Steve Parry: Excited for Luke Greenbank while Duncan Scott was remarkable

Olympian and BBC 5 Live commentator Steve Parry gives his reaction to Team GB picking up two more swimming medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Steve Parry admitted he was ‘excited’ for Luke Greenbank after he won Great Britain’s first-ever Olympic medal in the 200m Backstroke – and hailed a ‘remarkable’ Individual Medley swim from Duncan Scott.

Team GB’s swimming medal haul now stands at six with two days of the competition remaining following Greenbank’s bronze and Scott’s silver.

After another successful finals session, Parry said: “Unbelievable – we’re getting greedy aren’t we? A silver and a bronze medal – we will take that.

“Ryan Murphy is a legend of backstroke swimming so [for Luke] to miss out on a silver to him is no great shame.

“But we have never got a medal in the 200m Backstroke so it’s great to see that he has been able to get Britain up there.

“He has been really consistent with 1:54 swims. He has dealt with a foot injury earlier in the year but I’m just so excited for him. 

“It’s only three years to the next Olympics and I can’t see Murphy around for that one but Rylov looks very menacing – 1:52 is extraordinary. 

“If you’d have told me Duncan would have gone 1:55.20, I would be hanging the gold medal around his neck all day long.

“Wang was just unbelievable. He made a huge drop of 1.2 seconds and you can’t compete with 1:55.00.

“You can see how much he [Scott] left it out there because had his head in his hands at the end, both physically and mentally trying to recover from a massive effort.

“It was not only a personal best but also a Commonwealth record. To do that in a morning is hard, to do it after a 200m Freestyle effort and after a 4x200m Freestyle effort is quite remarkable.

“We will see them both in the Medley Relay on Sunday. We have been world champions in that before. The Americans look unbelievably strong but hopefully we have a chance of a medal.”

Chance of more medals

Parry reflected on the final performances of Molly Renshaw, Abbie Wood and Anna Hopkin – and said he was hopeful of further medals in the pool during the next two days.

Renshaw admitted to being disappointed after finishing sixth in the 200m Breaststroke, with Wood just behind her in seventh – while Hopkin was seventh in the 100m Freestyle.

Parry said: “I can see why Molly would be disappointed.

“She really made a statement earlier in the year with a 2:20 time. It’s got to be frustrating for her that that she couldn’t repeat that but to have two girls in the final is very positive.

“I think she will reflect and to come to her first Olympics and be in two finals is brilliant and she will definitely be there in three years’ time.

“The 100m Freestyle had some huge names of the sport in there with Cate Campbell, Sarah Sjoestroem and Emma McKeon. It’s a really stacked race and for her to get a 12-year British record reach an Olympic final is fabulous.

“I think we have chances of three more medals – Ben Proud, the 4x100m Medley Mixed and the 4x100m Medley Relay for men.

“It’s not so much the quantity of the medals won but the quality – three golds is dream world.”

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