BEIJING — Ryan Lochte tried to pull off a daunting double, going against Michael Phelps just 29 minutes after swimming the final of the 200 backstroke. He couldn’t keep up, though he did hold on for bronze. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary picked up his third silver of the games — all of them trailing Phelps.
When the official results were posted, Phelps extended his right hand to Lochte in the next lane. The friends shook hands and patted each other on the head.
Later, they yukked it up on the medal stand before Phelps hustled off to swim the semifinals of the 100 butterfly.
Lochte got quite a consolation price: a world record and the first individual gold medal of his career in the backstroke. The laid-back Floridian edged teammate Aaron Peirsol in 1:53.94 to break the mark he shared with Peirsol.
“I touched the wall and was like, ‘Thank you, finally,”’ Lochte said. “It felt good the whole way.”
Lochte was known as “Mr. Runner-up” for his frequent second-place finishes to Phelps and Peirsol. Then, he stunned Peirsol at last year’s world championships in 1:54.32, before Peirsol matched the time in beating Lochte at the U.S. Olympic trials last month.
Lochte won despite a problem with his LZR Racer.
“My suit came undone after the first 50,” he said. “I was just trying to control my legs.”
Peirsol won the 100 back in Beijing, but failed to match his backstroke double from Athens four years ago. He earned the silver in 1:54.33, while Russia’s Arkady Vyatchanin claimed the bronze.
“That’s the theme of the meet. You have to break a world record to win. I gave it my all and I had nothing left,” Peirsol said. “I’m very proud of what I’ve done. Ryan swam well. He earned it.”
Rebecca Soni gave the U.S. women’s swim team a much-needed boost, setting a world record in the 200 breaststroke with an upset of Australia’s Leisel Jones.
Jones was out front over the first 100, but Soni came on strong at the end, finishing a full body length ahead of the Aussie in 2:20.22. She beat Jones’ mark of 2:20.54, set two 2½ years ago in Melbourne.
Soni’s victory came about 14 hours after American distance hopes Katie Hoff and Kate Ziegler failed to make the final of the 800 freestyle, and two summers after Soni underwent a minor heart operation.
“It’s been a long road to get here, and I really can’t believe that just happened,” she said.
Jones claimed silver and Norway’s Sara Nordenstam took bronze.
“I really couldn’t breathe that last 50. I was just digging deep and couldn’t breathe,” Jones said. “A silver medal is still a silver medal in the Olympics. I gave it everything, I couldn’t have given more.”
Britta Steffen of Germany won the 100 freestyle, edging Australia’s Libby Trickett by four-hundredths of a second. American Natalie Coughlin claimed the bronze for her fifth medal of these games, matching her haul from Athens with the medley relay still to go.
Steffen won in an Olympic-record 53.12.
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