It's amazing how many swimming races are decided by poor tactics on the touch. It seems like they maximize every other aspect except that. Last night Adam Peaty lost the 100 breaststroke by .02 because he needlessly separated his hands midway through the final stroke to the wall. The other two medalists smartly kept their hands together and punched the wall. Peaty had reached for the wall first but when his hands moved outward he lost more than .02
Today was even worse. The Chinese female 100 breaststroker totally threw away the gold by taking 4 strokes within the final 5 meters. She had such a big lead by standards of that event it seemed impossible to lose. Even though she was stalling badly she still had plenty of advantage if she had merely extended her arms to the wall instead of taking another stroke when she was only a foot from the wall.
The Romanian guy Popovici won the 200 freestyle by .02 by reaching quickly and emphatically to the wall.