Australia win 400 freestyle relay in Olympic record

Australia [ Images ] won gold in the women's 400-meter freestyle relay, setting an Olympic record of 3 minutes, 33.15 seconds Saturday night.

The United States team got off to a blistering start with Missy Franklin swimming leadoff under world-record pace, but the Australians rallied behind Brittany Elmslie on the third leg. Melanie Schlanger held on at the end, with Ranomi Kromowidjojo closing fast to give the Netherlands a silver in 3:33.79.

- London Olympics 2012 - Complete coverage

The other members of the winning team were Alicia Coutts and Cate Campbell.

The Americans slipped to the bronze in 3:34.24, but that was still good enough to give Natalie Coughlin the 12th medal of her career, tying Dara Torres [ Images ] and Jenny Thompson as the most decorated US female Olympian. Coughlin swam in the morning prelims, but wasn't used in the evening; everyone who swims on a relay gets a medal.