19 year-old Welshman David Davies has won a bronze medal on the final day of the swimming competition in Athens. His time of 14:45.90 in the 1500m was good enough for a new British and European record.
Michael Phelps, also 19 but not Welsh, won a sixth gold as the US 4x100m medley relay team surged to victory in world record time. Over the first leg Aaron 'Kicker' Peirsol added a 100m backstroke individual world record for good measure. Although Phelps did not actually get round to swimming in the final, his participation in the heats ensured he will still receive a gold.
The American team could not replicate the result in the women's event, however, as they finished behind the Australians.

The seventh day of Olympic swimming competition saw Michael Phelps win his fifth gold medal of the games after a stunning finish in the 100m butterfly.
An even closer finish saw fellow American Gary Hall Jnr successfully defend his 50m freestyle crown with only 0.54 seconds separating first from eighth.
Unfortunately the British swimmers featuring in finals both ended up outside the medals. Reigning World Champion Katy Sexton finished seventh in the 200m backstroke while Becky Cooke managed a sixth place in 800m free.
However, a ray of hope for Team GB was provided by David 'Dave' Davies who qualified fastest for the final of the men's 1500m freestyle.

The result of the men's 200m backstroke proved to be a cause of much heated debate on the sixth day of Olympic swimming.
Aaron Peirsol finished first in the race with Britain's James Goddard coming in fourth. French judge Denis Cadon then disqualified the American only for him to be reinstated, thus handing bronze to Goddard before taking it back.
Other results were more straightforward with Jodie Henry beating defending champion Inge De Bruijn/Brown/Broon/Brin into second place in the 100m freestyle. Michael Phelps then illustrated once again that he is certainly not pissing around when he won a fourth gold medal in the 200 IM.

In the fifth day of Olympic swimming, James Goddard set a new British and Commonwealth record in the semi-finals of the 200m backstroke.
The time of 1:57.25 was good enough to qualify for the final in second place, with only American World record holder Aaron Peirsol going faster. Fellow Brit Gregor Tait also qualified, giving Team GB hope for another medal.
In the men's 100m freestyle Pieter Van Den Hoooooogenband successfully defended the title he won in Sydney with Ian Thorpe pushed into third.
This was followed by real fireworks (metaphorically speaking) in the women's 100m free when Aussie Jodie Henry set a new world record in her semi-final.

After four days of competition in the pool, Great Britain have won their first medal thanks to a superb swim from Stephen Parry.
In the final of the 200m butterfly Parry finished in 1:55.52, a new British and Commonwealth record, and good enough for a third place behind the famous Michael Phelps and the substantially less famous Takashi Yamamoto.
The GB men's 4x200m relay also swam well to finish fourth in their event and in the women's 200m IM Yana Kotchkova beat Amanda 'FHM' Beard.
Earlier in the day there was a surprise in the men's 100m freestyle with Matt Kidd, Jason Lezack, Ian Crocker and Alex Popov all failing to make the final.

The 'Race of the Century' produced victory for Ian Thorpe over arch-American Michael Phelps in the third day of swimming in Athens.
A clearly over-excited Adrian Moorhouse, commentating for the BBC, pointed out that this makes Thorpe the first person to successfully defend the 200m freestyle title - overlooking minor details such as the results from Sydney.
In the 200m fly Stephen Parry provided a much needed boost for Team GB by setting the fastest qualifying time for the final, beating Michael Phelps and setting a new British and Commonwealth record of 1:55.57 in the process.
It was not all bad news for the Americans, however, as Natalie Coughlin and Aaron Peirsol both won 100m backstroke gold.

The second day of Olympic swimming produced a British record for Simon Burnett as he qualified for the final of the 200m freestyle in a time of 1:47.95.
Others faired less well, however, as Katie Sexton and former Copthall hero Sarah Price both failed to make the final of the 100m backstroke while Darren Mew and James Gibson finished out of the medals in the 100m breaststroke. Rebecca Cooke fought hard in the 400m freestyle final but could only manage 8th place, after setting a personal best in the heats.
Away from British action, Michael Phelps’ hopes of a record eight gold medals are, like Mark Spitz’s moustache, sadly no more. The US 4x100m free team only finished third behind world record destroying South Africa.

Much like a nymphomaniac's wedding night, the first day of swimming in Athens produced plenty of action, but little in the way of major surprises.
Michael Phelps began his quest for 8 gold medals by leading an American one-two in the 400m IM, setting a new world record of 4:08.26 in the process.
Ian Thorpe then held off both tears, and fellow Aussie Grant Hackett, to win the 400m freestyle in a time of 3:43.10.
Other highlights included an Australian victory over the Americans in the women's 4 x 100m freestyle relay. Alice Mills, Libby Lenton, Petria Thomas and Jodie Henry finishing in a world record time of 3:35.94.