Thu 14 August 2008 10:00 Morning Session
- Men's 200m Breaststroke Final
GOLD: 2:07.64 OR Kosuke Kitajima, JPN
SILVER: 2:08.88 Brenton Rickard, AUS
BRONZE: 2:08.94 Hugues Duboscq, FRA
6. Scott Spann, USA - Women's 100m Freestyle Semifinal
1. 53.70 Natalie Coughlin, USA
2. 53.81 Marleen Veldhuis, NED
3. 53.84 Yingwen Zhu, CHN
3. 53.84 Hanna-Maria Seppala FIN
5. 53.94 Francesca Halsall, GBR
6. 53.96 Britta Steffen, GER
7. 54.05 Jeanette Ottesen, DEN
8. 54.10 Lisbeth Trickett, AUS
12. 54.74 Lacy Nymeyer, USA - Men's 200m Backstroke Semifinal
1. 1:55.26 Aaron Peirsol, USA
2. 1:55.40 Ryan Lochte, USA
3. 1:56.34 Markus Rogan, AUT
4. 1:56.35 Ryosuke Irie, JPN
5. 1:56.45 Razvan Florea, ROU
6. 1:56.72 Gregor Tait, GBR
7. 1:56.73 Hayden Stoeckel, AUS
8. 1:56.85 Arkady Vyatchanin, RUS (QUALIFIED 8TH VIA SWIM-OFF)
8. 1:56.85 Helge Meeuw GER
SWIM OFF
1:57.75 Arkady Vyatchanin, RUS
2:00.97 Helge Meeuw GER
- Women's 200m Butterfly Final
GOLD: 2:04.18 WR Zige Liu, CHN
SILVER: 2:04.72 Liuyang Jiao, CHN
BRONZE: 2:06.26 Jessicah Schipper, AUS
7. 2:07.57 Elaine Breeden, USA
8. 2:08.23 Kathleen Hersey, USA - Men's 100m Freestyle Final
GOLD: 47.21 Alain Bernard, FRA
SILVER: 47.32 Eamon Sullivan, AUS
BRONZE: 47.67 Jason Lezak, USA
BRONZE: 47.67 Cesar Cielo Filho, BRA - Women's 200m Breaststroke Semifinal
1. 2:22.64 Rebecca Soni, USA
2. 2:23.04 Leisel Jones, AUS
3. 2:23.76 Mirna Jukic, AUT
4. 2:23.79 Sara Nordenstam, NOR
5. 2:23.94 Annamay Pierse, CAN
6. 2:24.00 Yuliya Efimova, RUS
7. 2:25.42 Megumi Taneda, JPN
8. 2:25.65 Rie Kaneto, JPN - Men's 200m Individual Medley Semifinal
1. 1:57.69 Ryan Lochte, USA
2. 1:57.70 Michael Phelps, USA
3. 1:58.06 Thiago Pereira, BRA
4. 1:58.19 Laszlo Cseh, HUN
5. 1:58.49 Ken Takakuwa, JPN
6. 1:58.63 James Goddard, GBR
7. 1:59.42 Liam Tancock, GBR
8. 1:59.43 Keith Beavers, CAN - Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final
GOLD: 7:44.31 WR AUS (Rice 1:56.60, Barratt 1:56.58, Palmer 1:55.22, Mackenzie 1:55.91)
SILVER: 7:45.93 CHN (Yang 1:56.79, Zhu 1:56.64, Tan 1:58.11, Pang 1:54.39)
BRONZE: 7:46.33 USA (Schmitt 1:57.71, Coughlin 1:57.19, Burckle 1:56.70, Hoff 1:54.73)
WR = World Record
Olympic Results and Event Schedule
Olympic Swimming Headquarters
Full Results From the Olympic Swimming Pool
Allison Schmitt, Natalie Coughlin, Caroline Burckle and Katie Hoff set an American record and won a bronze medal in the women’s 800m freestyle relay Thursday with a time of 7:46.33. Their medal was one of two won by the United States, with Jason Lezak tying Brazil’s Cesar Cielo for the bronze in the men’s 100m free in 47.67. Team USA’s medal count in the pool now stands at 20 – seven gold, five silver and eight bronze.
Two world and an Olympic record fell on the fifth day of finals. China’s Zige Liu set the first world record in the women’s 200m butterfly, turning in a time of 2:04.18. Australia’s Stephanie Rice, Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer and Linda Mackenzie set the second in the women’s 800m free relay, winning gold in 7:44.31. Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima set the Olympic record in the men’s 200m breast in 2:07.64.
The top four teams in the women’s 800m free relay swam faster than the former world record of 7:50.09, set by the United States at last year’s World Championships. Australia trailed by three-hundredths after the first leg, but took the lead in the second leg and never looked back.
Their time shattered the former world record by more than five and a half seconds and was more than a second ahead of second-place China, which took silver in 7:45.93.
Afterward, first-time Olympian Burckle said the U.S. was pleased with its bronze-medal effort. “We were four seconds under the old world record and the American record,” Burckle said. “That’s incredible, gold silver or bronze. We were really excited. It’s probably the best feeling in the world. We did it, and we’re sitting here with a medal, and nobody can take that away from us.”
Schmitt, also a first-time Olympian, agreed. “I believe all of us left it in the pool,” Schmitt said. “We gave it our best try. We swam with our heart, and we did the best we could, and we’re happy to hold the bronze medal now. It’s really just amazing to represent the U.S. and see our flag raised for our relay. It was great.”
In the men’s 100m free, Lezak, the hero of the men’s 400m free relay on Monday, was fifth at the turn but pulled himself into medal contention as he hammered his way down the last 40 meters. France’s Alain Bernard finished out of reach this time, winning gold in 47.21, while Australia’s Brenton Rickard, who set the world record in semifinals on Wednesday, won silver in 47.32. Cesar Cielo of Brazil tied Lezak for the bronze.
Lezak’s performance marked his first individual Olympic medal. “I definitely wasn’t going to make the same mistake I made four years ago (in Athens), where I took the preliminaries too easy,” Lezak said. “It’s been eating at me for a long time, so to go out and accomplish a medal is really exciting. It doesn’t top the relay medal, but it’s something I’ve been pushing for for years. “I’m lucky to have survived out there. I’m pretty tired, but luckily I’ve got a couple days to rest up.”
Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima won the men’s 200m breaststroke handily, finishing more than a second ahead of the rest of the field. The win was his second gold medal of the week after taking the 100m breast on Monday. Brenton Rickard of Australia was second in 2:08.88, while Hugues DuBoscq of France was third in 2:08.94. American Scott Spann finished sixth in 2:09.76.
The roof almost blew off the Water Cuber with Chinese swimmer Liu’s world-record in the women’s 200m fly. Australia’s Jessicah Schipper lead the field and was more than a second ahead of world record pace at the 100-meter mark, but Liu took the lead at the third turn and built on that lead down the homestretch. In the meantime, Liu’s teammate, Liuyang Jiao pulled ahead of Schipper to touch second in 2:04.72. Schipper finished third in 2:06.26.
Americans Elaine Breeden and Kathleen Hersey finished seventh and eighth in the 200m fly with times of 2:07.57 and 2:08.23.
