Men’s medley relay sets new world record

ROME - The United States capped the 2009 FINA World Championships Sunday with a gold medal and world record in the men’s 4x100m medley relay, with the team ofAaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.), Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.), Michael Phelps(Baltimore, Md.) and David Walters (Newport News, Va.) turning in a time of 3:27.28.

Americans won four medals on the eighth and final night of competition, including a 1-2 performance from Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Tyler Clary(Riverside, Calif.) in the men’s 400m IM and a silver medal from Rebecca Soni(Plainsboro, NJ) in the women’s 50m breaststroke.

Team USA finished the meet with 22 medals overall – 10 gold, six silver and six bronze – leading all countries in both gold medals and total medal count. Team USA received the FINA trophy as the top national team of the meet at the conclusion of Sunday’s session.

In addition to the 4x100m medley, three world records were broken in Sunday’s finals. Setting world records were Great Britain’s Liam Tancock in the men’s 50m backstroke (24.04), Russia’s Yulia Efimova in the women’s 50m breaststroke (30.09) and Germany’s Britta Steffen in the women’s 50m freestyle (23.73). Soni set the American record in the women’s 50m breast in 30.11. In all, 42 world and 23 American records were set over the course of the meet.

The U.S. led through every leg of the men’s 400m medley relay.  Peirsol led off with a meet record in the men’s 100m back with a time of 52.19, and Shanteau followed with a 58.57 split on the breaststroke leg keeping the second-place Germans at bay by two-hundredths of a second. Phelps widened the gap with a time of 49.72 in the butterfly, and Walters brought it home with a sub-47 (46.80) freestyle split. The Americans shattered the former world record by more than two seconds. Germany finished 1.3 seconds behind in 3:28.58, while Australia was third in 3:28.64.

“Our game plan was to come in here and win all the relay events,” Phelps said. “To get a world record is a great bonus. We wanted to finish on the best note we could.”

Sunday’s win marked Phelps’ sixth medal of the week, a tally which includes five golds and one silver. He received the men’s FINA high point award for his efforts. Peirsol and Walters won two golds in Rome, while Shanteau finished the meet with a medal of each color.

The men’s 400m IM shaped up to be a four-way race between Lochte, Clary, Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh and Brazil’s Thiago Pereira. Cseh led in the first 100, but fell behind Clary and Lochte at the end of the backstroke. Lochte made his move in the breaststroke and increased his lead. Clary moved into medal position in the homestretch. Lochte and Clary went 1-2 in 4:07.01 and 4:07.31, while Cseh finished third in 4:07.37.

Sunday’s win was Lochte’s fourth of the week after taking gold in the 200m IM, the 400m free relay and the 800m free relay. He also won bronze in the 200m back.

“It’s new for me to be in the spotlight in an IM race,” Lochte said. “I hope someday [Phelps] will be back in this race, because I love racing against him.”

Soni’s silver in the women’s 50m breast was her second medal of the meet after winning gold in the 100m breast earlier in the week. Her American record Sunday was just two-hundredths of a second behind Efimova’s world-record finish. Australia’s Sarah Katsoulis was third in 30.16.

Two Americans competed in the finals of the women’s 400m IM. Team USA’sElizabeth Beisel (Saunderstown, RI) and Julia Smit (Mt. Sinai, NY) hung with the pack before finishing fifth and sixth with times of 4:34.90 and 4:35.33 respectively. Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu won gold in a meet record time of 4:30.31, followed by Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry in 4:32.12 and Australia’s Stephanie Rice in 4:32.29.

Germany’s Britta Steffen won her third gold medal of the week with her world record in the women’s 50m free. Finishing second was Sweden’s Therese Alshammar in 23.88, while Australia’s Cate Campbell and the Netherlands’ Marleen Veldhuis tied for third in 23.99. Americans Amanda Weir (Lawrenceville, Ga.) was seventh in 24.23 and Dara Torres (Parkland, Fla.) finished eighth in 24.48.

Tancock broke the world record in the 50m back in Sunday’s finals, and in semifinals on Saturday. Japan’s Junya Koga took silver in 24.24, while South Africa’s Gerhard Zandberg won bronze a tenth of a second behind in 24.34. No Americans swam in the finals of this event.

Ous Meloulli of Tunisia won Sunday’s finals of the men’s 1500m free in a time of 14:37.28. Canada’s Ryan Cochrane finished second in 14:41.38, followed by Sun Yang of China in 14:41.38. No Americans swam in the finals of this event.

Press conference highlights from tonight’s session, as well as throughout the World Championships, are available at www.swimnetwork.com. Results are available atwww.omegatiming.com.

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