The Allison Schmitt phenomenon this Olympics continues.
The fresh-faced 22-year-old swimmer out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania swam a flawless anchor leg — the second-fastest split of all time — of Team USA as they easily went on to win the gold in the women’s 4 x 200-meter relay. The team did so by setting a new Olympic record with a time of 7:42.92 — nearly two seconds better than the previous record set by Australia in 2008 (7:44.31).
“I knew it was going to be close,” Schmitt said. “I was just trying to swim my own race and save legs on that first 50m, just like I did last night and bring it home strong for the U.S.”
I knew it was close, I saw it was neck and neck all race and I just wanted to swim my own race like in the 200m last night. I just wanted to feed off that energy and bring home the gold tonight for the relay. The best thing is to bring home gold for the US. It’s my first Olympic gold medal in the relay. The first three ladies had an amazing swim and I just wanted to bring it home for them.”
Schmitt had the best split out of any of the Team USA swimmers. Her anchor leg cam in at 1:54.09. Missy Franklin (1:55.96) had the second fastest time followed by Dana Vollmer (1:56.02) and Shannon Vreeland (1:56.85). It was a great team performance.
The 4 x 200-meter relay was the last event for Schmitt this Olympics and she did not disappoint. It is the second gold of these games and continues to add to her legacy and the claim that she will be America’s next great swimmer.
Topics: 2012 Olympics, Allison Schmitt, London Olympics, Missy Franklin, Team USA, USA Swimming
