RIO DE JANEIRO_Maya DiRado touched the wall an instant ahead of Hungary's Katinka Hosszu to pull of a surprising victory in the 200-meter backstroke Friday at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
Hosszu, who swam for USC, had already won three gold medals at these Games. Her qualifying time in the 200 backstroke was a second and a half faster than DiRado.
But the 23 year old Stanford graduate swam down Hosszu in the final 25 meters. A look of shock covered her face when she turned to see the result on the scoreboard.
"That's just pure joy and surprise and excitement," she said.
DiRado, winner of medals in three other events during the past week, plans to retire from swimming following the Games. She already has a job lined up in Atlanta.
