Today’s best bets on TV

A look at the top events in the Rio Olympics on Wednesday:

Swimming

Ghosts of Olympics past and present combine forces in the women’s 800-meter freestyle relay. Missy Franklin, who was a star in 2012 and an afterthought these Games, and Katie Ledecky are expected to be on the U.S. women’s freestyle relay team. Ledecky is poised to become the new face of U.S. swimming if Michael Phelps follows through on his retirement plans. Nathan Adrian is hoping for his second straight gold in the 100 freestyle, but that race is always among the most difficult to win.

Men’s gymnastics

If you want to see a great male gymnast, the all-around competition should fit the bill. All eyes will be on Japan’s Kohei Uchimura, the defending champion. The last person to win back-to-back all-around golds was Sawao Kato of Japan in 1968 and 1972. The best shot for the U.S. is Sam Mikulak, but he didn’t wow them at the trials and will need to get his act together to compete against the best.

Beach volleyball

Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson are in a must-win situation if they want to advance out of the opening rounds of play. They lost Monday and now must beat Pablo Herrera Allepuz and Adrian Gavira Collado of Spain to avoid having to backdoor their way into the round of 16. On the women’s side, Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross should remain undefeated after playing Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland.

Water polo

The U.S. men’s team is in shambles after losing its first two matches. Then again, its opponent, France, isn’t in any better shape, having lost its first two matches. The losses to Croatia and Spain were not a death blow in the first round where each team plays five matches.