LONDON — Missy Franklin led the way as the United States set a world record in the 4×100 medley relay Saturday, giving the Regis Jesuit student her fourth gold medal of these Olympics.
Franklin gave her team the lead with a 58.5 second split in the first leg, swimming the backstroke. The U.S. never trailed after that, and finished in 3 minutes, 52.05 seconds to best the previous mark of 3:52.19 set by China in 2009.
“I honestly couldn’t think of a better way to end it,” Franklin said after the race, her last of the Olympics. “That was so perfect in absolutely every way. That was the most fun relay I’ve ever been on. The three I’ve been on here have been so exciting. Not even the U.S., but every single team in the ready room was laughing and joking. You could see us all so happy and so excited to finish this meet off with a bang. It was great.”
Rebecca Soni followed Franklin in the breaststroke, Dana Vollmer stretched the lead even further in the butterfly, and Allison Schmitt sealed the record in the freestyle.
It was Franklin’s second world record in as many days. The 17-year-old also set a record in winning the 200 backstroke on Friday, her best event. She also won gold in the 100 backstroke.
Franklin also won gold in the 4×200 freestyle relay, and bronze in the 4×100 freestyle relay.
“I’m going to miss this so much. I know I am,” Franklin said. “I’m so excited that I’ll get to spend a little time with my family and explore London a little bit but I’m sad. I’m so sad it’s all over. I’ve learned so much from this experience and can’t wait to kind of take that home and learn and get better off of that experience.”
The U.S. squad was heavily favored to win gold as Soni medaled in both individual breaststroke events (gold in the 200 and silver in the 100); Vollmer took gold in the 100 butterfly; Schmitt won the 200 free, and took silver in the 400 free; and, of course, Franklin owns the backstroke.