Krayzelburg defies the odds to book Athens berth

10 July 2004
By AFP

Article originally located at Yahoo! News

LONG BEACH, United States (AFP) - Lenny Krayzelburg 's days of dominance are over, but backstroke's onetime king proved he is still a warrior as he booked a berth for the Athens Games at the US Olympic trials

Krayzelburg, 28 and swimming with chronic pain in his surgically repaired left shoulder, bounced back from a poor semi-final swim to finish second in the 100m backstroke to his longtime rival Aaron Peirsol.

The aging star was third at the turn and third 10 meters out, but just edged third-place finisher Peter Marshall by six-hundredths of a second.

His time of 54.06 was the second-fastest time Krayzelburg has posted since he ruled the backstroke at the 2000 Olympics.

"Four years ago, things came a lot easier for me," Krayzelburg said. "At the trials and the Games, I was favored and I dominated.

"This time around, it was a lot tougher. So I had to hold back quite a bit of emotions. It was a long journey. But it happened."

"It just shows you how tough a guy like Lenny is," Peirsol said.

Emerging from a lackluster semi-final with just the fifth-fastest qualifying time, Krayzelburg said he still "came into tonight with a positive outlook. I had nothing to lose. I had to put it all on the line.

"It was incredible and I'm just happy to be a part of it and get an opportunity to go to Athens."

It wasn't always clear that the opportunity would materialize. Krayzelburg pulled out of the team for last year's world championships in order to have a second surgery on his ailing shoulder.

And while Krayzelburg fought his way to fitness last year, Peirsol claimed the 200m back world record and posted the second-fastest 100m back time ever while sweeping the backstrokes and leading off the world record-breaking medley relay at the world championships.

With his dodgy shoulder, Krayzelburg knew the shorter event was his one real shot at another Olympics.

"This was the one event that I was focusing on," Krayzelburg said. "I was more nervous during the day today than I was before the event."

That ability to focus is one of the characteristics that have made Krayzelburg a model to younger swimmers such as the 20-year-old Peirsol and 19-year-old Michael Phelps .

"Huge," was how Phelps, the current darling of US swimming, characterized Krayzelburg's qualifcation for Athens. "I was over in the warm-down pool watching the scoreboard and cheering for him."

Phelps recalled that when he made the 2000 Olympic team at the age of 15, Krayzelburg was one of the teammates who made a big impression on him.

"He was one of the guys I looked at in Sydney to see how he responded to the environment, how he handled himself," Phelps said.

Peirsol, who has more reason than most to see Krayzelburg as a rival, was delighted to see Krayzelburg's name under his own on the scoreboard.

"I was elated for Lenny," Peirsol said. "He certainly deserved it."