RIO DE JANEIRO — Tuesday's final in the women's 200-meter individual medley at the Rio Olympics featured eight swimmers from seven nations.
Two of those swimmers went to high school in Pinellas County.
Canada's Sydney Pickrem, a former East Lake High standout, swam in Lane 1.
Next to her in Lane 2? The United States' Melanie Margalis, a former star at Countryside High.
Neither earned a medal in Tuesday's final — Margalis finished fourth in 2 minutes, 9.21 seconds. The other American in the race, Maya Dirado, earned a bronze medal, holding off Margalis' late charge by 0.42 seconds.
Pickrem, a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, finished sixth in 2:11.22.
Hungarian Katinka Hosszu earned her third gold medal of these Games in 2:06.58, an Olympic record.
The "Iron Lady" — nicknamed so for her punishing schedule — is piling up quite a medal collection, adding to her wins in the 400 IM and 100 backstroke in Rio.
This has been an Olympics of redemption for Hosszu, a long-time star at the world championships who always seemed to come up short on the biggest stage.
Great Britain's Siobhan-Marie O'Connor earned the silver medal.
It is the first time two Pinellas County swimmers have competed in the finals of the same event at the Olympics.
Both were in the Summer Games for the first time and aimed to place among the top three in their signature race.
But that is where the similarities end.
They never competed against each other in high school. They attended different high schools and colleges and joined different club programs.
Margalis, who swam for the Cougars from 2006-09, won the state title in the 200-yard IM three times, including a state-record time of one minute, 57.07 seconds in '09, a mark that still stands. She went on to swim for the University of Georgia.
Pickrem was twice named the Tampa Bay Times' female swimmer of the year and led East Lake to the school's first state team title during her senior season in 2014. She won a state title in the 200-yard IM as sophomore (2012) and senior ('14). She currently swims for Texas A&M and was named the SEC freshman of the year this past season.
Now they are linked together.
Two women from Pinellas County, both in the same event. They won't bring home medals but they are two of eight swimmers who can say they're the best in the world right now in their event.
Times staff writer Bob Putnam contributed to this report.