RIO DE JANEIRO -- An Indiana University swimmer who helped the U.S. men's 400 meter freestyle relay team reach the finals at Rio will have his own gold medal to show for it.
Blake Pieroni swam with Jimmy Feigen, Ryan Held and Anthony Ervin for a time of 3:12.38 in the preliminary round.
Qualifying was important, as the U.S. was embarrassed last year when it failed to make it to the final of the 400 meter freestyle relay at the FINA World Championships in Kazan.
The finals team of Michael Phelps, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian took home the gold medal with a winning time of 3:09.92, beating defending champion France and bronze winner Australia.
Pieroni, a Valparaiso, Indiana, native, will also take home a gold medal for swimming for the U.S. in the preliminaries.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
