Vendt in line for gold

North Easton native Erik Vendt all but guaranteed himself his first swimming gold medal on Tuesday when the US men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay easily qualified with by far the fastest time for the Wednesday finals, where they're expected to win by as much as six seconds with Michael Phelps anchoring. Though Vendt, an alternate who swam third leg in the prelims, won't be one of the four men in the final, he'll still receive a medal. It'll be the third of his career, along with silvers from the 400 individual medley from 2000 and 2004.