Kosuke Kitajima swept the men’s breaststroke events with 2:07.64 Olympic Record-setting win in the 200 distance tonight. Brenton Rickard (2:08.88) and Hugues Duboscq (2:08.94) joined him on the podium while Team USA’s Scott Spann finished 6th in 2:09.76.
Up next was the women’s 100 Free semis, where World Record Holder Libby Trickett almost did not advance. She needed a disqualification of another swimmer in order to squeak in. Swim Star Natalie Coughlin topped all semifinalists with a 53.70 race. Teammate Lacey Nymeyer posted a 54.74 which did not qualify her for finals.
China grabbed the gold and silver medals in the women’s 200 Fly with World Record setting swims. Liu Zige registered a 2:04.18 for gold while teammate Jiao Liuyang took the silver in 2:04.72. Joining them on the podium was former World Record Holder Jessica Schipper (2:06.26). Americans Elaine Breeden and Kathleen Hersey closed out the feel 7th (2:07.57) and 8th (2:08.23), respectively.
France’s Alain Bernard out-dueled World Record Holder Eamon Sullivan for the men’s 100 Free gold. His time was 47.67 to Sullivan’s 47.32. Jason Lezak claimed his first individual Olympic medal as he captured the bronze with a 47.67 effort. Brazil’s Cesar Cielo also hit in 47.67, so he will also be awarded a bronze medal. This is the second bronze medal tie of these Games so far.
Team USA’s Rebecca Soni was the top performer of the women’s 200 Breast semifinals. She turned in a 2:22.64 and will swim from Lane 4 during tomorrow’s final. Australia’s Leisel Jones qualified second with a 2:23.04 swim. Amanda Beard did not make it out of the prelims, finishing 18th in 2:27.70.
Americans Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps clocked 200 IM semifinal times that were just .01 apart and will go into the final as the the respective first and second seeds. Behind them, Thiago Pereira (1:58.06) and Laszlo Cseh (1:58.19) will also push the pace as the next fastest qualifiers.
The night ended with a thrilling world record in the women’s 800 Free Relay where all of the podium finishers went under the old US global mark. Australia took 6 seconds off the record with a blistering 7:44.31 finish. China took silver in 7:45.93, followed by the US squad of Allison Schmitt, Natalie Coughlin, Caroline Burckle, and Katie Hoff in 7:46.33.