Scenes from the Water Cube – August 15

World records were breaking again today at the “water cube” in Beijing. Here is a summary of all of the action:

Rebecca Soni of the United States set a new world record of 2:20.22 in her Gold Medal win in the women’s 200m breast stroke event. She was followed by Leisel Jones of Australia, the former world record holder, for the Silver Medal and Sara Nordenstam of Norway for the Bronze.

Germany’s Britta Steffen won the Gold Medal in the women’s 100m freestyle event, setting a new Olympic record of 53.12. She was followed by Lisbeth Trickett of Australia and Natalie Coughlin of the United States for the Silver and Bronze Medals. It was the first swimming Gold Medal for Germany in the Beijing Games.

It was a busy morning in Beijing for Ryan Lochte of the United States. He won the men’s 200m back stroke with a world record time of 1:53.94 and earned the Bronze in the 200m individual medley (see below). He was followed in the 200m back by Aaron Peirsol of the United States for the Silver Medal and Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia for the Bronze.

Of course, the lead story of the day–as it has been all week–is Michael Phelps. Phelps earned another Gold Medal–his 12th–in the men’s 200m individual medley. Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh earned the Silver Medal, his third Medal of the Beijing Games, and Ryan Lochte earned the Bronze Medal.