Vollmer Sets World Record in Butterfly

Dana Vollmer won a gold medal at the Olympics and set a world record, too. Not bad for someone who didn't even qualify four years ago. On a night featuring a relay duel between the Australians and the Americans, Vollmer got things started with a bang today in the 100-meter butterfly. She was third at the turn but powered to the wall for a time of 55.98 seconds, beating the record of 56.06 set by Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom in a since-banned high-tech bodysuit at the 2009 world championships.

In another race today, France upset favored Australia and the US to win the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. The Americans led all the way until Yannick Agnel pulled ahead of Ryan Lochte in the final lap. France clocked 3 minutes, 9.93 seconds, and the Americans settled for silver in 3:10.38. Russia took bronze in 3:11.41. Pre-race favorite Australia was fourth. It was sweet revenge for the French, who lost a close race to the Americans in Beijing four years ago. (More 2012 London Olympics stories.)