Swimming Blogs - Garrett McCaffrey

Of the 13 gold medals that the United States has claimed thus far in Beijing, ten of them hang around the neck of swimmers. Three of those were earned in today's finals session, as the US claimed three out of four championship races. Oh yeah, all three victories came in world record time.

The first gold of the day was passed out Rebecca Soni who took down the breaststroke star from down-under in world record style ( 2:20.22 ) giving the American women their second gold of these games. Both girls were ahead of the WR line at the 150 but Leisol Jones was unable to keep up with Soni's last 50 and had to settle for silver (2:22.05).

I think relief is the most accurate way to describe Ryan Lochte's reaction after he touched first in the 200 back (1:53.94). It's impossible not to root for a guy who goes after it every time like Lochte does. In the 400 IM his ballsy attack of Phelps on the third leg cost him the silver, but I wouldn't expect anything less. Today he made a choice on that last 50, where he split 28.88!, and no one in the world was going to beat him.

I believed before this started that Michael Phelps would win eight gold medals. But I would have never predicted that he could claim eight world records on the way. He took any excitement out of the 200 IM final today in the third 50 as he pulled away from Hungry's Lazlo Cshe in route to a personal best aka another world record (1:54.23). Is it just me or does he seem ready for this to be over? I can't blame him at all. Imagine his routine: Warm-up pool to the competition pool, medal stand to warm-down pool and a following that would drive Britney Spears crazy every step of the way. It must be tough taking the entire sport on your back and bringing it to the next level.

In the last final of the morning, the battle was fought in lanes 7 and 8 between Germany's Britta Steffen and Libby Trickett of Australia. Steffen turned 8th at the 50, seven spots behind the halfway leader Trickett. But when the waves settled on an incredible back half, Steffen claimed gold in an Olympic Record time of 53.12.