LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) – Barring a major upset or
calamity, Michael Phelps will claim one of the few records that
he has not yet captured at the London Olympics on Tuesday.
Phelps did not swim in the morning heats but his American
team mates ensured he would be in action in the evening finals
for two events when they set the fastest time in the 4×200
metres freestyle heats.
The quartet of Charlie Houchin, Matthew McLean, Davis
Tarwater and Conor Dwyer posted a combined time of seven minutes
06.75 seconds, nearly three seconds faster than any other
country.
Teams normally rest their best swimmers in the relay heats,
meaning the Americans will be much faster in the final when
Phelps and 400 individual medley winner Ryan Lochte join forces.
Phelps is also in the 200 butterfly final on Tuesday night.
If he medals in both events, as expected, he will overtake
Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina’s record tally of 18 Olympic
medals.
(Reporting by Julian Linden; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
