RIO DE JANEIRO -- Katie Ledecky was the fastest swimmer in the pool, and she brought her American teammates along for the ride.

Ledecky, 19, turned in another overpowering performance to carry the United States to victory in the 800-meter freestyle relay, capturing her third gold and fourth medal overall at the Rio Olympics.

The U.S. trailed through the first three legs of the race, as Sweden, China and then Australia swapped the lead.

Then, it was Ledecky's turn on the anchor leg.

[ARKANSANS IN RIO: Full coverage of 24 in Olympics]

She blew everyone away.

Ledecky turned in a split of 1 minute, 53.74 seconds, which was nearly 2.5 seconds faster than her next-fastest teammate, Allison Schmitt in 1:56.21.

Only one other swimmer in the race, Australia's Emma McKeon, got within a second of Ledecky's four-lap time.

"I was prepared for any circumstance, whether we were ahead or behind," Ledecky said.

The U.S. finished in 7 minutes, 43.03 seconds, with Ledecky a full body length ahead of Tamsin Cook, who touched in 7:44.87 to give Australia the silver. Canada took the bronze in 7:45.39.

Ledecky's relay time was only one-hundredth of a second slower than her winning time in the 200 free Tuesday night.

"It's good consistency, I guess," she said nonchalantly.

The teenager has one more race to go, and it might be the biggest lock of all. She's the world-record holder and defending Olympic champion in the 800 free.

On the fifth night of swimming at the Olympic Aquatic Center, 18-year-old Kyle Chalmers dethroned defending champion Nathan Adrian in the 100 freestyle final, the first Australian to win the event in 48 years. Kazakhstan claimed its first-ever swimming medal -- a gold one, at that -- when Dmitriy Balandin pulled off a stunning upset in the 200 breaststroke.

Also, Spain's Mireia Belmonte Garcia won her first gold medal after two silvers and a bronze, touching first in the 200 butterfly.

Coming off the 20th and 21st gold medals of his career, Michael Phelps wasn't up for a medal. But he did cruise through the semifinals of the 200 individual medley with the fastest time, besting longtime rival and countryman Ryan Lochte.

Swimming next to Lochte, Phelps put up an effortless-looking time of 1:55.78 to claim the prime middle lane in tonight's final.

Lochte will be right next to him again, ranking second in 1:56.28.

Phelps will be seeking his fourth consecutive 200 IM title at the Olympics. He's also got a chance to pull off that feat in the 100 butterfly.

In the relay, Schmitt won gold in what was likely the final race of her career. Winner of three golds and five medals overall in London four years ago, she battled depression and didn't qualify for an individual event in Rio. Still, she added two more medals to her trophy case, also getting a silver in the 400 relay along with Ledecky.

The other U.S. swimmers were Maya DiRado, who added a gold to go along with silver and bronze in the two individual medleys, and Leah Smith, who picked up her second medal of the games after earning bronze in the 400 free.

Then there was Missy Franklin, the darling of the London Games. She'll get a gold after swimming in the afternoon preliminaries, though her time wasn't good enough to land her a spot in the evening final.

Franklin's torch has been passed to Ledecky, who joined Phelps and Hungary's Katinka Hosszu as three-time swimming gold medalists in Rio.

In the furious down-and-back sprint that is the 100 free, Chalmers rallied on the return lap to win with a time of 47.58. Pieter Timmers of Belgium claimed the silver in 47.80, while Adrian made it onto the medal podium -- with a bronze this time -- in 47.85.

"It would be great to have gold," said Adrian, who barely advanced out of the preliminaries but nearly pulled off the first back-to-back titles in the 100 since Pieter van den Hoogenband in 2000 and 2004. "But in this day and age, the 100 freestyle is maybe the most fickle event out there. I am so proud to be a medalist for two Olympiads."

Sports on 08/11/2016