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Lochte, Peirsol take gold, silver in 200 back

U.S. swimmer sets new world record with time of 1 minute 53.94 seconds

Image: Ryan Lochte
U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte celebrates winning the men's 200m backstroke final on Aug. 15. Lochte broke the men's 200m backstroke world record in winning Olympic gold in 1min 53.94sec.
Martin Bureau / AFP - Getty Images
updated 10:24 p.m. ET Aug. 14, 2008

BEIJING - Ryan Lochte has upset defending champion Aaron Peirsol in the 200-meter backstroke at the Beijing Olympics, winning in a world-record time and dashing his teammate’s hopes of completing a backstroke sweep for the second consecutive games.

Lochte took the lead over the final 50 meters and touched in 1 minute, 53.94 seconds, lowering the world mark of 1:54.32 that he and Peirsol had shared for more than a month.

Peirsol earned the silver in 1:54.33. Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia, who led the first 150 meters, took the bronze in 1:54.93.

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Peirsol had already won the 100 back in world-record time.

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