Gators in the Olympics - August 14
Thursday, August 14, 2008 | General
Ryan Lochte (U.S.) added two more Olympic medals to his resume, one gold and one bronze, totaling four medals for his 2008 Games campaign and increasing UF's medal count to six. Athletes with ties to the University of Florida were in Summer Olympic swimming and baseball action Thursday, Aug. 14.
Swimming
Lochte rallied for his first-ever individual Olympic gold medal, complete with a new World Record in the final heat of the men's 200-meter backstroke Thursday at the Water Cube in Beijing. Lochte clocked in at a World Record time of 1:53.94, surpassing backstroke foe and U.S. teammate Aaron Peirsol, who captured silver with a 1:54.33 swim. Arkady Vyatchann of Russia (1:54.93) rounded out the top-three medalists.
Approximately a half hour later, Lochte took to the water once again in the final heat of the men's 200-meter IM, his last individual race of the 2008 Olympic Games and the event in which he claimed silver at the 2004 Games in Athens. Lochte registered a third-place bronze medal finish (1:56.53) behind second-place Laszlo Cseh of Hungary (1:56.52) and gold-medal winner, U.S. teammate Michael Phelps (1:54.23 WR). Lochte was barely out-touched by Cseh with only one one-hundredth-of-a-second separating the silver and bronze medal performances.
Gemma Spofforth (Great Britain) led the way in women's 200-meter backstroke action, swimming a preliminary time of 2:10.58, good for a 16th-place finish and qualification for the semifinal event. Spofforth, who finished fourth in the 100-meter back event with a new British Commonwealth and European record earlier in Olympic swimming action, swam a lifetime-best time of 2:09.19 to finish ninth in the semifinal round of the 200 back, narrowly missing the eight-woman medal heat.
Other Gators in Thursday Olympic Swimming preliminaries:
| Gator | Country | Event | Time | Place |
| Rodion Davelaar | Curacao | 50-meter free | 24.40 | 57th |
| Shaune Fraser | Cayman Islands | 100-meter fly | 54.08 | 51st |
| Gabriel Mangabeira | Brazil | 100-meter fly | 52.28 | 23rd |
| Adam Sioui | Canada | 100-meter fly | 53.38 | 39th |
To review results from Thursday's swimming action and Lochte's gold-medal performance from the Water Cube in Beijing, click HERE.
Baseball
Former Gator Matt LaPorta and the U.S. Olympic Baseball Team bounced back with a 7-0 victory over the Netherlands on Thursday afternoon at Wukesong Field 2 to even their mark at 1-1 in pool play. With the Red, White and Blue holding a 1-0 advantage in the fourth inning, LaPorta (1-for-4) blasted a three-run homer to left field for his first hit of the Games.
Steven Strasburg hurled seven scoreless innings and did not allow a hit until the seventh inning. The game was shortened due to rain in the Beijing area and officially ended after eight complete innings. Team USA returns to action on Friday morning versus Cuba, with first pitch scheduled for 11:30 a.m. local time (11:30 p.m. EDT) at the Wukesong Main Field.
2008 Gator Medal Count: 6 (2 Gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze)
| Gator | Country | Sport | Event | Time | Medal |
| Caroline Burckle | U.S. | Swimming | 800-meter free relay | 7:46.33 | Bronze |
| Ryan Lochte | U.S. | Swimming | 200-meter back | 1:53.94 | Gold |
| Ryan Lochte | U.S. | Swimming | 800-meter free relay | 6:58.56 | Gold |
| Ryan Lochte | U.S. | Swimming | 200-meter IM | 1:56.53 | Bronze |
| Ryan Lochte | U.S. | Swimming | 400-meter IM | 4:08.09 | Bronze |
| Dara Torres | U.S. | Swimming | 400-meter free relay | 3:34.33 | Silver |
-Go Gators-
