March 28, 2007

Melbourne, Australia - Stanford swimmer Ben Wildman-Tobriner captured his first gold medal at the 12th annual FINA World Championships as a member of the 400-meter freestyle relay team. The team swam to a photo finish against Australia in the prelims, winning its heat and claiming the field's third-fastest time with 3:16.43. Australia finished in 3:16.46. Team USA trailed Australia early on, but closed the gap when Ben Wildman-Tobriner (San Francisco, Calif.) gained .63 seconds and Cullen Jones (New Brunswick, N.J.) gained .43 seconds on their Australian counterparts. In the finals, USA finished first with a championship-record time of 3:12.72. Although Wildman-Tobriner did not swim in the finals he earns a gold for his participation in the prelims. He will also compete in the 50-meter freestyle on Friday, March 30 as the American record holder in the event with his time of 18.87.

For more information please visit: www.usaswimming.org