Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay
The men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 31 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]
| Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | London Aquatics Centre | |||||||||
| Dates | July 31, 2012 (heats & final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 84 from 16 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 6:59.70 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Qualification | ||
| Freestyle | ||
| 50 m | men | women |
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| 800 m | women | |
| 1500 m | men | |
| Backstroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Breaststroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Butterfly | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Individual medley | ||
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| Freestyle relay | ||
| 4×100 m | men | women |
| 4×200 m | men | women |
| Medley relay | ||
| 4×100 m | men | women |
| Marathon | ||
| 10 km | men | women |
The U.S. men's team smashed the seven-minute barrier in textile to defend the Olympic title in the event, and most importantly, to keep Michael Phelps' all-time record alive. The American foursome of Ryan Lochte (1:45.15), Conor Dwyer (1:45.23), Ricky Berens (1:45.27), and Phelps (1:44.05) dominated the race from the start to put together a blazing fast finish in 6:59.70.[2][3] As the Americans defended their Olympic title, Phelps also surpassed Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina to become the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time with a remarkable career tally of nineteen medals (15 golds, 2 silver, and 2 bronze).[4][5]
France's Amaury Leveaux (1:46.70), Grégory Mallet (1:46.83), Clément Lefert (1:46.00), and Yannick Agnel (1:43.24, the fastest split in the field) trailed behind their newest rivals in the pool by a couple of seconds to take home the silver in 7:02.77.[6] Meanwhile, China's Hao Yun (1:47.12), Li Yunqi (1:46.46), and Jiang Haiqi (1:47.17) struggled to keep their momentum throughout the race before Sun Yang dove into the pool at the final exchange. Sun then produced an astonishing anchor of 1:45.55 to deliver the Chinese team a historic relay bronze medal in 7:06.30, holding off the aggressive German foursome of Paul Biedermann (1:46.15), Dimitri Colupaev (1:46.36), Tim Wallburger (1:47.48), and Clemens Rapp (1:46.60) by 29-hundredths of a second with a fourth-place finish (7:06.59).[7][8]
Australia's Thomas Fraser-Holmes (1:46.13), Kenrick Monk (1:46.67), Ned McKendry (1:47.60), and Ryan Napoleon (1:46.60) finished fifth in 7:07.00, while Great Britain (7:09.33), South Africa (7:09.65), and Hungary (7:13.66) also vied for an Olympic medal to round out a historic finish.[8][9]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Michael Phelps (1:44.49) Ricky Berens (1:44.13) David Walters (1:45.47) Ryan Lochte (1:44.46) | 6:58.55 | Rome, Italy | 31 July 2009 | [10][11] |
| Olympic record | Michael Phelps (1:43.31) Ryan Lochte (1:44.28) Ricky Berens (1:46.29) Peter Vanderkaay (1:44.68) | 6:58.56 | Beijing, China | 13 August 2008 | [12] |
Results
Heats
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4 | | Charlie Houchin (1:48.22) Matt McLean (1:46.68) Davis Tarwater (1:46.33) Conor Dwyer (1:45.52) | 7:06.75 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | 4 |  | Jérémy Stravius (1:47.42) Grégory Mallet (1:47.56) Amaury Leveaux (1:47.87) Clément Lefert (1:46.33) | 7:09.18 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 5 |  | Tim Wallburger (1:48.10) Dimitri Colupaev (1:47.47) Clemens Rapp (1:48.04) Paul Biedermann (1:45.62) | 7:09.23 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 3 |  | David McKeon (1:48.25) Cameron McEvoy (1:47.89) Ned McKendry (1:47.55) Ryan Napoleon (1:46.81) | 7:10.50 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 6 |  | David Carry (1:48.82) Ross Davenport (1:47.59) Rob Bale (1:47.85) Robbie Renwick (1:46.44) | 7:10.70 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 5 |  | Lü Zhiwu (1:48.83) Li Yunqi (1:47.27) Jiang Haiqi (1:47.56) Dai Jun (1:47.69) | 7:11.35 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | 8 |  | Darian Townsend (1:48.09) Jean Basson (1:48.12) Sebastien Rousseau (1:47.67) Chad le Clos (1:47.63) | 7:11.51 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 2 |  | Dominik Kozma (1:47.24) Péter Bernek (1:48.94) László Cseh (1:48.19) Gergő Kis (1:47.27) | 7:11.64 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 3 |  | Yuki Kobori (1:48.00) Sho Sotodate (1:47.30) Chiaki Ishibashi (1:48.38) Yuya Horihata (1:48.06) | 7:11.74 | |
| 10 | 2 | 1 |  | Artem Lobuzov (1:48.30) Yevgeny Lagunov (1:47.40) Mikhail Polishchuk (1:48.82) Alexander Sukhorukov (1:47.34) | 7:11.86 | |
| 11 | 1 | 6 |  | Gianluca Maglia (1:48.39) Alex di Giorgio (1:47.93) Riccardo Maestri (1:47.94) Marco Belotti (1:48.53) | 7:12.69 | |
| 12 | 2 | 8 | .svg.png){kind=small} | Dieter Dekoninck (1:48.62) Glenn Surgeloose (1:48.22) Louis Croenen (1:49.32) Pieter Timmers (1:48.28) | 7:14.44 | NR |
| 13 | 1 | 1 |  | Daniel Skaaning (1:48.98) Pál Joensen (1:49.40) Anders Lie (1:47.59) Mads Glæsner (1:49.07) | 7:15.04 | NR |
| 14 | 2 | 7 |  | Blake Worsley (1:48.23) Colin Russell (1:48.54) Tobias Oriwol (1:49.24) Alec Page (1:49.21) | 7:15.22 | |
| 15 | 1 | 7 |  | Matthew Stanley (1:47.88) Steven Kent (1:49.92) Dylan Dunlop-Barrett (1:49.51) Andrew McMillan (1:49.87) | 7:17.18 | |
| 16 | 2 | 2 |  | David Brandl (1:49.80) Christian Scherübl (1:48.64) Markus Rogan (1:48.13) Florian Janistyn (1:51.37) | 7:17.94 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Time behind | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | | Ryan Lochte (1:45.15) Conor Dwyer (1:45.23) Ricky Berens (1:45.27) Michael Phelps (1:44.05) | 6:59.70 | ||
 | 5 | | Amaury Leveaux (1:46.70) Grégory Mallet (1:46.83) Clément Lefert (1:46.00) Yannick Agnel (1:43.24) | 7:02.77 | 3.07 | NR |
 | 7 | | Hao Yun (1:47.12) Li Yunqi (1:46.46) Jiang Haiqi (1:47.17) Sun Yang (1:45.55) | 7:06.30 | 6.60 | |
| 4 | 3 | | Paul Biedermann (1:46.15) Dimitri Colupaev (1:46.36) Tim Wallburger (1:47.48) Clemens Rapp (1:46.60) | 7:06.59 | 6.89 | |
| 5 | 6 | | Thomas Fraser-Holmes (1:46.13) Kenrick Monk (1:46.67) Ned McKendry (1:47.60) Ryan Napoleon (1:46.60) | 7:07.00 | 7.30 | |
| 6 | 2 | | Robbie Renwick (1:46.93) Ieuan Lloyd (1:47.40) Rob Bale (1:47.45) Ross Davenport (1:47.55) | 7:09.33 | 9.63 | |
| 7 | 1 | | Darian Townsend (1:47.25) Sebastien Rousseau (1:47.36) Chad le Clos (1:47.15) Jean Basson (1:47.89) | 7:09.65 | 9.95 | |
| 8 | 8 | | Dominik Kozma (1:46.94) László Cseh (1:48.06) Péter Bernek (1:48.74) Gergő Kis (1:49.92) | 7:13.66 | 13.96 |
References
- "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- "Phelps breaks Olympic medal record". Fox News. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- "Michael Phelps makes history with 19th Olympic medal". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- Rossingh, Danielle (31 July 2012). "Phelps Becomes Most Decorated Olympian With 19th Career Medal". Bloomberg. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- Almasy, Steve (31 July 2012). "'Fab Five' brings home gymnastics gold". CNN. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- Brooks, Matt; Shipley, Amy (31 July 2012). "Michael Phelps's gold rush continues: 4×200 freestyle relay medal is record 19th". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- "Sun Yang leads team China to bronze in swimming relay". Xinhua. China Times. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-07-10. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- "2012 London Olympics: Michael Phelps Becomes Most Decorated Olympian of All Time With 19th Medal; Anchors Team USA to Victory in 800 Free Relay". Swimming World Magazine. 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- "Phelps claims ultimate Olympic record". ABC News Australia. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- Dillman, Lisa (1 August 2009). "Michael Phelps' world records not wearing well". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- Michaelis, Vicky (31 July 2009). "Phelps earns relay gold medal, Peirsol sets 200m backstroke mark". USA Today. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- Stallman, Jason (13 August 2008). "Phelps Adds 2 More Gold Medals". New York Times. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- "Men's 4×200m Freestyle Relay – Heats". London 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- "Men's 4×200m Freestyle Relay – Final". London 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
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