Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.) broke her own world record en route to a gold medal in the 100m backstroke. Coughlin set the mark by swimming 59.44 in the 100m backstroke. She also made her way into the record books as a member of the women’s 800m freestyle relay that broke a world record and won gold in Melbourne. Coughlin completed the World Championships with five medals: two gold, two silver and one bronze.

Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) broke three individual world records at the FINA World Championships and won six gold medals, in the month of March. When competition concluded April 1, Phelps had seven medals, all gold (200m free, 100m fly, 200m fly, 200m IM, 400m IM, 400m free relay, 800m free relay). Phelps set a World Championship record, breaking the previous record of six medals, held by Ian Thorpe of Australia. Phelps was named Male Swimmer of the Meet for his performance.

The USA Women’s Water Polo Team went undefeated at the 2007 World Championships, winning all six of their games including three preliminary match-ups, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a gold medal round. Team USA entered the tournament ranked fourth behind World Cup champion Australia, Italy and Russia.

With their advancement to this year’s semifinals, Team USA added another medal-round finish to their rich competition history, surpassing all other women’s national water polo teams with an eighth consecutive appearance since the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Out of those eight performances, the USA Women have medaled in six of those events taking gold at the 2007 World Championships, silver at the 2000 Olympic Games, 2002 World Cup and 2005 World Championships and a bronze in the 2004 Olympic Games.

Second place for the female vote went to Elizabeth Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich.) a former University of Michigan All-American water polo goalkeeper. She backstopped the USA national Women’s Water Polo team to a gold medal at the FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. She led the American team past host Australia, 6-5, to claim the gold. As a result of her steady performance, Armstrong was named the tournament’s outstanding goalkeeper by the FINA Federation. Armstrong recorded 12 blocks in both team USA’s 10-9 semifinal win over Hungary and in the Championship game.

Armstrong is the first athlete ever to play for a USA Water Polo World Championship team that did not attend a college inside the state of California. Armstrong was not a member of the invitation list for the U.S. team open tryouts but earned a spot on the national squad after attending tryouts 11 months ago.

Third place for the female vote went to Sheila Taormia (Colorado Springs, Colo) of Modern
Pentathlon. Taormina made history for the USA Pentathlon team by becoming the first
American ever to sit atop the UIPM World Cup rankings list. She reached the No. 1 spot by virtue of her silver-medal performance in the World Cup No. 2, March 22-25 in Cairo, Egypt, and her fourth-place finish in the first World Cup of the season, March 1-4 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Attempting to make her fourth U.S. Olympic Team in an unprecedented third sport, Taormina’s rapid advancement has been nothing short of phenomenal. The 1996 Olympic gold medalist in swimming and 2000 and 2004 U.S. Olympian in triathlon, Taormina took up the sport of modern pentathlon in June of 2005. Last season was her first full competition season in the sport, which combines shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and running.

Taormina was also honored during the month of March with the United States Sports Academy Jim Thorpe All-Around award.

Second place for the men went to Short Track Speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Ohno had an impressive and busy month. The five-time Olympic medalist won the 1500m in 2:33.793 at the World Championships in Milan, Italy on March 10-11 to beat hometown favorite Nicola Rodriqari. He also captured a third-place finish in the 1000m and was on the 5000m relay which also finished in third.

To top it all off he was also training with his dance partner, Julianne Hough, for his Dancing with the Stars, ABC debut.

Nordic Combined athlete Billy Demong (Heber City, Utah) was third place in the men’s vote. Demong started the month winning a silver medal at the World Championships in Okemo, Vt. on March 3. He then went on to win the 15k back-end of an individual event at the Lahti World Cup in Lahti, Finland on March 9 winning by 6.6 seconds for his second World Cup win of his career.

Demong was third at the season’s final World Cup in Oslo, Norway on March 18 and was voted USA Today athlete of the week on March 19. He finished his season by sweeping all three National titles at the U.S. Jumping, Nordic Combined Championships on March 24-25, in Steamboat Springs, Colo. He won two titles in jumping and one in Nordic Combined.

The U.S. Men’s 4x200 Freestyle Relay Swimming Team took home second-place honors for the team award. The team of Michael Phelps(Baltimore, Md.), Klete Keller (Phoenix, Ariz.), Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.), and Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.), dominated the 4x200 relay at the FINA World Championships, taking the gold and smashing the former world record. In a race against the world’s fastest swimmers, Team USA was in charge from start to finish. The quartet posted a time of 7:03.24 that shattered the old world record of 7:04.66 held by the Australians. Silver-medalist Australia finished almost seven seconds off the pace.

In a tie for third place for the team vote was the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team and the U.S. Women’s Gymnastic Team at the USA vs. Great Britain Competition. The Women’s National Soccer team won the Algarve Cup in Portugal in March by defeating China (2-1), Finland (1-0), Sweden (3-2), and Denmark (2-0) in the championship game. The Algarve Cup is the most prestigious women’s international tournament outside of the Women’s World Cup, the European Championships and the Olympic Games. The USA scored eight goals while allowing just three to win the tournament which featured seven of the world’s top-10 teams. The win put the U.S. team in the No.1 spot in the FIFA Women’s World Ranking for the first time since 2003.

The other third place vote in the team award went to the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team. The U.S. Women’s Team earned a total of 15 medals at the USA vs. Great Britain competition, March 17-18, in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. On the first day of competition, the USA swept the top seven spots in the all-around and won the team gold medal with a total of 238.50. The USA then dominated the next day’s individual event finals, winning all four gold medals and claiming 11 of 12 available medals. The U.S. Women’s Team swept the medals on the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.

The members of the U.S .Women’s Team at the competition were Bianca Fohr (Creson, Ohio), Ivana Hong (Blue Springs, Mo.), Shawn Johnson (West Des Moines, Iowa), Natasha Kelley (Katy, Texas), Hilary Mauro (West Chester, Ohio), Samantha Peszek (Indianapolis, Ind.), Bridge Sloan (Pittsboro, Ind.), and Shayla Worley (Orlando, Fla.).

Results:

Men

1. Michael Phelps
2. Apolo Anton Ohno
3. Billy Demong

Women

1. Natalie Coughlin
2. Elizabeth Armstrong
3. Sheila Taormina

Team

1. Women’s World Championship Water Polo Team
2. Men’s 4x200 Freestyle Relay Swimming Team
3. Women’s National Soccer Team and U.S Women’s Gymnastics Team

For more information, please contact the USOC Media & Public Relations Division at 719-866-4529. This press release is also available on the USOC’s media specific website at www.usocpressbox.org.