[PHOTO BY PETER H. BICK]
EVENT-BY-EVENT PREVIEW: MEN’S SWIMMING
PICTURED
» Brendan Hansen, USA
400 Meter Medley Relay
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Reigning Champion: United States Past Champions: United States (1960), United States (1964), United States (1968), United States (1972), United States (1976), Australia BY JOHN (1980), United States (1984), United States (1988), United States (1992), United States (1996), United States (2000), United States (2004), United States (2008) World Record: United States (Aaron Peirsol, Eric Shanteau, Michael Phelps, Dave Walters), 3:27.28 Notable: The only time the United States failed to win this event at the Olympic Games was in 1980. Of course, that was the Olympics in which President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States would boycott the Games. THE HEADLINERS Although the United States remains the favorite in this event, this will be far from a runaway. A positive at the American Trials was the solidifying of the front half of the relay, with Matt Grevers and Brendan Hansen looking strong to provide promise in the backstroke and breaststroke legs. The third and fourth legs are set with Michael Phelps handling the butterfly leg and Nathan Adrian anchoring on freestyle. Adrian could find himself in the position of having to hold off Australia and its anchor, James Magnussen. At the World Champs last summer, Magnussen nearly
rallied his team for gold. The key for the Aussies will be giving Magnussen a chance at the gold medal. Hayden Stoeckel is the likely backstroker, while Brenton Rickard will take care of the breaststroke leg. Chris Wright has emerged as a reliable LOHN option on the butterfly leg, but staying with Phelps will be a huge challenge. Germany was the bronze medalist at the World Champs and is solid with Helge Meeuw or Jan-Philip Glania on backstroke and Paul Biedermann coming down in distance to anchor on the freestyle leg. For Japan, which has won bronze at the past two Olympics, it boasts a splendid opening trio of Ryosuke Irie, Kosuke Kitajima and Takuro Fujii. The problem, as has been the case in previous years, is having a freestyler capable of sticking with the rest of the world. A plethora of other nations also have the ability to make some noise, including Russia and Brazil. WHAT ELSE? Brazil is an interesting player in this race. If a grouping of Thiago Pereira, Felipe Silva and Kaio Almeida can keep the race tight, anchor Cesar Cielo could put his country in the mix for the bronze medal. SWIMMING WORLD’S PICKS Gold: United States Silver: Australia Bronze: Japan ❖ Olympic Preview
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