Swimming Records for Michael Phelps and Stephanie Rice - Beijing Olympics 2008
American swimmer Michael Phelps made new records at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games by winning eight gold medals. He held a record in all of his contests except in the 100 meters race in which he failed to make one. During the tournament he broke many records including Mark Spitz’s in 1972 Olympics. Phelps exceeded Spitz seven gold medals record in a Single summer Olympic Games. Many of the people thought that it was impossible to achieve as other opponents also seemed to be in top form.
Phelps attained his first gold medal by winning the Men’s 400 single on day two. He was followed up by Laszlo Cseh who attained a silver and American Ryan Lochte winning the bronze. He won his second gold medal in the 4 x 100m Freestyle swim. For sometimes it looked as if Phelps would not be able to make any record in this contest as he was on the edge of losing his gold medal, but later he succeeded.
On day fourth Phelps won his third gold in Freestyle for Men’s 200m. He surpassed with a time of 1:42.96 the previous record. The silver medal went to Korea and the bronze was taken by United States. His fourth gold medal victory at last came in Men’s 200m Butterfly final on day 5. By winning the gold Phelps moved towards another World record. Laszlo Cseh again finished with silver for his team and Japan’s Matsuda Takeshi held the bronze. Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle contest held fifth gold medal for the American top swimmer. He finished with a record time of 6:58.56. This time silver medal was won by Russia and Australia settled for bronze. Day seven also proved great for Phelps as he won another gold medal. A new World Record was set by the American by just 0.57 seconds. Cseh again achieved a silver medal and Lochte the bronze.
Phelps toughest race of the Olympic game came in the eighth round when he faced challenged by least expected Serbia’s Milorad Cavic. He thought that only American Ian Crocker will be a challenge for him but all his assumptions went wrong. Cavic surpassed Phelps at the 50m and with just 0.09 seconds left, Phelps somehow crossed him to touch the wall and kept his dream alive for making a new record. The final gold of the event was won by Phelps in the Men’s 4 x 100m contest on day nine of the event. The Australian swimmer tried to keep Phelps behind but in the end failed to do so and had to settle for the silver. The bronze went to Japan this time.
Australia’s Stephanie Rice accomplished three gold medals in women’s corner by winning the 4 x 200m Freestyle, 200m and a 400m Individual contest. Japan's Kitajima Kosuke also grasped a title for his country at Water Cube in 2008 Olympics. The Japanese swimmer retained both his 2004 Athens titles by winning Men’s 100m Breaststroke and also the 200m Breaststroke. China won one gold and a silver medal in the swimming events. In women’s 200m Butterfly event the first two standings were attained by China. Liu Zige took the lead from both Jiao Liuyang and Jessicah Schipper of Australia, by winning the gold medal. The hosting players were not able to win further more gold and silver medals in swimming event.
In a nine days competition nineteen countries won medals in the swimming pool contests. United States led the charts and dominated the program. US topped in the swimming event by winning 12 gold medals, 9 silver and 10 bronze medals. They were followed by Australia who had won 6 gold medals, 6 silver and 8 bronze medals. The number third spot was taken by Japan who won 2 gold medals and 3 bronze. Host country China was not able to score outstanding results in Swimming and therefore was not included in the charts.
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