Jul 2, 2008

One-hundredth of a second

keeps Kirk from Olympics

FROM DAILY NEWS DISPATCHES

OMAHA, Neb. - On a day when two world records fell at the U.S. Olympic Team's swimming trials, Palo Alto's Tara Kirk missed a return trip to the Olympics by the narrowest of margins.

The former Stanford standout, a medalist in Athens in 2004, placed third in the 100-meter breaststroke final Tuesday with a time of 1:07.51, missing a spot in the Beijing Games by one one-hundredth of a second. She was a mere .64 seconds slower than the event winner.

Kirk, a 16-time All-American during her career on the Farm, will have a day of rest before competing in the 200-meter breaststroke Thursday.

Among other Cardinal swimmers, Julia Smit qualified for today's final in the 200-meter freestyle with a qualifying time of 1:58.48 - the third-best among the eight finalists

Also today, Stanford's Elaine Breeden, Dana Kirk, Whitney Spence and Laura Wadden will take to the Qwest Center pool for the preliminary heats of the 200-meter butterfly competition.

Megan Jendrick, who won two golds at the Sydney Olympics as Megan Quann but just missed making the team four years ago, claimed the expected second spot for Beijing in 1:07.50.

Three-time Olympian Amanda Beard also missed her first chance to get back on the Olympic team, finishing sixth in 1:08.80. She also failed to advance from the semis of the 200 IM, leaving the 200 breaststroke as her last opportunity to make a fourth Olympic team.

Michael Phelps just missed setting another world record, and Natalie Coughlin and Aaron Peirsol showed him how to do it. Racing about 10 minutes apart, Coughlin and Peirsol broke their own marks in the 100-meter backstroke on another lightning-quick night at the temporary pool in America's heartland.

Their records were the fifth and sixth of the meet - with five days to go. Both Coughlin and Peirsol were wearing the Speedo LZR Racer, which upped its tally of world marks to 44 since debuting in mid-February.

"I'm really glad that I stamped my ticket to Beijing. I got that over with," Coughlin said. "I feel like a huge weight has been lifted."

Phelps made a dogged run at perhaps the most impressive record on his staggering resume, the time of 1 minute, 43.86 seconds from the 200-meter freestyle at last year's world championships. He was right on pace as he powered toward the wall, but he touched with only the third-fastest time in history, 1:44.10.

Then it was time for Coughlin and Peirsol to shine.

Coughlin became the first woman to break 59 seconds, just one day after she reclaimed the world record in the preliminaries. She touched in 58.97, locking up the first of perhaps as many as six races she could swim in Beijing.

Peirsol showed he's still king of the backstroke, beating a strong field and his own record in the 100 back at 52.89, ahead of the 52.98 from last year's worlds.

Six-foot-8 Matt Grevers took second just ahead of Ryan Lochte, who dropped a spot in the 200 free final - and another chance to race Phelps - to give himself a better shot to qualify in the backstroke. The move didn't pay off; Lochte came on strong over the final 50 but touched in 53.37, behind Grevers' 53.19. Randall Bal, the fastest qualifier in the semifinals, settled for fourth in 53.45.

"That was probably the best field I've ever been in," said Peirsol, one of the Nike-sponsored swimmers who ditched their regular suit to wear the LZR Racer. "I don't think the Olympic field will be any harder than that."

Lochte will remember it, too, though he didn't bother to share his disappointment with the media. He walked right past reporters and never came back.

"He's got other races, and I'm sure he's trying not to get caught up in this one," said Phelps, who beat Lochte in the 400 individual medley when they both went under the previous world record. "He's trying to move forward."