(Getty Images)LONDON – Coming into these Olympic Games, Missy Franklin admitted that she has never called Michael Phelps for advice. But now she can call him and compare gold medals.

The 17-year-old now has something Phelps doesn’t have thus far: a perch atop a podium in London, after winning gold in the 100-meter backstroke. The 6-foot-1 Franklin is the second-youngest U.S. swimmer in these Games, and put her considerable length to good use. Devouring the pool in big strokes down the final 50 meters, Franklin charged from second place after the turn, overtaking Australia’s Emily Seebohm in the final 50 and winning gold in 58.33 seconds.

In an exclamation that fits her youthful stature, Franklin said of the gold: "It exceeds my expectation 100 billion times.”

It’s the second medal of the Games for Franklin, who also captured bronze in the 4x100 freestyle relay. Perhaps more amazingly, Franklin won the gold less than 15 minutes after qualifying for the finals of the 200-meter freestyle. The two

Read More »from Missy Franklin finds her form atop the medal stand in a golden backstroke performance

LONDON – Ryan Lochte faded again, and this time it cost him the medal stand.

In his second straight final – this time in the final of the men’s 200-meter freestyle – Lochte faded in the final 50 meters of a race. But rather than his 4x100 freestyle relay withering, which left the U.S. with a silver medal, Lochte was outpaced by three swimmers and finished in fourth place. France’s Yannick Agnel, who caught Lochte in the last leg of the 4x100, dominated the final 50 meters again and took the gold medal in 1:43.14.

Swimming in the second lane, Lochte came off his final turn in second place but labored considerably down the stretch. That allowed South Korea’s Park Tae-Hwan and China’s Sun Yang to make up ground from third and fourth position. The pair finished in a dead heat for second, going 1:44.93. Despite two big turns that advanced him and moved him up in the swimming order, a fast front 50 meters may have once again drained Lochte’s ability to finish.

[ Photos: Ryan Lochte

Read More »from Ryan Lochte falls short for second straight night and misses podium

LONDON – Four years later, Dana Vollmer has been set free. 

A stratospheric talent who crashed in the U.S. Olympic trials four years ago and missed the 2008 Beijing Games entirely, Vollmer seized gold in world-record fashion Sunday. The favorite in the 100-meter butterfly set Olympic and U.S. records in the event in her preliminary heat, then rewrote the world record Sunday night, finishing in 55.98 seconds.

It's a sweet victory that erases cruel memories of 2008, when Vollmer says she "crumbled" under expectations in the trials, finishing fifth in the 100-meter butterfly, seventh in the 200 freestyle, and missing the finals of the 50 and 100 free completely. Repeatedly beset by injuries, the tumble off the U.S. squad left a mental dent that took four years to repair -- leading to Sunday, when Vollmer summarily released four years of Olympic frustration.

"After 2008, it took me a little to make the transition to even know that I

Read More »from Swimmer Dana Vollmer puts demons of 2008 behind her en route to world record and gold medal

LONDON – You're up again, Ryan Lochte.

Only a few hours after dominating the 400 IM – and lying awake until 2 a.m. – Lochte qualified for the semifinals of the 200-meter freestyle with the second fastest time of the day at 1:46.45. He'll attempt to lock his place in the finals Sunday night, after just getting out-touched in the morning by China's Yang Sun, who closed the gap on Lochte in the final meters and finished at 1:46.24.

"I just wanted to get a lane for tonight," Lochte said. "I think the 400 IM kind of took a lot out of me last night. But it's a new day and a new race. I did what I had to do this morning. Hopefully I'll be a lot faster tonight."

[ Related: Ryan Lochte shreds the field in 400 IM ]

Lochte also said there has been no decision yet about whether he will be placed on the finals roster of the 4x100 relay Sunday evening. That appears doubtful, but U.S. coaches used the lineup of Jimmy Feigen, Matt Grevers, Ricky Berens and Jason Lezak to qualify this morning.

Read More »from Ryan Lochte overcomes short night to qualify for 200 freestyle semifinals

LONDON – She's 16 years old, and for 50 meters on Saturday night, she swam faster than U.S. superstar Ryan Lochte. And now China's Ye Shiwen is at the center of some controversial buzz at the Aquatics Center of these Olympic Games.

Shiwen smashed the world record in the women's 400-meter IM and took gold Saturday night, torching the final 100 meters in the event and coming from behind to beat U.S. 400 IM champion Elizabeth Beisel. Shiwen shaved more than a second off Australian Stephanie Rice's world record in her win, finishing at 4:28.43. But it was her final 100 meters – the freestyle leg of the event – that raised eyebrows. Not only did Shiwen go virtually stroke-for-stroke with Lochte – who had won gold in the men's 400 IM earlier in the night – she beat Lochte in the final 50 meters.

Shiwen went 28.93 in her final 50 and 58.68 in her final 100 of her 400 IM. Lochte went 29.10 in his final 50. And the final 100 meters of the pair? Lochte went 58.65 to Shiwen's 58.68. That was

Read More »from Controversy surrounds world-record 400 IM of China's 16-year-old Ye Shiwen

LONDON – For weeks, months, and years, we waited for this Ryan Lochte in the Olympic Games. We waited for him to finally dominate, so we could stop feeling sorry that he lived in the time of Michael Phelps. We waited for him to finally solve his own imbalanced equation – one part supreme talent, one part slacker, zero parts assassin.

Now we know: Ryan Lochte was waiting, too.

And four years ago, after failing to realize expectations that he would challenge Phelps in Beijing, he stopped waiting and started changing. And that's how Saturday night happened -- Lochte shredding the field in the brutal 400-meter individual medley and taking gold-medal real estate that had belonged only to Phelps in the last two Olympic Games. And it wasn't even close, with Lochte finishing 3.68 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor and 4.10 seconds ahead of Phelps. On top of that, Lochte's 4:05.18 is the fastest the 400 IM has ever been swum without the high-tech swimsuits that were banned in

Read More »from Ryan Lochte sheds his youthful way and shreds the 400 IM field

LONDON – Michael Phelps’ reign as the world’s most dominant Olympic swimmer took a serious hit in his first race at the London Games.

Ryan Lochte captured the gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley on Saturday, while Phelps finished fourth – failing to medal for the first time since the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney when he was just 15 years old. Lochte showed why he has been considered the world’s best swimmer over the last year, holding strong throughout the race before making his move in the backstroke and then steadily pulling away in the breaststroke and freestyle.

And while Lochte’s performance was brilliant, Phelps' struggle was equally captivating as the race wore on. Phelps has typically been able to make his move in the butterfly leg of the medley and finish strong in the freestyle, but he struggled to make up ground or mount a charge in any of the four legs of the race.

Japan’s 17-year-old Kosuke Hagino held off Phelps down the race's final 50 meters during the

Read More »from Ryan Lochte wins gold in 400 IM, Michael Phelps fails to medal in first race at London Games

LONDON – Michael Phelps qualified for his first final of these Olympics … just barely.

The superstar of the Beijing Games came stunningly close to missing the medal round of the 400 IM, snagging the eighth and final spot in the race by out-touching Laszlo Cseh by .07 seconds – 4:13.33 to 4:13.40. His time was almost six seconds slower than both his qualifying time in this year’s Omaha trials and his preliminary time in Beijing four years ago. The United States’ other gold medal favorite, Ryan Lochte, finished with the third-best preliminary time, coasting in at 4:12.35 and drawing the No. 3 lane in the final. Phelps will swim in lane eight. Japan’s 17-year-old Kosuke Hagino swam a surprisingly fast heat, going 4:10.01 and locking up the coveted fourth lane in the final.

[ Related: Phelps turns tables on childhood bullies ]

Phelps seemed surprised at his time, stopping in the mixed zone and staring over reporters at one point to watch Lochte’s final, perhaps aware that he was

Read More »from Michael Phelps narrowly qualifies in 400 IM