We are only halfway through the 2016 Summer Olympics, and the United States already has so much to celebrate. The United States Women's Gymnastics Team absolutely dominated with gold in the team event and with gold for Simone Biles and silver for Aly Raisman in the individual all-around event. In Women's Eight Rowing, the United States took home their fourth-consecutive gold medal, and as of Saturday night, the United States had a total of 60 medals, more than any other country.
However, more than half of the USA's success can be attributed to the United States swimming team. Out of the USA's 60 total medals, 33 have come from events in swimming, and the United States has had a swimmer reach the podium in 28 of the 32 pool events that took place. Some memorable moments include Ryan Murphy winning the gold medal in the two men's backstroke events, Maya Dirado coming back to beat the Hungarian powerhouse, Katinka Hozzsu, by just one stroke in the women's 200m backstroke, and Lilly King winning gold in the women's 100m backstroke, beating and speaking out against a Russian swimmer who served a doping ban prior to the games in Rio. Also, in addition to these success stories, there have been major, historic triumphs by four other US swimmers.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, furthered his success by winning four more gold medals and one more silver in Rio, raising his total medal counts to 23 gold and 28 overall (which includes individual and team medals). As he raced in his fourth Olympic Games, he shattered even more records: his 13th individual gold medal made him the Olympic athlete with the most individual gold medals in history, surpassing the 12 gold medal record set in 152 BC. He also became the third American in history to win an individual event four times by winning his fourth consecutive gold in the 200m individual medley. He even breezed through the 100m butterfly semifinal just about 40 minutes after winning gold in the 200m individual medley. Although his teammate Ryan Lochte hinted that Phelps would be back in Tokyo 2020, in a statement made on Saturday afternoon, Phelps announced that Rio would be his final Olympics. Phelps certainly didn't have anything left to prove, but it is still so sad to see him leave the Olympic stage.
Katie Ledecky, at only 19 years of age, swam in her second Olympics, winning four gold medals and one silver. She might be the youngest female swimmer on the US team this time around, but she is breaking more records than anyone else. Ledecky broke her own world record in the 800m freestyle, not only coming in first, but beating the second place finisher by roughly 11 seconds. In doing so, she also became the second woman ever to win three individual freestyle events in one Olympics. Ledecky is already a swimming legend, and it's hard to imagine that she can get better, but all eyes will be set on her as she prepares for Tokyo.
Simone Manuel, a first-time Olympian, became the first African American woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming. Manuel, just 20 years old, is also going home with one more gold for her swim in the 4x100m medley relay and two silver medals for her swims in the 50m freestyle and in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Her Olympic career is undoubtedly off to an amazing start!
In the men's 50m freestyle, Anthony Ervin became the oldest Olympic gold medalist in swimming at 35 years of age. He first competed and won gold in the same event in Sydney 2000 when he was 19, but retired shortly after. In 2004, he auctioned off his gold medal and donated the profits to help victims of the Indian Ocean Tsunami that took place that year. He returned to the Olympic stage in London 2012, but fell short and came in fifth in his event, making his 2016 victory even sweeter.
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