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OMAHA,
Nebraska—Holding off one of his best friends, Michael
Phelps started his second attempt to break Mark Spitz’s
Olympic record with another epic swim.
Less
than an hour later, the teenager he compares to a little
sister joined Phelps in the record book.
Phelps
set a world record in his first event of the US Olympic
swimming trials, touching just ahead of Ryan Lochte to
win the 400-meter individual medley in four minutes,
5.25 seconds Sunday night.
Katie
Hoff matched her former North Baltimore teammate in the
400 IM, taking down the women’s mark in 4:31.12.
What a
start to the eight-day meet!
Wearing the high-tech Speedo LZR Racer, Phelps beat his
own mark of 4:06.22, set at last year’s world
championships in Australia when he turned in one of the
greatest performances in swimming history with seven
gold medals.
After
saying he had no fear of Phelps, Lochte proved it by
also going under the previous record. But his time of
4:06.08 was only good enough for second with Phelps in
the next lane over.
“That
was probably one of the most painful races of my life,”
the winner said. “Everything was left in the pool. I
definitely would not have been able to do it without
Lochte beside me. He’s a great friend and a great
competitor. I love racing him.”
The
19-year-old Hoff—playfully described by Phelps as the
little sister he never had—showed no signs of the
nervousness that ruined her first trip to the Olympics
four years ago. The youngest member of the US team, she
was overcome by the moment and threw up on deck after
failing to advance from her first event.
All
grown up, Hoff dipped under record pace on the
breaststroke leg and held on with her freestyle to beat
Stephanie Rice’s mark of 4:31.46, set in March at the
Australian Olympic trials.
“Stephanie really raised the bar when she broke my old
record,” Hoff said. “I’m just excited for Beijing, and I
think it’s going to be a really tough challenging race
with her.”
Like
Phelps, Hoff also was wearing the revolutionary Speedo
suit, which has been worn for 40 of the 44 world marks
set since it was unveiled in mid-February.
“It
definitely gave me a few tenths,” Phelps said. “At the
end, when I was getting a little tired, the suit gave me
a little extra edge.”
Larsen
Jensen, also wearing the LZR, set an American mark in
the 400 freestyle in a three-way race to the wall with
previous recordholder Peter Vanderkaay and Erik Vendt.
Jensen’s time of 3:43.53 topped Vanderkaay’s mark of
3:43.82, which was set last month in California.
Vanderkaay also went lower, touching second in 3:43.73.
100-meter record…sort of In Eugene, Oregon, Tyson Gay
was a blur in blue, sprinting 100 meters faster than
anyone ever has.
His
time of 9.68 seconds at the US Olympic trials Sunday
doesn’t count as a world record, because it was run with
the help of a too-strong tailwind. Here’s what does
matter: Gay qualified for his first Summer Games team
and served notice he’s certainly someone to watch in
Beijing.
“It
means a lot to me,” the 25-year-old Gay said. “I’m glad
my body could do it, because now I know I have it in
me.”
Wearing a royal blue uniform with red-and-white diagonal
stripes across the front, along with matching shoes, all
in a tribute to 1936 Olympic star Jesse Owens, Gay
dominated the competition. He started well and pulled
out to a comfortable lead by the 40-meter mark.
This
time, he kept pumping those legs all the way through the
finish line, extending his lead. In Saturday’s opening
heat, Gay pulled way up, way too soon, and nearly was
caught by the field, before accelerating again and
lunging in for fourth place.
No
such close call this time.
No one
ever has covered 100 meters more quickly. The previous
fastest time under any conditions was 9.69, run in 1996
by Obadele Thompson, who now is married to Marion Jones.
Gay’s
race came with the wind blowing at 4.1 meters per
second; anything above 2.0 is not allowed for record
purposes.
“I
didn’t really care what the wind was,” Gay said. |
