SWIMMING BEEF is becoming the best story in Rio

Everybody hates each other in the pool this Olympics and it’s made for better prime time entertainment than we could ever ask for. The general theme for this year: call out the cheaters. What comes next? Beat them to the finish line and trash them in the post-race interview. Damn, the Olympics are more fun when someone draws blood.

Beef commenced with Australia’s Mack Horton beating the favorite, China’s Sun Yang, in the 400m freestyle. It started with a splash in the pool from Sun in a training session before the race that didn’t sit well with the Aussie. He told the media that he didn’t retaliate in any way because he “didn’t have time for drug cheats.” Sun tested positive for a banned stimulant called Trimetazidine in 2014 and served a three-month suspension for it.

Then, Horton set the precedent that if you talked smack, you better back it all up. He did so by touching the wall 0.13 seconds faster than Sun to win his first gold medal. Sun took silver.

After the event, Sun was seen crying which triggered the phrase “Don’t Cry Sun” to trend on Chinese social media. Horton’s social accounts were flooded with messages to apologize to the hometown hero who won two Olympic golds in London.

But Australia’s chef de mission Kitty Chiller backed Horton, stating “We have no intention of making an apology,” according to CNN affiliate Sky News Australia.

The two will have a chance to meet again in the 1500m freestyle on Sunday.

Most people didn’t know who Lilly King was a week ago. Now she’s all we’re talking about.

The 19-year-old has taken the lead in the war on doping, starting with a win over Russian Yulia Efimova in the 100m breaststroke.

This beef started when Efimova wagged her finger after winning her heat in the semifinals of the event. King was shown wagging her finger right back at a television screen showing Efimova’s celebration, and then beat her time in the second semifinal heat.

“Ya know, you’re shaking your finger number one and you’ve been caught for drug cheating,” said King in her post-race interview with NBC. “I’m just not a fan.”

Efimova won the gold medal in the event in 2012, but was unsure if she’d have a chance to defend the title in Rio. She’s tested positive twice since the games in London.

In 2014 she tested positive for a steroid hormone called DHEA. She claimed it was in a supplement the salesperson swore wouldn’t land her in trouble despite the banned substance being clearly labeled in the ingredients. She served a 16-month suspension. She was then caught with Meldonium — the same banned substance tennis star Maria Sharapova is suspended for two years for using — in her system. It’s unknown how long Meldonium stays in the body, though, and the drug was newly added to the banned list in January. Because Efimova tested positive in February, she was allowed a late entry into Rio.

So, King further publicized what was already known in the pool on prime time television. She called out Efimova, made the story the story of the day, and won.

“It’s incredible, winning a gold medal and knowing I did it clean,” King said in her post-race interview with NBC. What a subtweet!

She wasn’t done there though. This beef doesn’t just end with a victory over Efimova.

Chad le Clos made a name for himself when he beat Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly by 0.05 seconds to take gold in London. He was expected to continue to dominate in the event after Phelps retired, but then ... well, Phelps didn’t stay retired. Here comes the beef.

Le Clos tried to get into 19-time gold medalist Phelps’ head before the 200m semifinal. It’s an idea that was executed just about as well as it sounds. Le Clos shadowboxed in front of Phelps for a while and then paced back and forth a little while shaking his body around. It was strange, uncomfortable, pissed off the most decorated of all time, and made for some elite memeing.

The real joy of the whole encounter was watching Phelps stay poised looking like Marshall Mathers in 8 Mile until suddenly his vicious game face made an appearance.

Phelps beat out le Clos for second place in the qualifier, with the South African coming in third. They’ll compete in the medal race in the event Tuesday night.

Katie Ledecky crushed the competition in the 400m freestyle in hysterically comical fashion. I mean, we watched someone go out and demolish a world record. She made it seem like the last world record holder didn’t even try, because how can a world record be shattered in that fashion? Oh wait ... she held the old record, too?

Rio Ledecky’s in a whole other stratosphere.