Olympic Swimming Results 2012: Americans Who Rebounded from Poor Showings

Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps are the first two that jump off the page.

Sure, Lochte began the Olympics with a gold but that quickly changed. In the 4x100-meter freestyle it was Lochte, the supposed best US swimmer in the Games, who was unable to maintain the lead given to him. Yannick Agnel swam him down.

Then came the 200-meter freestyle, where Lochte was thought to be a sure-fire medal contender. It was a question of which medal: silver or gold? How about neither. Lochte finished fourth.

Michael Phelps did not start out too hot either finishing fourth in the 400-meter individual medley.

But on Tuesday, both swimmers got back on the right side of things. They teamed up for the 4x200-meter freestyle and took gold. With a few events remaining for both men they have given each other a little momentum to take in to their final races.

Young Missy Franklin will have her opportunity to rebound from a less than stellar performance. While the 200 freestyle is not her premier event, the expectations for her have risen following her upset of Emily Seebohm in the 100 backstroke. Franklin finished fourth in both the semifinals and finals of the 200 freestyle, missing bronze.

As Franklin prepares for the 100 she, as of 1 p.m. ET, finished fourth in her heat with a time of 54.26 with the semifinals looming. Franklin will close out the Olympics with her top event, the 200 backstroke—a good way to rebound and close out her first Olympics impressively.

Another American who started off his Games on the wrong note was Tyler Clary. He finished fifth in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:55.06, nearly two seconds off the pace for a medal. While a small pass can be given to Clary for it not being his specialty, or expected to medal, undoubtedly he would have liked to have a better showing.

He can have one in the 200 backstroke. In the opening heat he finished ahead of the field. Now the semifinals await the California native.

Sometimes it is just not their specialty, other times it is strictly a poor performance, but the important thing to do is come back better in the next event. So far, the Americans have done that.

The talk of the Games has been Phelps and Lochte for different reasons. But as both men started off slow, they have rebounded to add another gold to the medal count for the United States and given themselves a chance to go out of London on a high note.

After all is said and done Phelps will go down as the most decorated Olympian of all time, and Lochte can take a few medals back home after the hype train was derailed in the early days.

Even with the criticism, they all came back and posted some good results. Those positive results look to continue in the final days of the swimming competitions in London.