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Hansen sets record at US Olympic Swim Trials
Brendan Hansen set another world record at the US swim trials on Sunday, stealing some attention away from Michael Phelps. Hansen won the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2 minutes, 9.04 seconds, beating the record of 2:09.42 set by Japan's Kosuke Kitajima at last year's world championships.
On Thursday, Hansen broke Kitajima's record in the 100 breaststroke.
"When I got in this pool for the first time, I definitely thought something special might happen here," Hansen said.
It did. The 22-year-old native of Havertown, Pa., became the first American since John Hencken in 1974 to hold the world record at both distances.
In other races, Jason Lezak won the 100 freestyle and gained the upper hand over rival Gary Hall Jr., who finished third. Hall still earned a trip to Athens on the relays, joining Gary Hall Sr. as the first father-son duo to make three Olympics apiece.
"I just qualified for my third Olympics and I'm really happy," Hall said. "I'd also like to start campaigning now for team captain."
In another testament to family ties, Dana Kirk won the 200 butterfly, joining older sibling Tara as the first sisters to make the same US Olympic swim team.
Ed Moses, who was America's dominant breaststroker at the Sydney Games, failed in his bid to return to the Olympics. Bothered by breathing problems, he struggled to a fourth-place showing, more than three seconds behind runner-up Scott Usher, who claimed the expected second spot on the team at 2:10.90.
"It's 100 percent disappointing," Moses said.
Then there's Hansen, the dominant college breaststroker over the last four years who peaked at just the right time. He even surprised his coach by eclipsing Kitajima's 200 record.
"We figured it would be two or three years down the line before anyone broke it," said Eddie Reese, who coached Hansen at Texas and will be part of the US staff in Athens. "The only way he could break it was to go out as fast as he went out. The 100 speed gave him the confidence to push his 200 out."
Hall made his third Olympic team in Long Beach, just as father did 28 years ago. At those trials, the elder Hall held up his son — not yet 2 years old — in the pool after qualifying for the Montreal Games.
"I have no recollection of that," Hall Jr. quipped.
But Lezak got the last laugh in this pool, a temporary outdoor structure set up at the Long Beach harbor. He went out strong — under world-record pace at the turn — and held on to win at 48.41.
Ian Crocker, who holds the world record in the 100 butterfly, earned the second individual spot at 49.06. After winning bronze at Sydney, Hall missed a chance to duplicate that feat in Athens, but he'll swim the 400 free relay.
Lezak and Hall have been trash-talking back and forth over the past few months, their rivalry sparked again at the trials when Hall's agent, David Arluck, compared Lezak to "Spud Webb kicking Michael Jordan in the shins."
"That will never go away," backstroker Aaron Peirsol said. "They're sprinters, man. Sprinters are a different breed. It's expected." Lezak took advantage of a great start, hitting the water two-tenths of a second ahead of Hall, and gutted it out at the end. "I was really tired going into the wall," Lezak said. "I saw my competition to the side of me and I just wanted to get there before them." When it was over, Hall leaned over the rope and shook hands with Lezak — their feud apparently put aside for now. Dana Kirk also went out strong in the butterfly and held on to win in 2:08.86. Tara Kirk had already made the team in the 100 breaststroke. Kaitlin Sandeno finished second to Dana Kirk at 2:09.94, claiming a spot in her third individual event for Athens. "It's great to be on the Olympic team with my sister," Dana Kirk said. "I've been waiting for this a long time. It's going to be great having someone there who knows what I need to swim my best." Misty Hyman finished last in the eight-woman final — very different from her performance four years ago, when she won Olympic gold with a stunning upset of "Madame Butterfly," Australia's Susan O'Neill. "I'm obviously disappointed," Hyman said. "Training had just started coming together in the last four or five months. I was hoping it would be enough, but it was too little, too late." Phelps had his busiest day yet with four races. He advanced to Monday's final in the 200 backstroke as the second-fastest qualifier behind Peirsol, the world record-holder and silver medalist at Sydney. Peirsol challenged his own world record with a time of 1:55.33 — just 0.18 off the mark. Phelps, conserving energy for the 200 IM semis, won his heat at 1:57.30. "It was pretty easy," Peirsol said. "It's good that I'm two seconds ahead of the field. I will do the best I can to hold (Phelps) off tomorrow. I am not going to hold back. This is not the place to do that." Phelps, who holds the world record in the 200 IM, was easily the fastest semis qualifier at 1:57.64 — nearly four seconds ahead of anyone else. Phelps has already qualified for the Olympic team in the 400 IM, 200 free and 200 fly and earned a spot on the 800 free relay. He wants to break Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at the Athens Games. He faces another daunting day with four races Monday, including finals in the 200 backstroke and 200 IM. Natalie Coughlin, already on the team in the 100 backstroke, advanced to Monday's final in the 100 free with the fastest time of 54.30. Jenny Thompson was third (55.94), getting a chance to claim another Olympic spot along with the 100 fly. Amanda Beard, who made her third Olympic team by winning the 100 breaststroke Friday, made a bid to reclaim her record in the 200 breaststroke. She led the semifinals with a time of 2:23.32 — just 0.36 seconds off the mark set Friday by Australia's Leisel Jones at a meet Down Under. Jones's time of 2:22.96 broke the record set by Beard at the 2003 world championships, 2:22.99. Megan Quann, reigning Olympic champion in the 100 breaststroke, qualified for Monday's final with the fifth-fastest time. Fifteen-year-old Katie Hoff of Baltimore, who swept the 200 and 400 individual medleys, failed to advance past the semis. |
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