LONDON -- Michael Phelps and Lake Forest's Matt Grevers capped the swimming portion of the London Olympics in style Saturday, winning the gold medal in the men's 400-meter medley relay.Phelps finished the Games -- which he has said will be his last -- with 22 career medals, 18 gold.
Grevers swam the opening backstroke portion of the medley, followed by Brendan Hansen, Phelps and Nathan Adrian. Grevers' split was 52.58, well off the world record of 51.94.
The four set a combined time of three minutes, 29.35 seconds, just outside the world record set by the Americans at the 2009 world championships in Rome, but it hardly mattered.
Japan finished second after leading at the halfway stage while Australia stormed home to collect the bronze, but no country was ever going to stand in the way of an American team determined to give Phelps the send-off he deserved.
The 27-year-old was swimming his last race before retiring after breaking every imaginable record during his career and providing a last memory of his determination to win.
The U.S. was ahead after the Grevers' backstroke leg but slipped back to second following the breaststroke.
Then Phelps dived in for the last time in the butterfly portion and by the time he got back to hand over to Adrian, the Americans were back in front and the result was a foregone conclusion.
In London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals to finish his career with a total of 22 medals, four more than Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who held the previous record for almost half a century before Phelps set a new mark that could last even longer.
Phelps already had the record for the most gold medals.
By picking up his 18th, he finished his career with twice as many as the next best, the nine jointly held by Latynina, American athlete Carl Lewis, American swimmer Mark Spitz and Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi.
Grevers swam the opening backstroke portion of the medley, followed by Brendan Hansen, Phelps and Nathan Adrian. Grevers' split was 52.58, well off the world record of 51.94.
The four set a combined time of three minutes, 29.35 seconds, just outside the world record set by the Americans at the 2009 world championships in Rome, but it hardly mattered.
Japan finished second after leading at the halfway stage while Australia stormed home to collect the bronze, but no country was ever going to stand in the way of an American team determined to give Phelps the send-off he deserved.
The 27-year-old was swimming his last race before retiring after breaking every imaginable record during his career and providing a last memory of his determination to win.
The U.S. was ahead after the Grevers' backstroke leg but slipped back to second following the breaststroke.
Then Phelps dived in for the last time in the butterfly portion and by the time he got back to hand over to Adrian, the Americans were back in front and the result was a foregone conclusion.
In London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals to finish his career with a total of 22 medals, four more than Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who held the previous record for almost half a century before Phelps set a new mark that could last even longer.
Phelps already had the record for the most gold medals.
By picking up his 18th, he finished his career with twice as many as the next best, the nine jointly held by Latynina, American athlete Carl Lewis, American swimmer Mark Spitz and Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi.