Phelps swims into history

The United States 4x200 meters relay team won the gold medal this Tuesday night to make history for Michael Phelps.

The gold medal for the American team means Phelps, who swam the anchor lap, has now won 19 Olympic medals, more than anyone in history. Among those 19 medals, Phelps now has 15 golds.

Phelps had claimed his 18th medal earlier in the evening, to draw level with Russian gymnast Laris Latymina, but the silver he took from the 200 meters butterfly had been tinged with disappointment as he was pipped on the finish by Chad le Clos when victory had looked almost assured. There was to be no mistake in the relay however.

The Americans had qualified for the final with a time of 7.06.75, almost two and a half seconds faster than France, who would eventually take silver.

With Phelps, who swam the final leg the US fielded Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer and Ricky Berens in their side.

Lochte swam a fine opening leg, to give the Americans a lead of almost a second over the Germans and Conor held the advantage to pass over to Berens and he in turn handed to Phelps with the race virtually assured.

With the crowd in the Aquatic Center knowing they were seeing history in the making, the volume rose higher and higher as Phelps began his swim towards history.

The Americans finished with a time of 6.59.77, 3.07 seconds ahead of the French and 6.60 faster than the Chinese quartet.

Sun Yang was again the hero as he won his third medal of these Olympics with a powerful swim to take the Chinese team into an impressive bronze. Sun Yang, who had not participated in the heats, swam the anchor leg for China with the rest of the team made up of Yun Hao, Yunqi Li and Haiqi Jiang. It was a fine result for the Chinese and shows how far they have progressed, but Tuesday night belonged to one man - Michael Phelps.