Olympics-Swimming-Ervin wins gold 16 years after his first

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Anthony Ervin of the United States reclaimed the mantle of fastest man in the water on Friday by taking the Olympic 50 metres freestyle gold medal 16 years after he first won it, and by the slimmest of margins. France's Florent Manaudou, the defending champion, finished second and just 0.01 seconds behind the 35-year-old veteran, who won in 21.40 seconds. Nathan Adrian of the United States took the bronze. Ervin won his first individual gold medal in a dead-heat in the same event with team mate Gary Hall Jr at the 2000 Sydney Games. Both touched out in 21.98 seconds. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Greg Stutchbury)