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With so many swimmers around the world preparing for the Tokyo Olympics it can be difficult to track the best of the best, especially newcomers from different countries.
Let us look at the rising stars at the Tokyo Olympics from Asia, Africa, and Latin American countries this time, and of course, the usual candidates that will do well from the United States and Europe.
No matter who you root for, these swimmers are going to be making their way to the podium at the Tokyo Olympics.
Tokyo Olympics - The best upcoming swimmers
Top upcoming Asian swimmer
One of the best Asian swimmers to watch, let alone women swimmers, is Rikako Ikee. She is only 18-years old and calls the country of Japan home.
Back in 2018, when she was only 16-years old, she swam the world’s fastest time in the 100 meter fly. She was also recently named the MVP of the Asian Games where she walked away with eight total medals which included six gold medals.
Especially with the Tokyo Olympics being in her home country, it is safe to say that all eyes will be on Rikako Ikee this summer.
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Top upcoming African swimmer
Africa, especially the entire continent, will be rooting for Tatjana Schoenmaker of South Africa. She is a dual event athlete qualifying to represent the country in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics.
Schoenmaker really does have an excellent opportunity to win at the Tokyo Olympics with her previous experience on the world wide scale.
Previously at the 2019 World Championships, she earned a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games she earned gold medals in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke.
If this goes to show the potential that Schoenmaker has, hopes will be high for her to win the gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Also Checkout: Tokyo Olympic 2021 Swimming Schedule
Top upcoming Latin American swimmer
When it comes to the best Latin American swimmer to watch, we have Santiago Grassi from Argentina. He did make it to the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 100m butterfly, but he did not make it past the semifinals at the time.
Since then, he has been training continuously and has earned yet another bid to represent the country at the Tokyo Olympics. After taking his talents to Auburn University to swim, Grassi has only gotten better.
Being 24 years of age, he is certainly in his prime, making him the prime swimming athlete for Argentina and all of Latin America at the Tokyo Olympics.
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Overall top upcoming swimmers from around the world
Canada’s Taylor Ruck took the world by storm at the Commonwealth Games in April, where she won eight total medals, including a gold in the 200m freestyle. Ruck then followed that up with five total medals at the Pan Pacs in August, highlighted by the world’s fastest time in the 200m freestyle, taking down the almighty Katie Ledecky.
Ruck will be joining Ledecky in Palo Alto at Stanford this fall where she will start her freshman year. Greg Meehan has been known to get great swimmers and make them even faster, guiding Simone Manuel and Maya DiRado to individual Olympic gold medals in 2016.
The 6-foot, slender Ruck has all the makings of being a great swimmer, and could be seeing a huge medal haul over the next couple of years, starting with the Tokyo Olympics.
It’s hard to believe “baby-faced assassin” hasn’t become Duncan Scott’s official nickname, taking after NBA superstar Steph Curry. Scott has been one of Great Britain’s rising young stars since he first made an appearance for Team Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Flash forward four years later and Scott came away with six total medals from the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, including a gold in the 100m freestyle, becoming the first ever man from Scotland to win the event.
Scott followed that up with a gold medal in the 200m freestyle at the European Championships in lane eight, in front of a home crowd. His time of 1:45.34 was faster than anyone has ever swam at any of the four major meets.
His 100m freestyle gold from the Commonwealth Games (48.02s) would have put him third in the Virtual World Championships behind Kyle Chalmers and Alessandro Miressi.
Scott is a part of a very strong British team that could challenge for gold medals in the 4×200m freestyle and 4×100m medley relays at the Tokyo Olympics. They had the fourth fastest time in the world this year in both relays, but will definitely be major players in the next two summers at the world meets.
Regardless of what country you are rooting for, we just hope that everyone has fun and enjoys the Tokyo Olympics.
