Welcome To The Club: Ryan Murphy Finishes Sweep With 1:53.62 In 200 Backstroke

The names read like a Who’s Who of backstroke. Roland Matthes. John Naber. Rick Carey. Lenny Krayzelburg. Aaron Peirsol. What is their connection? Each of the aforementioned men pulled off an Olympic double in the stroke, claiming gold medals in the 100 distance and 200 distance during the same Olympiad.

Welcome to the club, Ryan Murphy.

Touted as the future of his stroke for several years, the 21-year-old ascended to the top of backstroke on Thursday night, roaring to victory in the 200 back at the Rio Aquatics Centre. The triumph complemented Murphy’s gold medal in the 100 back earlier in the week, and placed him in some exclusive company.

If Murphy’s win in the shorter distance was convincing, then his decision over four laps was perfectly executed. A six-time NCAA champion for the University of California-Berkeley, Murphy was fourth at the first turn, but in front at each of the other checkpoints, relying on superb underwaters off each wall to nullify any surges his rivals may have been summoning.

Finishing with a time of 1:53.62, the fastest of his career, Murphy finished .34 ahead of Australian Mitch Larkin, the co-favorite in the event heading into Rio. Russia’s Evgeny Rylov dropped a European record of 1:53.97 for the bronze medal, fourth place going to China’s Xu Jiayu well back in 1:55.16.

Like he did in the 100 back, Murphy extended a reign of American dominance, his title (as was the case at half the distance) the sixth …

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