Day 5 of Swimming at the 2012 London Olympics

Men's 200 Meter Breaststroke:

Daniel Gyurta (Matt Slocum/AP)

Daniel Gyurta of Hungary has come a long way since winning the silver medal in the 200 Breaststroke as a wide-eyed 15-year old at the 2004 Athens Olympics.  Gyurta had an extremely disappointing Beijing Olympics four years ago, failing to medal in his signature event, and failing to qualify for even the semifinals in the 100 breaststroke.  This time around Gyurta performed to his full capability, setting a new world record in the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 2:07.28.  Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, who was attempting to become the first swimmer to ever win the same event in three consecutive Olympics, charged ahead of the field in the first half of the swim well ahead of world record pace.  Gyurta did not panic and instead swam a strategic race, charging back like a freight train in the final 100 meters of the swim to win his first ever Olympic gold medal.  Michael Jamieson of Great Britain was willed to a silver medal by the fervor of the wildly cheering London crowd.  Kitajima, who had won every individual breaststroke event at the previous two Olympics, was passed for the bronze medal by his countryman Ryo Tateishi in the final meters of the swim.

Jiao Liuyang (David Gray/Reuters)

Women's 200 Meter Butterfly:

Jiao Liuyang of China won the 200 Butterfly with a time of 2:04.05.  Jiao, the silver medalist in Beijing continued the Chinese dominance of the event by pushing past Mareia Belmonte-Garcia of Spain in the final 25 meters of the swim to win the gold medal.

Men's 100 Meter Freestyle:

Nathan Adrian (Martin Bureau/Getty Images)

The 100 meter freestyle is the single most prestigious event in swimming competition.  This year's stacked field only added to the drama and intensity of the race.  The competitors included Yannick Agnel, the French national hero from the 4x100 freestyle relay and gold medal winner in the 200 freestyle, Cesar Cielo Filho, the Brazilian world record holder and 2009 world champion in the event, James "The Missile" Magnussen, the Australian defending world champion in the event, Nathan Adrian, the fastest American in the event, and Brent Hayden, the Canadian record holder and 2007 world champion. 

Nathan Adrian's finish (NBC)

The event certainly lived up to expectations and proved to be one of the most memorable races in recent memory and an instant classic.  Adrian got off to a furiously fast start with his arms churning at unimaginable speeds.  Adrian began to slow down in the second 50 and Magnussen surged ahead to take the lead going into the wall.  When Adrian had finished swimming, he was certain that Magnussen had out touched him.   One quick glance up at the scoreboard allowed him to let out a roar of victory.  Adrian had won the gold medal with a time of 47.52, defeating Magnussen by the slimmest of margins, only one 100th of a second.  Adrian's victory denied Australia of an opportunity to win its first individual swimming gold medal of these Olympic games.  Adrian is the first American to win the event since Matt Biondi in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.  Hayden took home the bronze medal.

Women's 4x200 Freestyle Relay:

American relay (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The American women's 4x200 freestyle relay matched its male counterpart in dominating the event and claimed yet another gold medal for the United States.  By the time that Allison Schmitt, the gold medalist in the 200 freestyle, dived in to anchor for the United States, both the Americans and Australians had pulled far ahead of the field.  Schmitt had yet another incredible swim, helping her relay teammates Missy Franklin, Dana Vollmer and Shannon Vreeland set a new Olympic record and defeating the Australians by a full body length.

Additional Notes:

Women's 200 Meter Breaststroke Semifinals:

Rebecca Soni of the United States broke a world record with a time of 2:20.00.

Men's 200 Backstroke semifinals

Yakov Toumarkin of Israel qualified for the finals in the 200 Meter Backstroke becoming the first Israeli to qualify for the Olympic finals in swimming since Eitan Orbach in the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Toumarkin (Getty Images)