We're covering the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials all week.Thursday night's swimming trials action was all about the upsets. But Friday was about the battles between the favorites.
There really wasn't a big upset on Friday, but we did see plenty of top performances. Rebecca Soni, a disappointment in the 100 meter breastroke, lived up to expectations as she won the 200 meter breaststroke. Amanda Beard, who now splits her time between being a Playboy model, a Go Daddy girl and occasional hops into the pool, showed that she's still able to challenge for a medal, as she qualified for her fourth Olympics by finishing second.
In the men's 200 meter IM, Michael Phelps broke his own world record with a 1:54.80 to win his fourth event of the trials. Phelps was pushed by Ryan Lochte (1:55.22) , who finished with the third-ever fastest time (behind only Phelps' top two times). Lochte's time is even more impressive when you consider that he had just hopped out of the pool after qualifying in the 200 meter backstroke, where he finished second to Aaron Peirsol. Peirsol tied Lochte's world record time of 1:54.32.
That Lochte could dive right back into the pool and push Phelps in the 200 IM is pretty impressive, but what jumps out is how far ahead of the rest of the world Lochte and Phelps are in the event. As Swimming World Magazine notes, that's the bad news for Eric Shanteau. He swam a 1:58.15 to finish third at the trials. It may be 3.65 seconds slower than Phelps, but would still set a national record in any other country in the world. If Shanteau could qualify for the Olympics, he'd be favored to win the bronze. But he doesn't have a chance as long as he's three seconds slower than the two best Americans.
And in the final event of the night, Dara Torres gave hope to 40-somethings everywhere by winning the women's 100 meter freestyle.
