The fastest two lengths in swimming came down to 0.22 seconds as Kyle Chalmers of Australia out-touched Pieter Timmers of Belgium Wednesday in Rio for his first Olympic gold in a time of 47.58.

Santo Condorelli of Canada turned first at the wall in a blazing 22.22 seconds but the 18-year-old Chalmers, who was seventh at the halfway mark, battled back on the field with dominating closing speed for the win.

MORE: Full medal count | Kazakhstan wins first swimming gold

Nathan Adrian, who anchored Team USA's upset win in the 4x100m freestyle relay on Sunday, turned his bent-arm freestyle into a straight-arm recovery as he finished third by 0.05 seconds for the bronze. The 2012 Olympic champion in the event was seeking to become the first American since Johnny Weismuller (1924, 1928) to retain his Olympic title in the men's 100m freestyle.

"It actually felt pretty good, to be honest," Adrian told NBC Sports after the race. "Not my fastest time of the season but I can't be upset about that, I just came away with the bronze medal."

Adrian was lucky just to medal after flirting with disaster in the preliminary heats, qualifying for semifinals by just three one-hundredths of a second.

Australia's Cameron McEvoy, who entered the Games with the third-fastest time ever in the 100 freestyle and the fastest in the textile era, finished a disappointing seventh (48.12).



