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Lochte Keeps Clary And Cseh At Bay

Aug 2, 2009  - Craig Lord

Rome 2009, Day 8

Men's 400m medley

Ryan Lochte, in a LZR, and US rookie teammate Tyler Clary, in a J01, locked Laszlo Cseh (HUN), an an X-Glide, out of the top two spots in a tight 400m medley final. Lochte took the crown in 4:07.01, making the event the only one so far in which the championship record  has survived through all rounds.  

Just 0.06sec split silver and bronze, the battle going in Clary's favour. Thiago Pereira (BRA) was the only other swimmer to get inside 4:10, on 4:08.86.

Lochte, who broke Michael Phelps' 200 medley world record to win that title on Thursday, said: "It's new for me to be in the spotlight in an individual medley race. I'm very happy I broke Phelps record in the 200 IM. I hope someday he will be back in this race because I love racing against him."

Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals in Beijing, decided to scale down his program in Rome and not to defend his 200 and 400 medley world titles in Rome.

Lochte led for most of the race but looked to be fading toward the end, with Clary and Cseh finishing strongly. But with three giant swings of arms battered and bruised by effort, Lochte found the fuel to get to the pad ahead.

"I was kind of going on fumes at the end," Lochte said. "I’m just completely dead."

Rome 2009

  • Final: 4:07.01 - 4:13.63
  • Inside 4:10: 4
  • Inside 4:15: 8

Melbourne 2007

  • Final: 4:06.22wr - 4:17.32
  • Inside 4:10: 3
  • Inside 4:15: 6
  • Inside 4:18: 8