HISTORY MADE BY MICHAEL PHELPS AS HE BREAKS THE FIRST WORLD RECORD OF THE 2008 GAMES IN THE FIRST SWIMMING FINALS! 
The swimming finals began today and excitement in the Water Cube reached fever pitch with the 11,000 strong crowd cheering on our Speedo sponsored athletes!
In the Men’s 400m Medley Michael Phelps began his quest to win a record 8 gold medals in the pool, strongly challenged by team-mate Ryan Lochte. First in the water, Lochte made a confident start closely followed by Phelps. The two battled it out for the rest of the race, with Phelps predominantly in the lead until the 200m mark. At the last length Phelps broke away, bagging the gold and World Record in his Speedo LZR RACER at a cool 4.03.84.Also in a Speedo LZR RACER, Lochte grabbed the bronze at 4.08.09. Picking up his gold medal Phelps said;
“Afterwards, I looked up and saw President Bush giving me a thumbs up and holding up the American flag. It was pretty cool”. To prepare for his next race Michael said he’s planning to “Eat, sleep and swim. That’s all I can do. Get some calories into my system and try to recover the best I can."
Speedo sponsored Stephanie Rice (AUS) started her campaign to rule the pool today, as she took to the water in her Speedo LZR RACER for the Women’s 400m Individual Medley. Throughout the race Rice led the way with Speedo athletes Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) and Katie Hoff (US) battling for silver. Coventry eventually surged in front leaving Hoff to pick up the bronze. Rice picked up the gold and smashed Hoff’s WR at 4.29.45.
A fantastic start to the competition – another 2 WRs achieved in the Speedo LZR RACER and the first of a possible 8 gold medals for Phelps!
There were Speedo LZR RACER’s aplenty on the blocks for the Men’s 400m Freestyle. After getting off to a great start Speedo athlete Grant Hackett (AUS) began to drop back while Taewan Park (KOR) and Lin Zhang (CHN), both wearing a Speedo LZR RACER, broke from the pack. It was a close call to begin with but during the last 100m Park took control and cruised to the finish line getting the gold (3.41.86). The Chinese fans were cheering as Zhang scored a silver (3.42.44) while Larsen Jensen of the US bagged a bronze.
The crowd fired up again for the last race of the day with each respective country cheering their team on. The USA cut a dash on the locks sporting the bespoke Speedo LZR RACER designed by fashion house Comme de Garcons. All eyes on were on 41 year old Speedo sponsored athlete Dara Torres and her team mate Natalie Coughlin as they went head to head with Aussie Speedo athlete, Libby Trickett, in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay. After breaking the WR in Eindhoven the Dutch were always going to be strong contenders but the US and Australia battled away till the final stroke. After a tough race the Netherlands snatched the gold, while the US picked up silver and the Australian team, bronze.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s finals, swimmers in both Women’s 100m Butterfly semifinals the winners were all sporting the Speedo LZR RACER. Top spot went to Speedo athlete Libby Trickett (AUS) who finished at 57.05. The second race saw Jessica ‘the sparrow’ Schipper (AUS) take the lead and win at 57.43 She was closely followed by Yafei Zhou of China who sent the home crowds wild and then by Gabriella Silva (BRA), both of whom were wearing the Speedo LZR RACER.Looking back on her win Schipper said;
“Making it into the final was the only thing I was after so I’ve achieved that.I went faster than last night and that’s always a good sign”.
The Speedo LZR RACER dominated the Men’s 100m breaststroke semifinal with all but one athlete wearing the suit. The first race saw prime position go to Kosuke Kitajima (JPN) followed by Brenton Rickard (AUS) then Mark Gangloff (USA). In the next race Speedo sponsored athlete Hugues Duboscq (FRA) came second and Roman Sludnov (RUS) third wearing the Speedo LZR RACER.
As well as swimmers smashing another 2 WRs in the Speedo LZR RACER bringing the tally up to a cool 50, today also saw 4 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals secured by swimmers wearing the suit!
