United States Stays Perfect With Olympic Record in 400 Medley Relay

2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES

• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Swimming: August 6-13
• Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
• Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
• SwimSwam previews 
• Day 8 Schedule & Results
• Live Stream (NBC)

The USA capped off what’s been one of the most exciting Olympic swimming weeks ever by staying undefeated in the men’s medley relay, and by doing it in Olympic Record fashion.

Tonight, the team of Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller, Michael Phelps, and Nathan Adrian won the US’s 14th gold in this event.  Murphy, who swept the backstroke events earlier this week, further cemented his ascension to the backstroke throne by taking down Aaron Piersol’s supersuited world record in the 100 back on the leadoff leg, touching in 51.85.

Miller followed that with a solid 59.03 split, although Great Britain surged ahead on the strength of Adam Peaty‘s otherworldly breaststroke split.

Up next was the GOAT, Phelps, with his last Olympic swim, and when he touched the wall 50.33 seconds later, the US men were back in the lead.

By that point, the race was essentially over, and Adrian put the nail in the coffin by anchor in 46.74, giving the US the Olympic Record, surpassing the mark set by the US men in 2008.

Here’s a look at the comparative splits between the 2008 OR and tonight:

That also makes tonight’s swim the second fastest of all-time, and a textile world record.  The world record is a 3:27.28 that the US men swam at the 2009 World Championships during the height of the shiny suit era.  Phelps was also on that relay, where he split a 49.72.  Tonight’s gold medal was Phelps’ fourth in the event; no other swimmers has won it more than three times.

Following the introduction of butterfly as its own stroke, the 4×100 medley relay was first contested at the Olympic in 1960, and the USA took that inaugural event in a time of 4:05.4, which was then a world record.

Fast forward 56 years, and the US men have yet to lose this event at the Olympic Games.   The only year the US did not win was in 1980, when President Jimmy Carter forced a US boycott of the Summer Olympics, behind held in Moscow, because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  That allowed the Australians to earn their only gold in this event, although the USA team would have been likely to win the event, as it consisted of future world record holders Rick Carey, Steve Lundquist, and Rowdy Gaines.