… That was crazy.

The 2022 Duel in the Pool kicked off in roaring fashion on Saturday in Sydney, Australia, seeing 20 pool events take place against the storied swimming rivals of the United States and Australia. The session featured events that spanned from a traditional 100m freestyle to the complexities of unique point bonuses and never-before-seen events, providing swim fans with strategy, excitement, how-can-an-IM-could-end-in-a-butterfly thoughts and more.

While the point totals will be confirmed before the next session (August 21 at 7 p.m. local/5 a.m. ET), what we know is that the rivalry is in full swing and the competition is running fierce heading into the last day.

With that, here were some of the top moments from the session:

The 200m Mystery IM is a Sight to See
What happens when you dive off the blocks and immediately have to flip into a backstroke? Have you ever seen someone try and hold off a lead with a breaststroke against someone swimming butterfly in a final sprint? Those questions were answered today with the introduction of the 200m Mystery IM.

Before the race, every swimmer was given a random order for how they would swim an IM, and it led to all sorts of wonderful mayhem. Every swimmer had to start from the blocks, meaning the U.S.' Trenton Julian had to dive in and immediately flip on his back to pursue his backstroke-first event order he was assigned. The race was, understandably so, hard to predict who would end up first. Then, in the last leg, Australia's Se-Bom Lee and the U.S.' Chase Kalisz were trying to close their swims with a 50m breaststroke sprint, when a Julian butterfly emerged out of nowhere to take back a third-of-a-pool deficit against the butterfliers and narrowly win the event. 

If you haven't watched it by now, you should. Just, brace yourself. 

All About the Strategy
With a unique set of rules and scoring bonuses, it was clear that strategy would be evident throughout the pool events. That started today with the men's 100m butterfly, where the U.S. played a "Flag Frenzy" to award double-points to whoever finished first, even if the winner was Australian. Nonetheless, Shaine Casas held down the event to touch first and bring double points back to the American team. 

To their credit, the Aussies answered the game of strategy ping pong with a unique play of their own in the women's 3x50m butterfly skins. After the field of six had boiled down to two, the U.S.' Beata Nelson had edged out Olympic medalist Emma McKeon for first place. Shortly after they touched the wall, Australia evoked the "Double Dip" rule, meaning the final two swimmers in the skins event had to re-swim, and double points would be awarded to the winner. On the re-swim, it became apparent that McKeon had saved up her energy on the first 1-v-1 attempt in order to go all out on the Double Dip, as she went on to out-touch Nelson and claim the points for the Australian team. 

The U.S. would later flip the script, pulling the exact same move in the women's 3x50m breaststroke skins, seeing Kaitlyn Dobler originally finish second behind Australia's Chelsea Hodges, only to come back and win the Double Dip re-swim for the red, white and blue. 

Needless to say, it is nearly impossible to predict events with athletes, coaches and team leaders plotting out how to attack each and every race. 

The Decorated McKenzie Coan Was on Full Display
This year's Duel in the Pool is the first of its kind to feature Para events, and six-time Paralympic medalist made her mark. She competed in three events on the day, scoring points on every swim she contested. Her marquee performance on the day came via the Mixed Class 100m freestyle with staggered starts, which saw swimmers of different Para classifications start at different times (based off world record marks) that would result in all swimmers finishing at roughly the same time. Coan was the first one off the blocks, and even with a full field closing down the stretch, was the first one to touch the wall. 

This Competition Could, and Likely Will, Come Down to the Wire
The rivalry has lived up to the hype, and all indications are pointing towards a close finish tomorrow in Sydney. Today, both teams posted at least one 1-2 finish, won at least one relay, and successfully won at least one Double Dip and one Flag Frenzy. There were constant lead changes throughout the day that lead fans to believe tomorrow's session should come down to a close ending. Competition concludes at 5 a.m. ET tomorrow.