OMAHA, NEBRASKA (July 5, 2008) One world record was broken and another tied Friday at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming. Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.) tied the world record and qualified in the men’s 200m back, turning in a time of 1:54.32, and Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) broke his own world record and added the 200m IM to his Olympic program with a time of 1:54.80. For Phelps, the 200m IM was his fourth win of the week, after taking the 400m IM, the 200m free and the 200m fly. He has qualified for the Olympics in five events, including the 4x200m free relay.
Forty-one year-old Dara Torres (Los Angeles, Calif.) became the oldest U.S. swimmer to ever qualify for an Olympic Games, and the first swimmer to make five Olympics, after winning the 100m freestyle in a time of 53.78. Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.) of California Aquatics, snapped up the second spot, finishing .05 seconds behind in 53.83. Coughlin has also qualified in the 100m back, 200m IM and 4x100m free relay.
Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.), who now shares the world record in the 200m back with Peirsol, finished second in the 200m back (1:54.34) and the 200m IM (1:55.22), qualifying for both events at the Olympics. He was also officially recognized as a qualifier in the 400m IM.
Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.) qualified for her first Olympic team, winning the women’s 200m breaststroke in 2:22.60. The second spot went to three-time Olympian Amanda Beard (Irvine, Calif.), the defending Olympic gold medalist, in 2:25.13. Beard has now qualified for four Olympic teams in this event.
Lacey Nymeyer (Tucson, Ariz.) was third in the 100m free in 54.02, followed by Trojan Swim Club’s Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) in 54.62. Both qualified for the Olympic Team in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
The first- and second-place finishers in each of tonight’s finals – along with the top four finishers in the women’s 100m free -- qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team. A number of swimmers who finished second in their events earlier in the week were also officially added to the Olympic Team Friday.
Those swimmers included Lochte (400m IM); Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) of Club Wolverine in the 400m free; Mark Gangloff (Stow, Ohio) in the 100m breast; Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) in the 100m back; Gil Stovall (Memphis, Tenn.) of Athens Bulldog Swim Club in the 200m fly; and Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) of Longhorn Aquatic Club in the 200m breast.
In the men’s 200m backstroke, Peirsol and Lochte were stroke-for-stroke the whole way, with neither swimmer enjoying more than a two-tenths-of-a second lead over the other throughout the entire race. The two touched the wall almost simultaneously, with Peirsol claiming the first spot in world record time.
It was Peirsol’s second win of the meet after taking the men’s 100m back in world record time on Tuesday.
“I was just trying to make the team,” Peirsol said. “I knew going in what kind of race it would be. I didn’t know if we were going 1:55 or 1:53, but I was happy to get my hand on the wall first.”
Lochte had just about 25 minutes between races before he was up on the blocks again, facing Phelps in the 200m IM. Though Phelps led for much of the race, Lochte took a slight half-second lead at the end of the breaststroke leg, setting up the battle down the homestretch.
Phelps edged Lochte at the finish by 42-hundredths of a second, as the crowd of 13,247 got to its feet. Lochte’s time was the third-fastest of all time in this event.
“I think both of us hate to lose,” said Phelps, referring to his and Lochte’s competitive drive. “When getting in the water with him in the last three or four races, it’s taken a world record to win”
Soni turned in the second-fastest time of the year in the women’s 200m breast and missed the American record held by Amanda Beard by 16-hundredths of a second.
She led the race from start to finish and was a hundredth of a second ahead of world-record pace at 100 meters. She finished about two body-lengths ahead of the rest of the field, leaving the rest to fight for second place.
“You never get used to this,” Beard said. “I’m pumped. Not a lot of people expected me to make this team. I knew I could make it, but I knew it was a long shot. I haven’t had a lot of training under my belt, and I’m not feeling 100 percent, but fortunately, it worked out fine. I think my experience really helped me out here.
SEMIFINALS
Stanford Swimming’s Ben Wildman-Tobriner (San Francisco, Calif.) will be the top seed in tomorrow night’s finals of the 50m free after clocking a 21.65 in tonight’s semifinals. In prelims, SwimMAC’s Cullen Jones (Irvington, N.J.) set the American record in 21.59, breaking the 8-year-old mark of 21.76 held by the Race Club’s Gary Hall Jr. (Miami Beach, Fla.) Jones qualified as the second seed Friday in 21.71, while Hall, the defending Olympic gold medalist, qualified fourth in 21.94.
Elizabeth Beisel (Saunderstown, R.I.) of Bluefish Swim Club is the top qualifier from the semifinals of the women’s 200m back with a time of 2:07.78. Earlier in the day, Hayley McGregory (Houston, Texas) of Longhorn Aquatics broke the 16-year-old meet record in prelims in 2:08.76, only to have Beisel break that record in the very next heat in 2:07.44. McGregory is the second seed in tomorrow night’s finals (2:08.28), while Margaret Hoelzer (Huntsville, Ala.) of King Aquatic Club, the 2004 Olympic qualifier and American record-holder in this event, is the third seed in 2:09.04.
The top two swimmers of all time in the 100m butterfly – Ian Crocker (Portland, Maine)and Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) – will face off in tomorrow night’s finals as the top two seeds. Phelps, the defending Olympic and world champ, is the top seed in 51.10. Crocker, the world record-holder, is the second seed in 51.52.
Tomorrow’s events include prelims and semifinals of the women’s 50m free. Prelims of the men’s 1500m free will also be conducted, as will the finals of the women’s 200m back, men’s 100m fly, women’s 800m free and men’s 50m free.
Finals and semifinals will be broadcast live on NBC, beginning at 7 p.m. CT.
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