Japan’s
Ryo Tateishi outtouched countryman Kosuke Kitajima for bronze, 2:08.29 to
2:08.35. For the fourth time these Olympics, a swimmer fell shy of a
third-straight Olympic gold in the same event. Kitajima no longer has a shot at
this historic marker, but Michael Phelps still has two more shots, in the 200
IM and 100 fly. Meanwhile, Americans Scott Weltz and Clark Burckle finished
fifth and sixth respectively; Weltz finished just short of his lifetime best
from the semi-finals, while Burckle lowered his for a third-straight time with
a 2:09.25. We’ve seen impressive performances from these two surprise
qualifiers in the 200 breast.
Next
up, Jiao Liuyang ran down Mireia Belmonte on her way to gold and an impressive
Olympic record of 2:04.06 in the women’s 200 fly. Despite a World title in the
event last year, Jiao needed to win gold tonight to finally emerge from the
shadows of Liu Zige, the world record-holder and 2008 gold medalist. We didn’t
see too much drama in the event, as the Spanish star of the 2010 Short Course
World Champs took silver, and Japan’s Natsumi Hoshi took bronze.
American
Kathleen Hersey entered the final as the top qualifier, but she did not have
quite enough firepower to come away with the gold. Still, Hersey swam her third
best time of the meet; her 2:05.78 moved past the 2:05.88 that Misty Hyman swam
on her way to gold at the 2000 Olympics as the new American record. Meanwhile,
Cammile Adams finished fifth for the United States in 2:06.78, off of her
2:06.52 from Trials, but the Americans have shown great improvement in the
event after finishing outside of the final for two straight World
Championships.
James
Magnussen entered the Olympic Games expecting to win at two gold medals in his
first two events. After a stunning fourth-place finish for Australia in the 400
free relay, Magnussen reclaimed some of his swagger with a 47.63 in the 100
free semi-finals to take the top seed. Nathan Adrian, meanwhile, had built up
some serious confidence after three straight wins at the Olympics; he “won” the
leadoff leg of the men’s 400 free relay before pacing his semi-final and final
heats. On that leadoff leg, Adrian beat Magnussen, but Magnussen still expected
to come through here.
Cesar
Cielo went out fast, with Brent Hayden and Adrian right on his hip. Magnussen
took the lead with about 15 meters left, but Adrian battled back and touched
out the Aussie, 47.52 to 47.53. Adrian rides on waves of momentum at big meets;
after anchoring the U.S. to a disappointing bronze medal in the 400 free relay
last summer in Shanghai and losing to a charging Magnussen in his 100 free
semi-final, Adrian failed to medal in both the 50 and 100 free. That came just
a year after winning both the 50 and 100 free at Pan Pacs over Cielo; in fact,
Adrian swam four tenths slower at Worlds than he previously had at Pan Pacs.
Adrian
rode his momentum tonight to take down Magnussen. The top American 100
freestyler for four years, Adrian had the confidence down the stretch to know
that no one could beat him at the wall. Adrian won’t compete in the 50, so he
has to find another chance to channel the momentum and confidence he has built
up. Enter the men’s 400 medley relay; Adrian has sured up an anchor leg that
looks unstoppable in the race for gold.
The
women’s 800 free relay finished off the night, and a balanced performance from
Team USA led to another gold medal, the eighth in London for the Stars and
Stripes. Missy Franklin, Dana Vollmer, and Shannon Vreeland left Allison
Schmitt six tenths behind Australia’s Alicia Coutts, but Schmitt, one of the
stars of women’s swimming at these Games, came through with a 1:54.09 anchor
leg. Coutts, meanwhile, showed some grit to anchor in 1:56.19, but Schmitt
simply overpowered her. France’s Camille Muffat, meanwhile, put her team in front
at the start, and her teammates held on to earn a bronze medal.
With
the win tonight, the American women broke a drought of two full Olympic cycles
without a relay win. In 2004, they took gold in the 800 free along with two
silvers, but the foursome fell to bronze four years ago. The situation reached
an all-time low at the Worlds in Rome, when the women only won a single relay
medal, silver in the 800 free relay, after finishing fourth in the 400 free
relay. They almost certainly would have medaled in the 400 medley relay, but a
second-string team failed to finish in the top eight. After years of Australian
dominance, the Americans have returned as the premier team in women’s swimming.
I
picked China to finish third tonight behind the U.S. and Australia, but they surprisingly
ended up back in sixth. The Chinese brought in Yi Shiwen to swim second on
their relay, but Yi, who produced a scintillating 28.93 final 50 split in the
400 IM, could only manage a 1:57.37. Do I understand that? Not at all. However,
I find the doping allegations against Yi even more perplexing. Why does NBC
talk nonstop about how she must be guilty? Yeah, she dropped some time. I can
tell you that at age 16, I dropped a lot more time than Yi. We live in the United
States, where we believe in innocent until proven guilty. Let’s respect that.
Check
back later for my thoughts on tonight’s four semi-final races and a look ahead
to tomorrow’s preliminary action.
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