U.S. relay team keeps Michael Phelps' quest alive

It was all about one man in the water, who unleashed the swim of a lifetime. Jason Lezak of Irvine, who trains mostly by himself without a coach, did it alone this morning at the "Water Cube" with the fastest relay leg ever, anchoring the men's 400-meter freestyle relay to a world record at the Olympics.

All for one and one for all, so to speak. And in the Olympic world of Phelps, a second gold medal and a seismic step toward what would be a record eight.

He reached No. 2, which could be the most difficult one of all, when Lezak chased down then-world-record holder Alain Bernard of France in the final few meters and out-touched him at the wall.

The U.S. won the relay in a world-record 3 minutes 8.24 seconds, to France's 3:08.32. If Phelps wins eight golds -- which would eclipse Mark Spitz's record of seven, accomplished in 1972 -- then perhaps Lezak should get a big cut of that million-dollar bonus from Speedo.

Lezak's final leg will be talked about for years. France had taken a big lead on the third leg, going up by 0.59 at the 300-meter mark, and Bernard was looking smooth and powerful, increasing his lead even more at 350 meters.

Even Lezak thought he had little chance with 50 meters remaining. His anchor leg was 46.06 seconds. "There's no way," he said. "Then I said, 'It's ridiculous. It's the Olympics and I'm here for the USA.' I honestly thought all those things all at once and I got a supercharge and took it from there. I was unreal."

Said Phelps, who led off the relay: "Jason swam the fastest relay split of all time. His last 50 meters were absolutely incredible. He had a perfect finish."

The water was still shaking, and the pool deck looked as if it was about to do the same when Lezak finished. The other relay member was Jones, who had been on the relay team in the prelims, which set the world record Sunday night. He was the only one of that four to swim in the final.

"I think this will be one of the races he'll never forget the rest of his life," Jones said.

Word had filtered over to the U.S. camp that the French team had been dismissive of the Americans' chances in the relay.

For 300 meters, well, Bernard, Frederick Bousquet and company were right.