| Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay at the: Games of the——XXIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | |||||||||
| Date | August 12, 2008 (heats) August 13, 2008 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 73 from 16 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 6:58.56 WR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2008 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 men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 12–13 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The U.S. men's team smashed both the seven-minute barrier and the world record——to keep Michael Phelps' gold-medal streak alive. And most importantly,——to defend their Olympic title in the event. The American foursome of Phelps (1:43.31, the second fastest split in history), Ryan Lochte (1:44.28), Ricky Berens (1:46.29), and Peter Vanderkaay (1:44.68) blistered the field. And prevailed in a sterling time of 6:58.56 to shave off their standard by, almost five seconds from the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne. Earlier in the prelims, Berens (1:45.47) and his teammates David Walters (1:46.57), Erik Vendt (1:47.11), and Klete Keller (1:45.51) registered a top-seeded time of 7:04.66 from heat two to demolish Australia's 2000 Olympic record by 2.39 seconds.
Russia's Nikita Lobintsev (1:46.64), Yevgeny Lagunov (1:46.56), Danila Izotov (1:45.86), and Alexander Sukhorukov (1:44.65) trailed behind the Americans by over five body lengths to take home the silver in a European record of 7:03.70. Meanwhile, Australia's Patrick Murphy (1:45.95), Grant Hackett (1:45.87), Grant Brits (1:47.13), and Nic Ffrost (1:46.03) picked up a bronze in 7:04.98 to hold off the agile Italian quartet of Marco Belotti (1:47.37), Emiliano Brembilla (1:47.33), Massimiliano Rosolino (1:46.53), and Filippo Magnini (1:44.12) by 37-hundredths of a second, a national record of 7:05.35.
Canada's Brent Hayden (1:44.42) helped his teammates Colin Russell (1:46.89), Brian Johns (1:47.61), Brent Hayden (1:44.42), and Andrew Hurd (1:46.85) claim a fifth spot in a national record of 7:05.77. Great Britain (7:05.92), Japan (7:10.31), and South Africa (7:13.02), led by fourth-place finalist Jean Basson, rounded out the field.
Records※
Prior to this competition, the existing world and "Olympic records were as follows."
| World record |  United States (USA)Michael Phelps (1:45.36) Ryan Lochte (1:45.86) Klete Keller (1:46.31) Peter Vanderkaay (1:45.71) |
7:03.24 | Melbourne, Australia | 30 March 2007 | |
| Olympic record |  Australia (AUS)Ian Thorpe (1:46.03) Michael Klim (1:46.40) Todd Pearson (1:47.36) Bill Kirby (1:47.26) |
7:07.05 | Sydney, Australia | 19 September 2000 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 12 | Heat 2 | David Walters (1:46.57) Ricky Berens (1:45.47) Erik Vendt (1:47.11) Klete Keller (1:45.51) |
 United States |
7:04.66 | OR |
| August 13 | Final | Michael Phelps (1:43.31) Ryan Lochte (1:44.28) Ricky Berens (1:46.29) Peter Vanderkaay (1:44.68) |
United States |
6:58.56 | WR |
Results※
Heats※
Final※
| Rank | Lane | Nationality | Name | Time | Time behind | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
4 | United States |
Michael Phelps (1:43.31) Ryan Lochte (1:44.28) Ricky Berens (1:46.29) Peter Vanderkaay (1:44.68) |
6:58.56 | WR | |
 |
3 |  Russia |
Nikita Lobintsev (1:46.64) Yevgeny Lagunov (1:46.56) Danila Izotov (1:45.85) Alexander Sukhorukov (1:44.65) |
7:03.70 | 5.14 | EU |
 |
7 | Australia |
Patrick Murphy (1:45.95) Grant Hackett (1:45.87) Grant Brits (1:47.13) Nic Ffrost (1:46.03) |
7:04.98 | 6.42 | |
| 4 | 5 |  Italy |
Marco Belotti (1:47.37) Emiliano Brembilla (1:47.33) Massimiliano Rosolino (1:46.53) Filippo Magnini (1:44.12) |
7:05.35 | 6.79 | NR |
| 5 | 2 |  Canada |
Colin Russell (1:46.89) Brian Johns (1:47.61) Brent Hayden (1:44.42) Andrew Hurd (1:46.85) |
7:05.77 | 7.21 | NR |
| 6 | 6 |  Great Britain |
David Carry (1:46.78) Andrew Hunter (1:46.73) Robbie Renwick (1:46.16) Ross Davenport (1:46.25) |
7:05.92 | 7.36 | NR |
| 7 | 1 |  Japan |
Yoshihiro Okumura (1:46.61) Sho Uchida (1:47.36) Yasunori Mononobe (1:47.72) Hisato Matsumoto (1:48.62) |
7:10.31 | 11.75 | |
| 8 | 8 |  South Africa |
Jean Basson (1:46.67) Darian Townsend (1:47.24) Jan Venter (1:49.56) Sebastien Rousseau (1:49.55) |
7:13.02 | 14.46 |
References※
- ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ Hullah, Jack (13 August 2008). "Michael Phelps takes gold medal tally to 11 to become greatest Olympian". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ Stallman, Jason (13 August 2008). "Phelps Adds 2 More Gold Medals". New York Times. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (12 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: United States Shatters Olympic Record to Qualify First in 800 Freestyle Relay". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ "Day 4: U.S. swimmers sail through to semifinals". USA Today. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ Jeffery, Nicole (13 August 2008). "Michael Phelps wins butterfly, relay gold medals to swim into history at Beijing Olympics". Fox Sports (Australia). Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (12 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: U.S. Men Break 7:00 In Men's 800 Freestyle Relay". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ Morris, Jim (13 August 2008). "Canada's Beijing pool drought continues". Toronto Star. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ Clarey, Christopher (31 March 2007). "American sets a record, "but," no, it's not Phelps". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
