Phelps Wins 200 Freestyle at Swim Trials

9 July 2004
By PAUL NEWBERRY, AP Sports Writer

Article originally located at Yahoo! News

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Michael Phelps is 2-for-2.

The Mark Spitz wannabe earned a second spot on the U.S. Olympic team Friday, winning the 200-meter freestyle to guarantee a head-to-head showdown with Ian Thorpe at the Athens Games.

Phelps came back 42 minutes later and won his heat in the 200 butterfly, advancing to Saturday's final.

He has entered six individual events at the American trials with an eye toward breaking Spitz's record of seven Olympic gold medals, set 32 years ago at Munich. The 19-year-old from Baltimore also is expected to swim two or three relays.

Natalie Coughlin, the most heralded U.S. woman in the pool, finally made her first Olympic team by winning the 100 backstroke. On the men's side, friendly rivals Aaron Peirsol and Lenny Krayzelburg went 1-2 in the 100 back.

In the day's other final at the portable pool set up along the waterfront in Long Beach, Amanda Beard made her third straight Olympic team by beating a loaded field in the 100 breaststroke. She held off three other former Olympians and four-time NCAA champion Tara Kirk.

For the first time, a day passed without a world record being set. New marks were set on each of the first two days of the trials, which run through Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Phelps broke his own world record in the 400 individual medley. He didn't come close to Thorpe's mark in the 200 free, touching the wall in 1 minute, 46.27 seconds, but at least earned a chance to face the Australian in an individual race.

None of Phelps' other events — the 200 and 400 individual medleys, 100 and 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke — will match him against the Thorpedo, who has basically become a freestyle specialist.

Phelps is anything but specialized. At Athens, he'll try to pull off the most amazing all-around feat in swimming history and eclipse one of sport's most revered records — Spitz's seven golds.

Knowing he had another race to go, Phelps didn't push too hard in the 200 free. He fell short of his American record, 1:45.99, and was more than 2 seconds shy of Thorpe's world mark, 1:44.06.

Phelps was hurt by a poor start — he hit the water slower than any of the other seven finalists.

"I don't know if I didn't dry the (starting) block off," Phelps said. "It's something to pay more attention to in the future."

Added his coach, Bob Bowman: "It was a real slow start, and that cost him the American record."

But Phelps caught early leader Nate Dusing midway through the third leg, then held off Klete Keller at the finish.

"He just never gets rattled," Bowman said. "That's how he does it."

Keller, who already had made the team by winning the 400 free, likely claimed another spot by taking second at 1:46.87.

In the 200 fly, Phelps moved on to the final with the best semifinal time, 1:56.66. He'll be matched against Tom Malchow , the defending gold medalist from Sydney.

"I felt pretty comfortable," Phelps said. "I'm happy with the time. It puts me in good shape for (Saturday's) race."

Peirsol just missed Krayzelburg's world record, coming up four-hundredths short in 53.64. Krayzelburg kept his mark and, as a bonus, claimed an expected spot on the Olympic team by touching the wall second. He was a mere tenth of a second ahead of Peter Marshall.

Jeff Rouse, the 1992 gold medalist who returned from a six-year retirement, missed out by finishing sixth.

"It was very humbling to be in a heat like that," said Peirsol, who finished second to Krayzelburg in the 200 back at Sydney. "This heat was absolutely spectacular. I tried to stay pretty calm. I tried to remember I've been working for this moment the last four years."

While Krayzelburg didn't win, he was clearly relieved to be the runner-up. The winner of three gold medals in Sydney, he has struggled with shoulder problems since then and conceded that he's still swimming in pain.

After lunging at the end to beat out Marshall, Krayzelburg pumped a fist in the air. He then looked over at Peirsol, who gave a thumbs-up.

"It was a mighty close race. This had to be maybe the greatest race ever with all the experience," Krayzelburg said. "My shoulder is quite a bit sore."

Afterward, the popular swimmer could hardly take a step on the pool deck without someone coming up to offer congratulations or give him a hug.

"It's humbling," Krayzelburg said. "I appreciate all the support."

Coughlin, who failed to make the team at the 2000 trials, bounced back from that disappointment to win easily at 59.85. She's the only woman to break the 1-minute barrier in the 100 back, doing it for the third time, but fell short of her 2-year-old world record of 59.58.

It didn't matter. Coughlin emerged from the water with a big smile, waving to the crowd and hugging runner-up Haley Cope, who finished with a time of 1:01.24.

"It is very much a relief," Coughlin said. "I knew it was in me. It was just about getting it done. Now I can relax and enjoy the rest of the meet."

Beard, who has won four medals at the last two Olympics, will get a chance to add to her haul at Athens. She definitely earned this trip, winning the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.64.

Kirk was right behind in 1:07.69, while ex-Olympian Megan Quann came up just short of an Athens berth at 1:07.90. Among the other former Olympians, Staciana Stitts was fourth (1:08.00) and Kristy Kowal seventh (1:08.90).

"It's definitely as exciting as the first two," said Beard, a teenage sensation at the 1996 Atlanta Games. "You never get used to this feeling."

Like Phelps, Beard pulled double duty during the evening session. She came back after her breaststroke victory to lead semifinal qualifying in the 200 IM at 2:12.02.

"It's fun," Beard said. "I train my body hard to do stuff like this. I had a lot of adrenaline that took me right through my IM."

In the women's 200 free, American record-holder Lindsey Benko advanced to Saturday's final with the top time of 1:59.36 in the semis.