Olympics 2012 Swimming: France Chases Down USA In 400 Free Relay

Turkmenistan's Jennet Saryyeva Gives Good Job, Good Effort In 400m Freestyle

2012 Olympics Men's 400m Free Relay Results: What Happened To Team USA?

What happened to Team USA in the 400m free relay and how did they get chased down by France over the final 100 meters? It's a question that many are asking after the U.S. built a sizable advantage over the first three legs, only to see it disappear as Yannick Agnel chased down Ryan Lochte during the anchor leg.

It's easy to place the immediate blame on Lochte, whose 47.74 with a "flying" start was the slowest American split in the relay -- remember, Nathan Adrian's time was technically slower but came on the opening leg without the benefit of a flying start. Lochte had also just swam a 200 free semifinal race, though Agnel did the same and went just about a half-second faster in his semifinal heat.

Take a look at Team USA's splits for the race: Nathan Adrian: 47.89 (start), Michael Phelps: 47.15, Cullen Jones: 47.60, Ryan Lochte 47.74. Now compare Team USA's splits to those of the French swimmers: 48.13, 47.67, 47.38, 46.74. Something should immediately jump off the page.

It would appear that Team USA's relay was set up from fastest to slowest, with the hopes of building a significant advantage early in the race, then hanging on for dear life at the end -- or, at least, that's how it played out. Adrian is the fastest 100m free swimmer the U.S. has, and won the Olympic Trials, beating out Jones by just about .4 seconds. Phelps and Lochte are more all-around swimmers, though neither is swimming the 100 free competitively.

Edit: And the coaches admitted as much. The strategy was to go out fast and hang on, with Adrian and Phelps working to lead them out and build an advantage.

Despite how straightforward it looks, there's quite a bit of strategy involved in setting relay lineups. The traditional school of thought involves putting the fastest swimmer last in an effort to close strong. But it's not all that uncommon to send the fastest swimmer out first, mixing up the lineup a bit in between. For example, putting the two fastest swimmers on the ends, then slower swimmers in the middle, helps to start and end strong while trying to maintain over the second and third legs. Or going slow-fast-slow-fast could be employed, as well.*

*Slow is a relative term here. They're all world-class swimmers. The terms fast and slow are meant to measure times between the four swimmers on a relay, not imply some are weighing the team down.

And while it's easy to pick apart strategy in hindsight -- the most obvious flaw likely being Lochte as the anchor -- having a swimmer go as low as Agnel did blows everything to pieces. Could the U.S. have stayed with him had Adrian been swimming the last leg or had they not built a lead and instead played to chase? Maybe. But we have no idea without running the whole thing over again.

Simply, the USA got beat as a result of a fantastic anchor leg by the French. It's one of those times where you simply tip your cap to an amazing effort -- not unlike that of Jason Lezak in 2008. Turnabout is fair play and France put on a show in an incredibly entertaining race.

But still, Team USA has to be wondering what might have been -- if Lochte was fresh and able to shave tenths of a second off his time, if the order was different or if the French team hadn't been able to blow through the final 100 meters.

2012 Olympics Women's 100m Fly Results: Dana Vollmer Secures Her Place In The Record Books

In the finals of the women's 100m butterfly on Sunday at the 2012 Olympics in London, Dana Vollmer appeared especially driven. Perhaps it was as a result of failing to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Perhaps it was to prove that she had not merely been an athlete that peaked too young after winning gold as a 16-year-old at the 2004 Summer Games. Or perhaps she simply knew that she was the best in the world at her event and was setting out to remove all doubt.

Whatever the reason for her furious pace on Sunday, she smashed the world record in the event and claimed the gold medal for the United States. She finished in 55.98 seconds, well ahead of Lu Ying of China, who took the silver with a time of 56.87. Vollmer becomes the first woman to ever finish the event in under 56 seconds.

Karen Crouse of the New York Times reports that Vollmer -- who rekindled her drive and passion for swimming after missing the 2008 games while teaching children in Fiji how to swim -- is well aware of her place in the record books, even if she may not have been the first to know she set the new mark.

"To be the first woman under 56, it's absolutely incredible," Vollmer said.

"I kept telling myself your main strength is your second 50," said Vollmer, who was the only finalist to cover the final 50 in under 30 seconds.

"I didn't know if I had gotten the world record," she said. "It takes me a little bit to see and get my goggles unfogged."

The Associated Press, meanwhile, captured this particularly telling quote from Vollmer:

"I'm on top of the world right now." she said. "I still know I can go faster."

Dana Vollmer's opponents can now consider themselves officially on notice.

For complete coverage of the 2012 London Olympics, vist SB Nation's Summer Olympics hub.

France Narrowly Beats U.S. For 4x100m Free Relay Gold

Four years later, France gets its revenge against the United States in the men's 4x100m Free Relay, winning the gold medal Sunday at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Why U Mad, Bro?

This is like telling a toddler they can't have candy in a store and standing back to watch the explosion.

To be fair, he actually might be happy. He did finish second, earning the silver medal. Whatever he is ... splishy splashy!

Cameron Van Der Burgh Is Just Chillin In The Pool

Women's 400m Freestyle Final: Camille Muffat Wins Gold

The second day of the 2012 Summer Olympics continued on with more swimming events as the Women's 400m Freestyle Final finished up with Camille Muffat of France winning the gold medal with a time of 4:01.45.

American Allison Schmitt took home the silver medal in the event, finishing up +0.32 behind Muffat and missing out on a gold medal. Schmitt followed up her silver and bronze medals in Beijing in 2008 with another silver medal in London.

Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington took home the bronze medal, finishing +1.56 behind Muffat and well ahead of Finland's Lotte Friis. Adlington picked up Great Britain's second medal of the Olympics thus far.

Gold Medal: Camille Muffat, France
Silver Medal: Allison Schmitt, United States
Bronze Medal: Rebecca Adlington, Great Britain

For complete coverage of the 2012 London Olympics, vist SB Nation's Summer Olympics hub.

Men's 100m Breaststroke Final: South Africa's Cameron Van Der Burgh Sets World Record

Cameron Van der Burgh became the first South African to ever win the men's 100m breaststroke with a world record time of 58.46 seconds Sunday at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Van der Burgh led throughout the race, edging out Australia's Christian Sprenger (58.93 seconds) for the gold medal. Brendan Hansen of the United States snuck in for the bronze medal at 59.49 seconds. Hungary's Daniel Gyurta was just 0.04 seconds behind.

Three previous world record holders were in the race in Hansen (set in 2004 and 2006), Japan's Kosuke Kitajima (set set in 2008) and Australia's Brenton Rickard (previous holder, set in 2009 at 58.58 seconds). Kitajima came in fifth place at 59.79 seconds and Rickard came in sixth at 59.87 seconds.

Italy's Fabio Scozzoli took seventh and Lithuania's Giedrius Titenis took eighth to round out the field.

For complete coverage of the 2012 London Olympics, vist SB Nation's Summer Olympics hub.

Women's 100m Butterfly Final: Dana Vollmer Wins Gold Medal, Sets World Record

Dana Vollmer of the United States won the gold medal in the women's 100m butterfly final Sunday at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. In the process, she set a world record with a time of 55.98 seconds, becoming the first woman ever to break the 56-second barrier in the event.

Lu Ying of China earned the silver medal at 56.87 seconds and Australia's Alicia Coutts took home the bronze with a time of 56.94 seconds. Sarah Sjostrom of Sweeden came in fourth at 57.17 seconds. She set the previous world record at 56.06 seconds in Italy in 2009.

American Claire Donahue was in second place at the turn, but she fell back to finish seventh. Vollmer pulled even off the push off from the wall before overtaking Donahue and Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen Gray.

For complete coverage of the 2012 London Olympics, vist SB Nation's Summer Olympics hub.

Olympics Livestream For Swimming's Men's 4x100m Free Relay

Day Two of swimming in the Aquatics Centre at the 2012 Summer Olympics is set to begin its afternoon session at 2:30 p.m. ET. The competition, which includes four finals, will once again not be shown on TV until NBC's primetime coverage, which begin Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET.

If you want to watch the swimming live, NBC LIve Extra is once again your friend (assuming there are no online streaming issues this time). And here is the specific link for the four medal finals:

• 2:30 p.m. - Women's 100m Fly
• 3:11 p.m. - Men's 100m Breast
• 3:18 p.m. - Women's 400m Free
• 4 p.m. - Men's 4x100m Free Relay

That final event -- the men's 4x100m Free Relay -- should be the highlight of the day. Team USA qualified second, after Australia, and kept their roster a secret until 1:45 p.m. ET. The four American swimmers, in order, are:

• Nathan Adrian
• Michael Phelps
• Cullen Jones
• Ryan Lochte

In the dramatic, come-from-behind U.S. win in the 2008 men's 4x100m Free Relay, it was Jason Lezak that swam the anchor leg, forever cementing his name in Olympic lore.

Olympics 2012 Swimming: Schedule, TV Coverage For Sunday

The swimming events will continue on Sunday at the 2012 Olympics in London. Can the United States bring home more gold?