University of Minnesota Athletics
Plummer Gets Gold with Medley Relay
8/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
David Plummer is an Olympic gold medalist after the U.S. 4x100-meter medley relay team ended Saturday night with a victory. Plummer led off the prelim on Friday to help the U.S. advance. The medal was Plummer's second in Rio, as he won bronze in the 100-meter backstroke on Monday.
Plummer's 52.70 was the top backstroke split in the prelims. He gave the U.S. a lead which it held for the rest of its heat. Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller, Michael Phelps and Nathan Adrian set an Olympic record of 3:27.95 to win the final.
Plummer's gold medal is a first for the Golden Gophers. The 2008 Minnesota graduate is the third Gopher to swim in a prelim for a winning relay, but the first to receive a medal for it. Both Virgil Luken and Walter Richardson swam in the 1964 medley relay prelim, which went on to win gold, but they did not receive medals.
University of Minnesota swimming and diving concludes the Games with Plummer's two medals and a finals appearance by Kierra Smith. Smith, who will return for her senior year this fall, finished seventh in the 200-meter breaststroke.
Plummer and Smith were two of seven Gophers competing in Rio this summer and among the dozens of Gopher Olympians to compete over the Games' history. Please help support the next Gopher Olympian by giving to our Olympic sports programs. Click here for more information or to give today.
