U.S. women win 800 freestyle relay; Lochte, Phelps advance

LONDON -- Allison’s aim was true.

That would be American Allison Schmitt, who is having those lifetime moments, day after day, at the London Olympic Games.

This time Schmitt was swimming the anchor leg for the U.S. women in the 800-meter freestyle relay, lifting the Americans from second to first with a determined effort on Wednesday night.

The U.S. took the gold with in an Olympic record time of 7 minutes 42.92 seconds. Australia, which had led after three legs, was second in 7:44.41 and France was well back in 7:47.49 to take the bronze.

Schmitt already has an individual gold medal in the 200 freestyle.

The other members of the relay team were teenager Missy Franklin, who won her second gold, Dana Vollmer and Shannon Vreeland. Schmitt’s anchor leg split was 1:54.09.

Earlier, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps set the stage for the next installment of their medley rivalry. Lochte, of course, took Round 1 here, winning the 400 IM on Sunday.

The spotlight moved to the 200 IM where Lochte and Phelps squared off in the semifinals. Lochte won the heat (1:56.13) and Phelps was second (1:57.11). The second-fastest qualifier was Laszlo Cseh of Hungary (1:56.74).

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