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Nathan Adrian of the United States won the gold medal in the Olympic 100-meter freestyle on Wednesday night, completing the furious, water-thrashing, lung-busting test one-hundredth of a second faster than James Magnussen of Australia.

History unfolded in 6 minutes and 59.70 seconds. With a little help from three of his friends, Michael Phelps became the greatest Olympian of them all, winning his 19th career medal, breaking the standard set by legendary Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina.

The Colorado teenager Missy Franklin won the 100-meter backstroke to earn her first gold medal, outracing Emily Seebohm of Australia in a stirring duel that completed a wild 20 minutes at the London Aquatics Centre for her.

Here's what to watch for at the London Olympics on Monday: 1. SWIMMING: There are four finals, with Ryan Lochte going for a second gold in the men's 200 freestyle. The less successful Michael Phelps - a phrase many are unaccustomed to hearing - will also be in the pool elsewhere; 2. GYMNASTICS: The first gold medal will be awarded in the men's team final...

France earned an Olympic-sized upset in the 400 free relay Sunday, when 20-year-old Yannick Agnel chased down Ryan Lochte on the final lap to avenge the Americans' 2008 victory... The win is France's first in the history of the event. Not only that -- it's France's first relay victory of any kind, men or women, in the history of the Summer Olympics.

She wanted an individual world record and an individual gold medal. Dana Vollmer didn’t even need 56 seconds to accomplish both feats. The former University of California swimmer and reigning world champion had the Aquatics Centre buzzing when she became the first woman to break the 56-second barrier, winning gold in the 100-meter butterfly in 55.98 seconds, a world record.

Here's what to watch for at the London Olympics on Sunday... SWIMMING: The United States, Australia and France go for gold in the final of the 4 x100m freestyle relay, a day after Michael Phelps was stunningly defeated by teammate Ryan Lochte... BASKETBALL: The U.S. men's team plays France (and NBA star Tony Parker).

The defending champion in the 400-meter freestyle, Tae-hwan Park of South Korea, advanced in his event only after his disqualification was overturned.

Ryan Lochte turned his much-anticipated duel with Michael Phelps into a blowout, pulling away to win the Olympic 400-meter individual medley by more than 3 seconds Saturday night. Even more stunning: Phelps didn't even win a medal.

Michael Phelps is dropping out of the 200-meter freestyle at this month's London Olympics, leaving him with seven events for his Games swansong.