Federica Pellegrini of Italy has won the 200-meter freestyle at the Beijing Olympics, lowering her own world record set a day earlier.

She won in 1 minute, 54.82 seconds, erasing her previous time of 1:55.45.

Sara Isakovic of Slovenia took the silver in 1:54.97. Pang Jiaying of China earned the bronze in 1:55.05, giving the Chinese women their first swimming medal of these games.

American Katie Hoff finished fourth in 1:55.78, the first time in three events she failed to medal.

from: ap.google.com

Leisel Jones claimed her first individual Olympic gold medal and Australia’s third in Beijing with a thumping victory in the women’s 100 metres breaststroke final at the Water Cube.

Jones went into the final as a red-hot favourite after swimming more than a second faster than her nearest rival in the semi-final, and comfortably took gold in an Olympic record time of 1:05.17.

Leisel Jones says all that mattered today was to hit the wall first, something she could not manage as an individual in an Olympic event at either the Sydney or Athens Games.

“A little bit of shock, and probably more relief I guess,” she said.

“It has been a long journey. It’s been a long eight years.

“And I think just a lot of relief that the training was definitely worth it. I couldn’t care less about the time.

“An Olympic gold is an Olympic gold. It really didn’t matter how it went, how I raced I couldn’t care less.”

Jones says she was excited before the race.

“I had a pretty bad sleep last night,” she said.

“I woke up and I was just so excited. I think I was excited about racing.

“I was almost skipping out there I was so excited. I really enjoyed it.”

Aiming for London

Jones suggested she would keep swimming with London in 2012 in mind.

“I think I’ve enjoyed it so much, I think I would hate to finish and know there was still a flame burning inside,” she said.

“I think I’ve still got so much more growing to do, and so much more learning.

“Amanda Beard’s on her fourth Olympics, so it’s certainly not out of the question.”

Jones emerged from the blocks at the head of the field slightly in front of compatriot Tarnee White, and split the 50m inside world record time.

She powered away in the final 50m to finish well ahead of American Rebecca Soni (1:06.73) and Austrian Mirna Jukic (1:07.34).

White faded towards the back end of the race to finish in sixth position in a time of 1:07.63.

While she was happy with the gold, Jones says it was her win at the World Championships in Canada in 2005 that remains her proudest achievement.

“Olympic golds are important, but in terms of personal experience and in terms of personal growth I think that was my most important swim.

“Olympic gold is really nice, it’s what we all come here for.

“But certainly Montreal was more about my personal experience.

“And I think that will still reign over this Olympic gold, because I found out so much of myself.

“After Athens I learned so much. And that was my first individual World Championship [gold].

“I think that one probably still is more important to me than this.”

Jones says she managed to stay composed after the race until she saw her coach Rohan Taylor.

“I certainly wasn’t composed once I got through the media and I pretty much lost it when I saw Rohan and then when I saw my mum I just lost it,” she said.

After bursting onto the scene with a silver medal in the 100m in Sydney as a 14-year-old, Jones could not crack gold in the 100m or 200m in Athens, but she says that experience has helped her enjoy her time in Beijing.

“It’s hard at the time to deal with criticism, and I copped a lot of it in Athens,” she said.

“It’s really difficult but it’s made me a much stronger person and has made this performance much sweeter.”

Jones swam 1:05.80 to comfortably win the second semi, ahead of second-fastest qualifier Soni. Jukic started from lane three after recording 1:07.27 in the semis.

from: abc.net.au

Aaron Peirsol set a new Olympic and world record in the 100m backstroke, touching the wall in 52.54 to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Peirsol finished more than half a second ahead of fellow American Matt Grevers who claimed silver in 53.11.
The bronze went to Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia and Hayden Stoeckel of Australia, both finished in 53.18.

source: transworldnews.com

US swimmer Michael Phelps joined an elite list of Olympic greats Tuesday becoming only the fifth competitor in history to win nine gold medals.

Phelps added his name to the prestigious group of Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz and Larysa Latynina when he won the men’s 200m freestyle with a world record swim for his third Gold medal in Beijing.

He appears destined to become the greatest Olympian as he continues his quest for an unequalled eight gold medals in one Games here and he said the toughest three races were behind him.

Phelps won six gold medals in Athens four years ago and has already won gold in the 400m individual medley and 4x100m freestyle relay, both in world record time, at Beijing’s futuristic Water Cube pool.

Ahead lie the 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 4x200m free relay and 4x100m medley relay.

“That’s great,” said Phelps as he emerged from the water after leading all the way in the 200m freestyle final to post a new world record of one minute 42.96.

“I just wanted to be out on my own which I had done by the 100 metres mark, that was my goal,” Phelps said.

“I was out in open water and I was in the middle, which makes it difficult for the other guys to see me.”

Phelps freestyle victory launched a dominant morning for the United States in the pool.

Aaron Peirsol lowered his own world record in winning the men’s 100m backstroke, setting a new mark of 52.54sec, and Natalie Coughlin defended her women’s 100m backstroke crown.

Australian Liesel Jones broke the US stranglehold when she won the women’s 100m breaststroke title.

There are 15 other gold medals on offer Tuesday, and hosts China will be looking to strengthen their grip at the head of the table.

They have nine golds, ahead of the US on six, and are leading contenders in the women’s synchronised 10m diving where Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin start as clear favourites in a sport dominated by China.

China added to its haul Tuesday with the hosts winning the men’s team gymnastics title, and there was joy for shooter Tan Zongliang who grabbed bronze after 12 years of trying.

China bounced back with their gymnasts snuffing out challenges from defending champions Japan and the United States to spark wild celebrations among the cheering home crowd.

It was their second Olympic title following victory in Sydney in 2000 and made amends for a disappointing fifth place in Athens.

China finished on 286.125 points, 7.25 points ahead of Japan on 278.875, while an injury-weakened US team put in a gutsy effort to take bronze.

On the ranges Tan settled for third in the men’s 50m Pistol despite starting the 10-shot final with a seemingly comfortable two-point lead.

But he blew his chance, opening the door to Jin Jong-Oh of South Korea who survived a last-minute scare to win by just 0.2 points ahead of second-placed North Korean Kim Jong-Su.

Nevertheless, it was Tan’s first medal in four Olympics, and coach Wang Yifu was content.

“I think he performed well today, though he didn’t get a gold medal,” said Wang. “Since he has participated in four Games a bronze medal is an historical breakthrough for him.”

South Korea were third in the medals table, picking up a fifth gold Tuesday with Jin’s win.

Germany are vying for their first gold at the Games in Hong Kong where they are leading contenders on the closing day of the team and individual sections of the three-day eventing competition.

Neither Brazil nor France have gold yet either but that could change on Tuesday.

France’s Lucie Decosse is a leading contender in the women’s -63kg as is Brazil’s Tiago Camilo in the men’s -81kg division.

Meanwhile celebrations continued in India after Abhinav Bindra won their first ever individual gold medal on Monday in the men’s 10m Air Rifle event, a performance being rated by cricket legend Kapil Dev as arguably India’s finest sporting achievement.

“This is much, much bigger than the World Cup,” said Dev who captained India to their lone World Cup win in 1983.

Further overnight rain improved conditions for outdoor Olympians, easing the smog over Beijing, patches of blue sky were visible and the midday temperature was an acceptable 27 degrees Celsius (81 Farenheit).

At the tennis venue, Serena Williams took just 44 minutes to dispatch Australia’s Samantha Stosur in her second round singles match with an impressive display that shortened the odds on her making the final.

Incoming men’s number one Rafael Nadal will later face Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, who last occupied the top ranking in June 2003.

Kobe Bryant and the US all-star basketballers are back in action as well hoping to follow up their big win over China with a victory over Angola.

source: afp.google.com

Italy’s Federica Pellegrini vented her frustration at failing to medal in her favorite race by breaking the world record in a different event during the heats at the Beijing Olympics on Monday.

Pellegrini was inconsolable after finishing fifth in the final of the women’s 400 meters freestyle in the morning but erased some of her angst by smashing the 200 world record in the evening to qualify for Tuesday’s semi-finals.

The finals will be held on Wednesday.

Her performance took the spotlight away, albeit briefly, from Michael Phelps, who eased off but still topped the qualifiers in the 200 butterfly.

Phelps won his second gold medal earlier when he helped the U.S. demolish the 4×100 freestyle relay world record and coasted through his heat in one minute 53.70 seconds, more than a full second outside his world record.

Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh, silver medalist behind Phelps in the 400 individual medley, qualified second fastest with Brazilian Kaio Almeida third.

“I just went out, I won’t say I cruised it. I just swam it and tried to get into the semi-final,” Phelps said.

Australia’s Alicia Coutts led the qualifiers in the women’s 200 individual medley after winning her heat in 2:11.55 ahead of Americans Katie Hoff and Natalie Coughlin, who were both taking it easy to save their energy for their hectic schedules.

Australia’s Stephanie Rice, gold medalist in the 400 individual medley, was also in cruise control to qualify sixth with Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry seventh after she broke Coughlin’s 100 backstroke record during the morning semi-finals.

Pellegrini unleashed a devastating sprint on her last lap to win her heat in 1:55.45 seconds, clipping 0.07 off the previous record set by France’s Laure Manaudou at last year’s world championships in Melbourne.

Slovenia’s European champion Sara Isakovic qualified second fastest with Britain’s Caitlin McClatchey third.

Pellegrini also holds the world record for the 400 freestyle but suffered a surprise loss behind British gold medalist Rebecca Adlington, whose winning time was more than a second outside Pellegrini’s heat time on Sunday.

“I didn’t want to break the world record in the heats,” Pellegrini said. “(But) It made amends for what happened this morning. It shows I’m still able to do it.”

from: reuters.com

Spectators at the Water Cube witnessed the birth of four more gold medals and five new world records on Monday, August 11.

In one of the all-time great relay swims, the United States overhauled the French team in the shadows of the finish line to complete a stunning Men’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay win on Monday, smashing their own world record set on Sunday by nearly four seconds in the process.

Another world record was broken in this event when Australia’s Eamon Sullivan shaved 0.26 seconds off French Alain Bernard’s old record for the Men’s 100m with a stunning lead-off leg of 47.24.

Briton Rebecca Adlington breathtakingly overtook Katie Hoff of the United States in the last meter to grab gold, becoming the first British woman in 48 years to win an Olympic Swimming event.

Earlier in the morning, Kitajima Kosuke of Japan managed to defend his Olympic title and rewrote his own WR in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke final, stopping the clock at 58.91.

The Women’s 100m Butterfly final went on more as expected. World champion Lisbeth Trickett of Australia took gold with a time of 56.73, though with some challenge from Christine Magnuson of the United States in the final 15 meters.

In the second semifinal of the Women’s 100m Backstroke in the morning, Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry touched the wall a full shoulder length ahead of the competition to smash the world record with a time of 58.77.

Federica Pellegrini of Italy set a new world record of 1:55.4 in the Women’s 200m Freestyle prelims on Monday evening, slicing 0.07 seconds off the previous record set by Laure Manaudou of France at Melbourne, Australia, in March.

Pellegrini’s stunning performance came after placing fifth in the morning’s Women’s 400m Freestyle final. “I just couldn’t get myself into shape. We Italians haven’t got used to competition in the morning,” said Pellegrini after the morning’s final.

source: beijing2008.cn

Kitajima Kosuke of Japan defended his Olympic title in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke in fine style on Monday, August 11, breaking Brendan Hansen’s (USA) world record in a time of 58.91.

Norway’s Alexander Dale Oen won the silver medal in a time of 59.20. Oen swam consistently fast through heats and semifinals and went into the final the fastest qualifier after setting an Olympic record of 59.16 in the semifinals.

Hugues Duboscq of France collected the bronze in a time of 59.37, relegating one of the event favorites, Brendan Hansen (USA) to fourth.

Hansen, the world record holder coming into the event, looked sluggish through the heats and semifinals. His fourth place time was 59.57.

Hansen only had one individual race to contest at these Games, after failing to qualify for the 200m Breaststroke at US Olympic trials in July.

from: beijing2008.cn

Federica Pellegrini of Italy has set a world record in the 200-meter freestyle preliminaries at the Beijing Olympics.
She won her heat Monday night in 1 minute, 55.45 seconds, lowering the old mark of 1:55.52 set by Laure Manaudou of France in March 2007.
Manaudou, the current world champion, did not attempt to qualify for the event at the French trials.

from: chicagotribune.com

Cullen Jones went airborne. Michael Phelps let out a roar that probably could have been heard back in Baltimore. And Garrett Weber-Gale looked as if he might crush Phelps with a hug on the pool deck.

It was all about one man in the water, who unleashed the swim of a lifetime. Jason Lezak of Irvine, who trains mostly by himself without a coach, did it alone this morning at the “Water Cube” with the fastest relay leg ever, anchoring the men’s 400-meter freestyle relay to a world record at the Olympics.
All for one and one for all, so to speak. And in the Olympic world of Phelps, a second gold medal and a seismic step toward what would be a record eight.

He reached No. 2, which could be the most difficult one of all, when Lezak chased down then-world-record holder Alain Bernard of France in the final few meters and out-touched him at the wall.

The U.S. won the relay in a world-record 3 minutes 8.24 seconds, to France’s 3:08.32. If Phelps wins eight golds — which would eclipse Mark Spitz’s record of seven, accomplished in 1972 — then perhaps Lezak should get a big cut of that million-dollar bonus from Speedo.

Lezak’s final leg will be talked about for years. France had taken a big lead on the third leg, going up by 0.59 at the 300-meter mark, and Bernard was looking smooth and powerful, increasing his lead even more at 350 meters.

Even Lezak thought he had little chance with 50 meters remaining. His anchor leg was 46.06 seconds. “There’s no way,” he said. “Then I said, ‘It’s ridiculous. It’s the Olympics and I’m here for the USA.’ I honestly thought all those things all at once and I got a supercharge and took it from there. I was unreal.”

Said Phelps, who led off the relay: “Jason swam the fastest relay split of all time. His last 50 meters were absolutely incredible. He had a perfect finish.”

The water was still shaking, and the pool deck looked as if it was about to do the same when Lezak finished. The other relay member was Jones, who had been on the relay team in the prelims, which set the world record Sunday night. He was the only one of that four to swim in the final.

“I think this will be one of the races he’ll never forget the rest of his life,” Jones said.

Word had filtered over to the U.S. camp that the French team had been dismissive of the Americans’ chances in the relay.

For 300 meters, well, Bernard, Frederick Bousquet and company were right.

“Bob [Bowman] had said that the French team was saying some stuff, talking a little bit of trash,” Phelps said. “It fired me up more than anything else. We were all fired up.”

Said Lezak: “Before the race, we all knew the way the French had swum in the prelims that when they added their best two guys, it was going to be a tight race. They had talked a lot about it, and we would just rather do it in the pool. They pulled that time off without their best two guys.

“I knew it was going to come down to the end, and I was hoping to be ahead, but I never lost hope,” he said. “I don’t know how I was able to take it back that fast, because I’ve never been able to come anywhere near that for the last 50.”

That wasn’t the only stunning finish on a riveting morning of swimming.

American Katie Hoff was out-touched by Rebecca Adlington of Britain in the 400 freestyle and finished second. Hoff had led by 1.08 seconds heading into the final turn.

Adlington went 4:03.22 to Hoff’s 4:03.29.

“I gave it everything I had possibly, but they got me on the end. . . . I feel like I should have got my hand on the wall first,” Hoff said.

In addition to the relay, there were two other world records: Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe in the 100 backstroke in the semifinals (58.77 seconds) and defending Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima of Japan in the final of the 100 breaststroke ( 58.91).

Kitajima broke Brendan Hansen’s world record of 59.13, which had stood since Aug. 1, 2006. Hansen finished a disappointing fourth.

“I felt great the first 50,” Hansen said. “It’s just been a really tough year for me. Obviously, losing the 200 breaststroke at trials kind of affects your confidence a little bit. I felt good going into the race tonight, but obviously everybody brought their A game. Everybody swam really, really well. Those times are the top times in the world this year.”

He congratulated his longtime rival Kitajima.

“I kept it in broken English, so that he could understand me,” Hansen said.

“But I said, ‘Congratulations, man. That’s an awesome swim.’ I know if I had done that in front of him, he would have done the same exact thing. You’ve got to tip your hat off to someone that goes 58.9 in the Olympic final. It’s just a hell of a swim.”

source: latimes.com

World records fell in four events in the pool, with American Michael Phelps continuing his quest for eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.

Phelps and his American teammates shattered the world record in the four-by-100 meter freestyle relay with anchorman Jason Lezak touching the wall to set a new record of 3:08.24.

Australia’s Eamon Sullivan set a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle in the lead-off leg of the race, finishing in 47.24 seconds.

Earlier, Japan‘s Kosuke Kitajima smashed the world record and successfully defended his Olympic title in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke. His time of 58.91 seconds, 22-100ths of a second faster than the old mark.

Also in the pool, Australia’s Libby Trickett won the gold in the women’s 100-meter butterfly race finishing in 56.73 seconds. Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry set a world record in the semifinals of the 100-meter backstroke, finishing in 58.77 seconds.

Britain’s Rebecca Adlington won the gold in the women’s 400-meter freestyle (4:03.22) just seven 100ths of a second ahead of American Katie Hoff.

Medals will also be awarded Monday in fencing, weight lifting, diving, shooting and archery. The United States leads the total medals standings with 11, but China has more golds, with six.

source: voanews.com

Beijing Olympics

Michael Phelps dominated his first event of the Beijing Olympics on Sunday, crushing his own world record and all hopes of his challengers with a time of 4 minutes, 3.84 seconds in the 400-meter individual medley.

This race was thought to be a potential stumbling block for Phelps in an individual race in his quest to win eight gold medals after Ryan Lochte matched him stroke for stroke at the U.S. trials last month.
Laszlo Cseh of Hungary separated them this time, taking the silver in 4:06.16. Lochte faded to third in 4:08.09.
“I’m pretty happy. That was a pretty emotional race,“ Phelps said. “I knew it was going to be a tough race all the way through.“
The top three traded the lead over the butterfly and backstroke legs. Cseh got off to a quick start, touching the first wall just ahead of Phelps, and Lochte claimed the lead midway through the back. Phelps had a slight lead at the 200 mark. “Looking and seeing all three of us together pretty much at the 200, I wasn’t really comfortable with having that close of a race,“ Phelps said. “I usually have more of a gap, but it made my breaststroke a lot stronger.“
No one was catching Phelps in the freestyle. He stretched his lead and powered to the wall with nearly his entire body in front of the world-record line – a green marker superimposed on the video screen to show the pace of the previous mark.
“The freestyle is just downhill,“ Phelps said. “The freestyle is all adrenaline.“
Added Cseh, “I saw Lochte was going (slower) and I tried to do everything to go better than Phelps, but I don’t have enough power for that.“
Phelps touched the wall and spun around so quickly to see his time that he bumped his head on the wall. He pumped both arms in the air, and quickly spotted his mother and two sisters in the massive stands at the Water Cube.
He then looked the other way, where U.S. President George W. Bush was waving his American flag, accompanied by the first lady, their daughter Barbara and his father, former President George H.W. Bush.
“I looked up and he waved the flag and nodded his head,“ Phelps said. “That was a pretty cool feeling to have the president say congratulations and have him in the crowd.“
On the medal stand, Phelps’ eyes watered as the U.S. flag was raised. The only glitch came during the playing of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ which cut off a few seconds before the end.

source: welt.de

IF this is how Stephanie Rice swims after a break-up, her American rival Katie Hoff had better watch out.

The Australian swimming team’s glamour girl made a statement that her split with sprinter Eamon Sullivan would not affect her performances with a sizzling time-trial at the Olympic team’s camp in Kuala Lumpur.

Rice clocked an impressive 2min 10.70sec trial for the 200m individual medley as news broke of her break-up. She clocled the time, less than two seconds shy of her world-record 2min 08.92sec recorded at the Olympic trials in March, as she starts to lighten her workload to freshen up for the Games.

Rice, 20, who backed up the swim with a hard session yesterday, said the time was the fastest she had produced while still in hard training.

“It was good to have a hitout … and to see that I did my best in-season training time,” Rice said.
“I guess it was probably about 3sec faster, but I haven’t done one in a LZR (Racer suit) before.

“My training and my preparation and the times that I have been holding in sets have been better than I have been before. That gives me great confidence.

“It’s really exciting to be coming into taper and feel like you’re starting to ease off a little bit and starting to get some more speed.”

Rice said it was coincidence the time-trial had fallen on the day news of her split had broken, and she had not set out to prove a point.

“Bohly (coach Michael Bohl) does my taper for me and we don’t plan our taper towards what media concerns are,” she said.

“We decided long back that I always do a time-trial leading into taper, and it so happened to be on the day that news broke. But nothing like that is going to really prevent me from being able to perform.”

The primary reason for Rice’s time-trial was for her to test the comfort of the Speedo LZR Racer suit with the full-length legs.

“I have never worn it before for medley,” Rice said.

“The only concern that I had was that in the breaststroke, I am just not being able to get quite good range. But it feels great on butterfly, backstroke and freestyle, so it’s three against one.”

Rice is one of Australia’s gold medal hopes in the 400m individual medley, in which she lost her world record to Hoff at last month’s US trials.

“I think the Olympic final for the 400m (IM) is going to be a really great battle,” she said.

Australian head swim coach Alan Thompson has predicted the Americans will use Jessica Hardy’s positive doping test to galvanise them for the Beijing Olympics.

The former world record holder will appeal her positive test for the banned substance clenbuterol but her status for the Beijing Games remains uncertain.
Thompson expected the breaststroker’s doping violation to initially prove a distraction for members of the world No.1 swimming team but believed it would stiffen their resolve by the time the swimming program begins in Beijing on August 9.
“They will then focus on their individual performances, there’s no doubt they will use this as a strengthening factor for their team,” Thompson said today as the 43-strong Australian team departed for its pre-Olympic training camp in Kuala Lumpur.
The Dolphins will spend a week training in Malaysia before flying into Beijing on Sunday week.
Australia and the US have been tipped to dominate in the pool at the Water Cube, having collected 29 of the 40 gold medals on offer at last year’s Melbourne world championships.
However Thompson warned it wouldn’t just be a two-horse race in Beijing.
He believed it would take the fastest times in history to win medals and expected several countries to be stepping onto the podium.
“I think there’s going to be the biggest spread of medals (ever at an Olympics) – France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Sweden,” he said.
For the first time the Olympics have added the 10km open water event to the program with former ironman star Ky Hurst representing Australia in the men’s event.
The 27-year-old said while it was disappointing that he wouldn’t be joined by good mate Grant Hackett in the marathon event, he was ready for any rough house tactics.
“The more physical it is, the better it is for me,” he said, confident after years of being race hardened through surf races.
“The tougher and harder the race conditions and the environment, the better it is for me personally.”
Meanwhile freestyler Craig Stevens confirmed the three fractured ribs he suffered a couple of months ago had healed and wouldn’t be a factor in Beijing.

from: foxsports.com.au

Japanese swim star Kosuke Kitajima relishes the role of the challenger, but he will have to adopt that of the favourite when he defends his 100m and 200 Olympic breaststroke titles in Beijing.
It was as a challenger that Kitajima won the double gold haul in Athens four years ago. Only a month earlier, Brendan Hansen had broken Kitajima’s world records in both distances to fire him up for revenge. The American had to settle for the silver in the 100m and the bronze in the 200m in Athens. But the situation has changed ahead of the Beijing Games. Kitajima slashed Hansen’s 200m world record by 0.99 second to 2:07.51 at a domestic meet in June, two months before the Olympic opening ceremony, wearing Speedo’s blockbuster LZR Racer swimsuit for the first time. And, a month later, Hansen booked a 100m Olympic berth but foundered in the 200m at the US trials. Hansen was also wearing the sensational new swimwear, bypassing his contract to rival maker Nike. But, visibly nervous, he could not come close to any world record by stalling in the last lap in both trials.
“He didn’t seem to set down a marker and rise to the challenge just one month ahead of the (Olympic) showdown,” Kitajima said of Hansen’s performances. “I’ll just do what I have to do now.” Hansen was run down in the 200m trial by his training partners Scott Spann and Eric Shanteau who claimed the first and second places needed to qualify for Beijing. “It’s going to be hard, but I’m going to show these guys what they need to do to beat him,” said Hansen, apparently referring to Kitajima. Kitajima, the 25-year-old son of a Tokyo butcher, still feels he is the one to make a challenge. He has not beaten Hansen head to head since 2005 while the American, who will turn 27 in August, kept lowering world marks. “I feel like crying,” Kitajima said when he broke Hansen’s 200m mark. “I will go out fighting as if I am a challenger.” “I only have the gold medals on my mind. I won’t come home if I don’t get them,” he said ahead of his third Olympics.
Kitajima finished fourth in the 100m at the 2000 Sydney Games, the best finish for Japanese male swimmers at that date. His first world-class victory came at the 2002 Pan-Pacific championships when he won the 100m, followed by double gold medals at the 2002 Asian Games where he set his first world record of 2:09.97 in the 200m. Kitajima lowered the mark in 2003. But Hansen rewrote it at the 2004 Olympic trials and then twice in 2006. Hansen has also held the 100m world record since he broke Kitajima’s mark in 2004 and lowered it to 59.13 in 2006. At the world championships last year, Hansen beat Kitajima into second spot in the 100m. But viral infection forced the American to withdraw from the 200m won by Kitajima. Relatively small at 177 centimeters (5.8 feet) and 72 kilogrammess (159 pounds), Kitajima is known for his efficient swimming style, compared to Hansen’s powerful strokes.
After building up his muscles, Kitajima has expanded the length of his strokes by 1.5 times this year to match his big kicks, in what his coach Norimasa Hirai calls “four-wheel-drive swimming.” Kitajima’s latest world record has prompted the Japanese Swimming Federation to allow Japanese swimmers to use the LZR in Beijing, despite its contract with domestic suppliers. “It’s me that swims,” a bitter message in Japanese read on Kitajima’s T-shirt before he broke down the time and contractual barriers – undoubtedly meaning it’s not the bodysuit that races.

from: dailytimes.com.pk

There stood Ian Crocker, his 6-foot-5 frame retreating into the pleated folds of a curtain separating the interview area from the warm-down pool. As usual, he was waiting for Michael Phelps to relinquish the spotlight.
The big events always seem to cast Crocker in Phelps’s shadow, and it was no different Saturday night at the United States Olympic swimming trials.

The 25-year-old Crocker is the world-record holder in the 100-meter butterfly, but Phelps has dominated their rivalry, winning 12 of the 16 meetings since 2002. Gunning for an eighth Olympic berth in seven days, Phelps ran his consecutive victory streak against Crocker to four by winning the final of the 100 fly with a time of 50.89 seconds. Crocker finished in 51.62.

Crocker’s three-year-old world record, 50.40, was safer than a pedestrian here after dark. Phelps was too tired to give chase and Crocker was too uptight. “This whole week has been interesting, an eye-opener,” Crocker said. “I’m just really thankful to be on my way to Beijing instead of being on my couch to watch the Games.”

The couch is where Gary Hall Jr. will be watching the 2008 Olympics. The two-time defending gold medalist in the 50 freestyle, Hall finished fourth in the final of the event, missing a spot on his fourth Olympic team by 0.26 seconds. Garrett Weber-Gale was fastest to the wall, breaking Cullen Jones’s day-old American record with a time of 21.47. Jones finished third at 21.81, behind Ben Wildman-Tobriner.

Crocker has a low-grade ego but he was not being self-deprecating when he expressed his thanks for making his third Olympic team. It had been a stressful week. On Wednesday, in the preliminaries of the 100 freestyle, an event in which he qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics, Crocker was disqualified for a false start. The next evening, he saw his Texas Aquatics teammate, Brendan Hansen, fail to make the Olympic team in the 200 breaststroke despite having held the world record in the event until last month.

“It had my heart rate up in the last couple of days,” Crocker said. “It’s been hard to sleep.”

Mark Spitz, who won the 100 butterfly in 1972 on his way to seven Olympic gold medals, said he believed Phelps would win eight gold medals in Beijing. The 100 butterfly, because it is the shortest race on Phelps’s schedule, could give him the most fits. But Spitz says he likes Phelps’s chances because of his success against Crocker.

It has to be a “little demoralizing” to keep losing close races to Phelps, Spitz said. “And to think that things could change four weeks from now is unlikely, and I would think that is what Michael is thinking also.”

All is not necessarily lost. Crocker can look back to the days of Spitz and take heart. At the 1968 trials, Douglas Russell lost to Spitz in the 100 fly. It was one of nine consecutive defeats Spitz handed Russell, but he got revenge at the Mexico City Games, beating Spitz for the gold medal.

Crocker, who was sick during the Athens Games and was touched out by Phelps for the gold in the 100 butterfly by 0.04 seconds, vowed to get faster in the month before Beijing. So did Phelps, who seemed disgusted by his finish Saturday. He misjudged the wall and did not hit the timing pad with a full stroke. “There are a few little things that I can work on between now and the Olympics,” Phelps said.

Phelps, 23, qualified for Beijing, his third Olympics, in five individual events — the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 200 and 400 individual medley and the 200 freestyle. He is also eligible to swim three relays: the 4×100 freestyle, 4×100 medley and 4×200 freestyle.

“I had a pretty decent week,” said Phelps, who set world records in the individual medleys. “I’m excited. I’m ready for the challenge that lies ahead of me.”

Crocker and Phelps have joint custody of the 100 butterfly, accounting for the 10 fastest swims in the event. That would explain their long faces after Saturday’s race.

“He’s been going for that world record for a long time and so have I,” Crocker said. “When you’re a half a second off of it, it’s kind of a pain in the butt.”

With every stroke they take, Crocker and Phelps are pulling their fellow Americans along in their slipstream. The eighth-fastest time in the final, Davis Tarwater’s 52.83, would have placed third at the 2004 trials.

“I feel like there are a lot of young wolves coming to eat the old wolves,” Crocker said. After the race, he swam over to Lane 3 to embrace the third-place finisher, Gil Stovall, who will swim the 200 butterfly in Beijing.

“He told me that I’m the future of American swimming,” Stovall said. “It was kind of a shock. I almost started crying.”

Michael Phelps set a new world record of 4:05:25 on Sunday night at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials, breaking the previous 400-meter individual medley record he had previously set at the world championships in Australia.

Ryan Lochte also rendered an excellent performance, finishing second with a time of 4:06.08, which was also faster than Phelps’s former record of 4:06.22.

Robert Margalis finished third, more than seven seconds behind Phelps and Lochte.

from: beijing2008.cn

Cuban swimmers Heisy Villarreal and Pedro Medel received invitation from the International Federation of Swimming (FINA) to participate in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
The best ever Cuban swimmers are Rodolfo Falcon and Neisert Bent, who won silver and bronze medals in the 100 meters backstroke in the 1996 Olympics.

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Australia’s recent record-breaking performances will count for nothing if their swimmers cannot reproduce that form at the Beijing Olympics, according to triple gold medallist Grant Hackett.
Hackett, who is aiming to become the first male swimmer to win gold in the same event at three successive Olympics, said eight world records at Australia’s Olympic trials last month had given the team a major boost, but the United States would still be the favourites in Beijing.
“We feel confident but we feel that’s only the start of what needs to be done,” he told a news conference at the world short-course championships in Manchester on Saturday.
“Those trials surprised a lot of people in Australia. We didn’t expect to break eight world records and have so much depth in many races.
“The team is confident but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves,” added the 27-year-old, who will be aiming for a third straight 1,500m title in China.
“The Olympic Games is where the real results will be posted and remembered.
“No one remembers the Olympic trials. We’re confident, proud of the way we performed, but the job’s not done yet.”
Australia’s best result at an Olympics was as hosts at the 2000 Games, when they took 18 medals in the pool. However, Australian swimming chiefs expect their team of 22 women and 20 men to better that mark in Beijing.
Unlike most of the world’s top swimming nations, who hold trials earlier in the year, the U.S. will have their qualifying event just five weeks out from the Aug 8-24 Games.
Hackett predicted U.S. swimmers will raise the bar at their trials by adding to the rising tally of world records set so far this year.
“They’re going to have an unbelievable performance,” he said. “They’ll be the number one team going into the Olympics, no doubt about that.
“Their performances lately have been great and their swimmers have not even been rested.”
Hackett will enter unknown territory in Beijing when he competes in the 10-kilometre open water event, which he said would be the “ultimate test” after a career spent only in the calmer waters of swimming pools.
“I’m not experienced in this field. The best thing is the element of surprise,” he said. “People don’t know what I’m capable of. I’ve worked on my preparation, I’m as fit as I’ve ever been.”

from: chinadaily.com.cn