Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay
| Men's 4×200 metre freestyle relay at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
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| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | |||||||||
| Date | August 12, 2008 (heats) August 13, 2008 (final) |
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| Competitors | 73 from 16 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 6:58.56 WR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
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 United States (USA)Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, Peter Vanderkaay, David Walters*, Erik Vendt*, Klete Keller* |
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 Russia (RUS)Nikita Lobintsev, Yevgeny Lagunov, Danila Izotov, Alexander Sukhorukov, Mikhail Polishchuk* |
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*Indicates the swimmer only competed in the preliminary heats. |
Australia (AUS)
Patrick Murphy, Grant Hackett, Grant Brits, Nic Ffrost, Kirk Palmer*, Leith Brodie*
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.
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