UA Swimmer Alyssa Anderson Earns Gold in London

August 1, 2012

The former All-American claimed gold in 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the Olympics on Aug. 1. This is the UA's first gold medal in the 2012 Games.

Alyssa Anderson won a gold medal on Aug. 1 at the Olympic Games in London.
Alyssa Anderson won a gold medal on Aug. 1 at the Olympic Games in London. (Photo by Luke Adams/Arizona Athletics)

University of Arizona swimmer Alyssa Anderson earned a gold medal on Aug. 1 as part of the United States’ victorious 4x200-meter freestyle relay team.
 
Anderson, a native of Granite Bay, Calif., swam in the preliminary round, qualifying the U.S. for the final. She swam the third leg, posting a split time of 1:57.33 as the Americans won heat two in a time of 7:50.75.
 
The U.S. relay team – Missy Franklin, Dana Vollmer, Shannon Vreeland and Allison Schmitt – captured the gold medal by setting a new Olympic record of 7:42.92 to win by 1.49 seconds over Australia. France earned a bronze medal with a time of 7:47.49.
 
A 16-time All-American during her collegiate career (2008-12), Anderson was a 2012 team captain and was the co-recipient of the Ruby Award, given annually to Arizona’s outstanding female athlete.
 
Anderson will receive a gold medal because of her participation in the preliminaries. She joins men’s swimmer Nick Thoman as former Wildcats who have won medals at the 2012 London Olympics. Thoman claimed a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke on July 30. UA-affiliated swimmer Matt Grevers won the gold medal.
 
This is the 24th gold medal claimed by Arizona athletes all-time in Olympic competition.

Other activities on Aug. 1 for Arizona-related athletes:

  • Men’s swimming, 200-meter individual medley: Darian Townsend (South Africa) posted a time of 2:00.67 in heat three of the preliminaries, but did not advance.
  • Men’s Swimming, 200-meter breaststroke Olympic final: Clark Burckle (USA) finished sixth in the Olympic final, posting a time of 2:09.25. He finished 1.97 seconds behind gold-medal winner Daniel Gyurta of Hungary.

 Here is the UA-related schedule for Aug. 2:

  • Men’s basketball (Robertas Javtokas): Lithuania vs. France, 1 a.m.
  • Men’s swimming (Roland Schoeman): 50-meter freestyle preliminaries, 2 a.m.
  • Men’s swimming (Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or/Albert Subirats): 100-meter butterfly preliminaries, 3:21 a.m.
  • Men’s swimming (Roland Schoeman): 50-meter freestyle semifinals, 11:30 a.m.
  • Men’s swimming (Darian Townsend):  200-meter Individual medley Olympic final, 12:16 p.m.
  • Men’s swimming (Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or/Albert Subirats): 100-meter butterfly semifinals, 12:51 p.m.
  • Men’s basketball (Andre Iguodala): United States vs. Nigeria, 2:15 p.m.