BEIJING — While it appears more and more like Michael Phelps’ gold-medal haul will eclipse some entire continents, this morning proved he is not a one-man team.
The United States had one of those days when “The Star-Spangled Banner” rang in the ears all day for 17,000 people in the National Aquatics Center. Yeah, Phelps won his third gold. Yeah, he broke a third world record, this time by nearly a second with a time of 1 minute, 42.96 seconds. However, his smashing 200-meter freestyle wasn’t the highlight.
Aaron Peirsol repeated his gold medal in the 100 backstroke, lowering his world record to 52.54, with teammate Matt Grevers taking the silver. Natalie Coughlin and Margaret Hoelzer went gold-bronze in the 100 backstroke, with Coughlin setting an American record of 58.96.
Also, Rebecca Soni, a late replacement when Jessica Hardy had a positive drug test, took a surprise silver in the 100 breaststroke.
“It was absolutely textbook,” Peirsol said. “The way Natalie swam. Of course, Michael had an absolutely beautiful race. Matt and I sharing the podium together. I don’t think you could’ve written it any better.
“The U.S. team is absolutely snowballing.”
After three days of medal competition, the U.S. has 15 medals, including five golds. Australia is a distant second with seven and three, respectively.
This morning, Peirsol was nearly as sure a thing as Phelps. Peirsol just didn’t lead by half a body length at the start. In fact, he even trailed Great Britain’s Liam Tancock by more than half a second after the first 50. But Peirsol quickly retook the lead and smashed the record of 52.89 he set at the Olympic Trials.
“This never gets old,” Peirsol said. “It really does feel like the first time. It’s an absolutely beautiful feeling.”
Like Phelps, Peirsol is putting his stamp on swimming history. He’s just doing it in one event. This morning marks the fifth time he has broken the world record, starting with his gold medal win in Athens.
“He’s the best, ever. Absolutely,” Grevers said. “He’s a great guy, too. He does consider me competition, but he gave me a private lesson during our training trip, and I learned how he swims that. I don’t have the shoulder strength he does to do exactly what he does. It’s just amazing the amount of water he’s able to pull.”
Coughlin repeated her gold medal in the 100 backstroke in Athens but had to beat the world-record holder to do it. Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry had broken the record Coughlin set twice at the Olympic Trials. Coventry’s 59.19 was .42 off her world mark.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Coughlin said. “When I first saw the time, I thought they had made a mistake. It was a very fast time. When I saw the 1 by my name, I thought they had made a mistake. Then I saw my name there, and I realized that I’d got it.”
In the 100 breaststroke, Soni replaced Hardy even though Soni placed only fourth at the Olympic Trials behind third-place Tara Kirk. However, Soni won the spot as she had already made the team in the 200 breaststroke and the deadline to add another member had passed.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
