the United States' women's team is just absolutely loaded in so many events, and with each day we're seeing new records made and icons formed in the pool.
The United States' Rebecca Soni became the first swimmer in the history of the 200-meter women's breaststroke to win the event twice when she blazed to a world-record time of 2:19.59 Thursday in the women's final.
Soni, the reigning gold medal winner in the event (she swam to first in 2:20.22 in '08, a then-world record she's now smashed multiple times), provides a precedent not only in becoming the first defending/two-time champ, but also in the record swim, and also giving American woman a presence and dominance in this event that they didn't always have.
Could the 200 breast become the next forte forte for American women's swimming? If so, Soni leads the charge that was founded by Amanda Beard's gold in the event at the '04 Games.
The 25-year-old Soni held a slim margin and was .28 slower than her world-record swim in Wednesday's semi when she was halfway through the race. But she picked up the blazing pace and broke the 2:20 barrier which for so long was thought to be an impossible mark for women to pass in this race.
Satomi Suzuki of Japan took second with an Asian record of 2:20.72, and Luliia Efimova of Russia touched in 2:20.92. So, yes: Soni was more than a second ahead of her competition. An incredible 200 meters for the American great.
