Winnetka swimmer Conor Dwyer earned a gold medal as part of the US team that dominated the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay Tuesday night at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
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Michael Phelps won his 21st Olympic Gold as the U.S. freestyle relay team finished the 4×200 freestyle relay finals with a total time of 7:00.66.
Remarkably, Phelps has won more than twice as many Olympic gold medals as the athlete second on the list, former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who has nine.
Hungary’s Tamsas Kenderesi took bronze (1:53.62).
Phelps lost by 0.05 seconds to le Clos in the event four years ago and swam next to his South African rival on Tuesday.
It was Phelps’s third gold of the week – he had helped the US to the 4x100m freestyle relay gold on Sunday – and he has three more chances to add to his stunning haul.
Haas, alongside Conor Dwyer, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps finished the final in 7 minutes, .66 seconds, more than two seconds faster than second place Great Britain (7:03.13).
There was silver medal for Siobhan-Marie O’Connor of Britain in 2:06.88, and bronze for Maya Dirado of the United States in 2:08.79.
The “mission” was a cathartic victory in the event in which he made his name, finishing fifth in the Sydney Olympics 16 years ago, aged 15.
The swimmer said he was inspired by his parents Bert and Geraldine, who have both been battling cancer in the past few months.
“Coming into Rio I didn’t have any Olympic medals so I would have been okay with any colour”, she said.
Even a late “wardrobe malfunction” could not stop Michael Phelps from winning his 21st Olympic gold medal for the United States in the Rio pool yesterday. It’s the first time I’ve ever gone out that hard, usually I come from behind. He now has 21 gold medals and 25 total medals.
The 200 butterfly is the race that Phelps wanted to win the most here.
Katinka Hosszu and Katie Ledecky struck further blows for girl power, but again it was all about Phelps, who later anchored the American 4×200 freestyle relay team to gold as the clock edged toward midnight. Phelps now has four individual medals in the 200 fly.
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For his final event in Rio, Dwyer adds a gold to his haul that includes the bronze he won in the 200m freestyle. Phelps redeemed himself, beating silver medalist Masato Sakai with a time of 1.56.36.
