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By Michael Place
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua ) -- The United States swimming team began the Rio Olympics hoping to break their record of 33 medals at a single edition of the Games.
While they might not have quite achieved that goal, they have every reason to be satisfied with their performances at Rio's Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
The US equalled their record haul at the 2000 Games in Sydney, this time winning more finals en route to 16 gold, eight silver and nine bronze medals.
In the process, Michael Phelps enhanced his status as the most successful Olympian of all time with five victories and a runner-up place, taking his overall record to 23 gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
Phelps won the 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley, 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle and 4x100 medley relay. In his only other event, the 31-year-old took silver in the 100m butterfly.
Having come back from retirement to compete in these Games, Phelps said there was no chance he would return for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
"When I decided to come back I wanted to do it the right way," he said. "I wanted to challenge myself and see how much more I could do. I don't have anything that's left. This is it. This is the last time you'll ever see me racing in the water."
While that might be sad news for swimming fans, the sport is not short of new idols.
Chief among them is US teenager Katie Ledecky, who won five gold medals here. The 19-year-old added victories in the 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle to her 800m title in London fours ago.
She was also part of the US 4x100m freestyle relay team that took silver in Rio.
In addition to Ledecky, the US unearthed another emerging star in Simone Manuel.
The 20-year-old became the first black swimmer to win an individual Olympic gold medal for the US when she tied for first with Canada's Penny Oleksiak in the final of the 100m freestyle.
Manuel also won gold as part of the USA's 4x100m medley relay in addition to silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay and 50m freestyle.
"This is not just for me, it's for all the other African American athletes that have come before me that have been an inspiration," Manuel said of her 100m freestyle success. "I hope that I can be an inspiration for others to come into the sport. Hopefully they can find the love and drive they need to get to this point."
One of the biggest surprises of the swimming competition was the dominance of Hungary's Katinka Hosszu. The 27-year-old grabbed three gold medals and one silver, including a world record in the 400m individual medley.
The five-time world champion had never previously finished on the podium for an Olympic event, despite having competed at three previous editions of the Games.
Other multiple gold medallists here were Mayo Dirado (USA; 200m backstroke, 4x200m freestyle relay), Nathan Adrian (USA; 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley relay), Caeleb Dressel (USA; 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay), Anthony Ervin (4x100m freestyle relay, 50m freestyle) and Lilly King (USA; 100m breaststroke, 4x100m medley relay).
There were also other individual records of note during the eight-day meet.
Dmitriy Balandin said he would need at least a week to comprehend what it meant to be Kazakhstan's first Olympic swimming medallist - and a gold one at that - after winning the 200m breaststroke final.
Swimming in lane eight after qualifying last for the final, Balandin hit the wall in 2 minutes 07.46 seconds to beat the USA's Josh Prenot by seven hundredths of a second.
"The tactics were simple. Being in the outside lane I could not see my competitors but that helped me as I wasn't paying attention to anyone," Balandin said.
"To be honest I cannot think I have comprehended right now that I've got Olympic gold. I might need a week to 10 days to produce an adequate reaction."
On the penultimate day of competition Anthony Ervin became the oldest swimmer to claim an Olympic gold medal when he claimed the 50m freestyle title aged 35.
Ervin beat the record set by Dara Torres, who was 33 when she took part in the USA's victorious 4x100m relay team at the Sydney 2000 Games.
He also broke the record held by US teammate Michael Phelps as the oldest swimmer to win an individual Olympic gold medal.
It completed a remarkable comeback from Ervin, who won his first Olympic gold medal in 2000 - also in the 50m freestyle - before quitting the sport. He returned for the 2012 Olympics, finishing fifth in the 50m freestyle final.
