American swimmers added two silvers and a bronze to their growing medal haul in swimming on Friday morning, widening their advantage on their rivals in the pool but falling short of the golds they covet most of all.
Ryan Murphy won a silver in the men’s 200-meter backstroke, and Lilly King and Annie Lazor earned silver and bronze in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke, beaten to the wall only by a South African, Tatjana Schoenmaker, who set a world record.
With four more finals on Friday, the Olympic swim meet has reached the point where it’s safe to begin drawing some broad conclusions about what has gone on in the world’s strongest swimming countries the past five years.