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Hansen Falters In 200 Breaststroke

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 4, 2008

OMAHA, Neb. - OMAHA, Neb. - In the first major stunner of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Brendan Hansen failed to make the Olympic team in the 200-meter breaststroke Thursday night.

The world record holder less than a month ago, Hansen won't even swim the event in Beijing. His only solace: He still has a spot on the Olympic team in the 100 breast and, most likely, the 400 medley relay.

"I did my best," said Hansen, the last of the eight finalists to leave the pool deck. "I gave everything in the pool tonight. I left it all out there. It just wasn't there. It wasn't my day."

Hansen wasn't the only big name to falter on the fifth night of the meet.

Katie Hoff, who already had qualified for four individual events and one relay, failed to advance out of the semifinals of the 100 freestyle, denying her a chance to go for as many as eight medals at the Olympics.

But Hoff putting up the 11th-best time against a field that also included Natalie Coughlin and 41-year-old Dara Torres wasn't all that surprising - the 100 was by far the longest shot on the 19-year-old's grueling program.

Hansen, on the other hand, has long been this country's top breaststroker, and it was downright shocking to see him touch the wall behind three other Americans.

He led over the first 150 meters, only to fade badly on the final lap as winner Scott Spann went on by. So did runner-up Eric Shanteau and third-place finisher Scott Usher.

"I came to the pool tonight and didn't have a very good feeling about warm-up and just everything in general," Hansen said. "I might have been worrying too much about what I needed to do to get this done and didn't worry about the guys that were gunning after me at the same time."

Hansen labored to the finish in 2 minutes, 11.37 seconds - nearly 3 seconds slower than his American record, which also stood as the world's fastest time until Japanese rival Kosuke Kitajima broke it June 7 with a time of 2:07.51.

Hanging on the lane rope, he stared at the scoreboard in disbelief while Spann and Shanteau celebrated.

"I just, I don't know," said Hansen, the last man to leave the pool deck. "It's been a long week, and it hurt me a little bit."
Spann won in 2:09.97 - far off Kitajima's pace. Shanteau locked up the expected second spot on the team in 2:10.36.

"My hats off to those two," said Hansen, who also finished behind Usher's 2:11.00. "I train with them every single day, and ultimately, I might have trained them a little too well."

Michael Phelps had a relatively easy night, posting the second-fastest time in the semis of the 200 individual medley. He moved on to another showdown Friday with rival Ryan Lochte, who had the top time.

Coughlin was the top qualifier heading to today's final in the women's 100 free. She won her heat in 53.64, touching just ahead of Torres, the four-time Olympian who has twice retired from swimming but is back again - 24 years after her first U.S. trials. Torres also moved on to the final with the second-best time (53.76).

But Hansen's flop was the talk of the night. "He just didn't come home like he usually does," said good friend Aaron Peirsol, the fastest in the 200 backstroke semifinals.

"That's just kind of the cruel nature of this meet," Coughlin added. "We've all been there at some point and it's really difficult. It's difficult to watch."

Garrett Weber-Gale locked up his first trip to the Olympics, winning the 100 freestyle at 47.92.

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