Team USA Holds Olympic And World Record In Men's 4 X 100 Meters Medley Swimming Relay

The 4 x 100 meters medley relay swimming event is a team competition, with each team composed of four swimmers. In a competition, the four team members swim consecutively, with each member swimming one of four strokes. The order goes this way: backstroke first, breaststroke next, butterfly third, and freestyle last.

Since backstroke is started from the water, it is necessary to begin the relay with this stroke. Making it otherwise will have the finishing previous swimmer and the starting backstroke swimmer blocking each other. From the initial backstroke leg, the three succeeding stages are arranged based on the speed, such that breaststroke (considered the slowest) comes next to backstroke, and freestyle (considered the fastest) the last leg.

The last member doing the freestyle actually can perform any style other than any of the first three strokes. Usually the forward crawl is performed in this final phase of the relay. In the Olympics, each team member has to complete two lengths of the swimming pool, since an Olympic size pool measures 50 meters in length.

This swimming event was introduced in the Olympics during the 1960 Summer Games held in Rome, Italy. The men's event was won by Team USA, composed of Frank McKinney, Paul Hait, Lance Larson, and Jeff Farrell. Since then, the 4 x 100 meters medley relay has been a part of every Olympic swimming competition.

Prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, both the World and Olympic records in this swimming event were held by Team USA. That team was composed of Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Ian Crocker, and Jason Lezak. The team achieved the feat (with a combined time of 3 minutes and 30.68 seconds) in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a new World and Olympic record was set, eclipsing the previous best by 1.34 seconds. The record did not change hands though, as it was again the relay team from the USA that established the feat. And except for Michael Phelps (who swam the butterfly leg), that team was composed of the same members that made up the previous Olympic team from the USA.

Here's how Team USA performed in the 4 x 100 meters medley relay in the 2008 Beijing Olympics:

1. Aaron Wells Peirsol swam the backstroke leg in 53.16 seconds.

2. Brendan Joseph Hansen swam the breaststroke leg in 59.27 seconds.

3. Michael Fred Phelps swam the butterfly leg in 50.15 seconds.

4. Jason Edward Lezak swam the freestyle leg in 46.76 seconds.

Individually, both Peirsol and Phelps are world record holders. Peirsol holds the records in both 100- and 200-meter backstroke. Phelps is even more impressive with his 29 individual swimming records (held as of August 2, 2009).

World records in this swimming event are recognized by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in both long-course and short-course pools. The former refers to pools 50 meters in length (as those used in the Olympics), while the latter measures 25 meters in length. Incidentally, Team USA held the world record in men's 4 x 100 meters medley relay long course the most number of times (26) as well as the world record in short course (5 times).