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Category: Swimming

Breathless Action -- Almost Literally -- Continues At Olympic Trials

One breath. That's all Cullen Jones and most of the world's elite swimmers allow themselves in the men's 50-meter freestyle sprint, a 22-second thrashing that is the equivalent of track's 100-meter dash.

"I've been practicing not taking any breaths, so when I get the treat of taking that one breath, I just feel it gives me a surge of extra energy," said Jones, who broke the American record in the 50 in Friday morning's preliminary heats.

Jones touched the wall in 21.59 to erase Gary Hall Jr.'s 8-year-old mark of 21.76. Ben Wildman-Tobriner also bettered the old standard in 21.68, while Hall was third in qualifying at 21.89. The semifinals are tonight, with the finals set for Saturday night. Definitely worth a look on the NBC coverage from 8-9 p.m. ET both nights.

Category: Track and field

UM, EMU and MSU power at track trials...

Thursday will go down as a pretty epic day for Michigan schools at the U.S. Track and Field trials.

U-M master's grad and temporary Ann Arbor resident Anna Willard shone the brightest, winning the 3,000 meter steeplechase in an American record 9:27.59.

She was nothing short of brilliant, and now she's an Olympian set to take part in the first women's steeplechase in the Olympic Games. She was simply glowing after the race, almost stunned by everything that just happened.

But far from forgotten was MSU senior Nicole Bush's performance. She's not a pro - yet - but she showed the determination and skill of a steepler on the rise. She hung with top runners Jennifer Barringer and Willard for half of the race at the front of the pack. A very gutsy move by Bush. She couldn't keep up with the pace, and fell back to fourth. Still, Bush served big notice that she's a runner to watch in her final NCAA cross country and outdoor seasons, and beyond.

It won't gather as much press, but EMU has two steeplers in Saturday's men's final. Corey Nowitzke and Jordan Desilets both ran good races in the semis to reach the finals. It turned into a mini-EMU track pep rally in the media area, as Corey and former Olympian Paul McMullen watched Jordan's race on the monitors and were cheering him home.

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A Night For Tears, And A Few Last Laughs, Too

It was a really tough night here at the trials for ex-Wolverine Davis Tarwater, whose third-place finish in the 200 butterfly effectively ended his swimming career. Hard to put that in words, and, understandably, Davis didn't even try afterward. He was too devastated, especially after a race that saw him comfortably in second for 150 meters only to finish third and out of the Olympics in the end.

And it was a night of rollercoaster emotions, to be sure, for the Club Wolverine crew. You had Allison Schmitt making the Olympic team -- twice over -- after another amazing performance in the 200 free.

And you had Kaitlin Sandeno in a mess of tears, happy and sad, after swimming the final race of her career, too. She was babbling and funny and engaging, right to the end, as you'd expect.

For Melissa Jaeger, Wednesday was the end, too. But the recent Michigan grad left the pool with a smile on her face. No tears, no regrets.

"This is the last hurrah, and I did my best time," Jaeger said after finished 23rd (2:13.14) in the 200 fly.

She's part of a quartet of Ann Arbor-area U-M women's swimmers here at the trials, with incoming freshman Kristyne Cole also joining junior Margaret Kelly and senior Hannah Smith. Jaeger transferred to U-M from Oakland University in 2006 to finish her collegiate career with her childhood swim pals. She capped her career with Big Ten individual and relay titles as a senior.

"It's hard to put into words, but it has just been awesome to feel the local support and spend this last year with my friends who I swam with when I was 7 and 8," said Jaeger, whose already enrolled in U-M graduate school for elementary education. "It has been so cool. I couldn't have ended it on a better note."

A breather in the track trials...

I'm looking out my window at a very quiet Hayward Field, with the only noise heard anywhere is coming from a leaf blower in the distance. Trust me, that's a big change from the past few days, where Hayward's been as loud as a rock concert with a couple hundred leaf blowers thrown in.

The Olympic track and field trials paused for yesterday and today, allowing the athletes, officials - and yes, others - to get some rest. It's a good time to reflect on what we've seen so far: Tyson Gay's blistering 9.68 run in the 100 meters, Bryan Clay again dominating the decathlon, Detroiter Lauryn Williams making her second Olympic team out of sheer determination, the heartbreak of the four Michigan women coming up short for Beijing in the 800, and the unbridled joy of the Eugene crowd over their three local guys making the team in the 800.

Things pick up again Thursday, with fun things such as the women's pole vault, steeplechase and the 400 finals. I better get my ear plugs ready again.

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Club Wolverine Charging Hard At Olympic Trials

Another great night for the Club Wolverine crew here at the Olympic swimming trials.

A 1-2 finish in the men's 200 freestyle with Michael Phelps and Peter Vanderkaay was made even better when Erik Vendt dug deep and finished sixth, effectively grabbing the last spot on the 800-freestyle relay team. He's really, really fired up about it, too.

Meanwhile, Phelps and Davis Tarwater went 1-2 in qualifying for tonight's 200 butterfly final. Phelps might actually take a run at his world record in that one, while Tarwater's so laser-focused I really think he's going to get that second spot, though NCAA champ Gil Stovall is definitely giving chase. So are three other Michigan men, though: incoming freshman Dan Madwed, senior Matt Patton, who shaved nearly 2 seconds off his best time the last 24 hours, and recent U-M grad Alex Vanderkaay qualified fifth through seventh.

Canton's Allison Schmitt looks ready to land not only a relay berth in tonight's 200 free, but also an individual berth possibly. And true to form, she shows absolutely no sign of nerves about it. Pretty amazing kid.

Category: Swimming

Two More World Records At Trials

Barely 12 hours after fans in Omaha witnessed two world-record performances on the opening night of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, they were treated to two more Monday morning. In the same event. In prelims.

So, yes, I think it's safe to say the suits are making a difference.

It only took a few minutes in Monday's preliminary heats in the women's 100-meter backstroke for the world record to fall.

Hayley McGregory lowered Natalie Coughlin's world mark by .06 with a 59.15 clocking in the penultimate heat Monday. But just as soon as she'd left the pool deck, Coughlin, the reigning Olympic champ in the event, erased that new mark with one of her own, touching the wall in 59.03 as the Qwest Center crowd roared its approval.

Category: Swimming

Good Start For Club Wolverine

Today's first heats are in the books at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, and three Michigan men advanced to the finals. Michael Phelps wasn't thrilled with his prelim in the 400 IM, but he'll get a chance to redeem himself against rival Ryan Lochte in tonight's final.

Alex Vanderkaay (4:16.99), who just finished up his U-M eligibility, and Tyler Clary (4:17.46), a sophomore-to-be in Ann Arbor, both posted personal-best times to advance as the fourth and fifth qualifiers for tonight's finals. Only the top two finishers in each event make the Olympic team, so it'll take a huge upset for anybody other than Phelps and Lochte to make it.

Dispatch from Eugene...

Lovely territory here on the campus of the University of Oregon. They've gone all out for the track trials and they certainly have the facilities to host an event of this size. The Hayward field complex, a storied venue, is now one of the most technologically advanced in the country. It has a scoreboard you'd normally see in a football stadium, a premier running surface, dual high jump pits, and four long jump pits. That really makes the meets run well.

As for the fans, there is a huge festival with live bands, tons of food, a beer garden and the biggest tent full of Nike stuff you've ever seen. You could spend a day in that tent and not see everything.

The media are in a tent erected over the lacrosse field that is next to Hayward Field. It's perfectly fine, save for you've never roasted until you've been in a tent laid over astroturf. It's a blazing 93 degrees today, cloudless sky. I'm not competing, but I'm gulping down water like I'm in the 10K. :).

The fans here in Eugene love track and are very versed. When an athlete is posting a personal best, they already seem to know it and cheer like mad. They call this place track town, and I can see why.

Category: Swimming

Tornado Alley Trials

Why Omaha? That's a fair question to ask on the eve of these U.S. Olympic swimming trials, and the answer is pretty simple: Mutual of Omaha is a big USA Swimming sponsor.

Actually, the test event they held here three weeks ago played to rave reviews, too: the Qwest Center's a relatively new venue and with the temporary pool set up inside, it'll make for a pretty electric atmosphere with the place fairly packed for evening finals all week.

And you'd figure we'd be safe from the weather indoors, right? Well, this is the Midwest I grew up in (Iowa), so I should know better.

Three weeks ago, it was a tornado warning in the middle of the night that startled competitors out of their beds. Friday, less than 48 hours before the opening day of the Olympic trials, the Qwest Center had to be evacuated -- swimmers literally were ordered out of the training pool -- due to another severe storm that rolled through town with 60 mph winds, golfball-sized hail and a torrential downpour.

Sheet panels were ripped off the outside of the arena, water poured inside and temporarily flooded the pool deck, and as I write this more than a third of this city of 300,000-plus is without power.

Michael Phelps and his Club Wolverine roommate Eric Vendt were on their way to the arena from their hotel across the street when the tornado warning sounded this afternoon. Obviously, they didn't get to go for that afternoon swim.

"USA Swimming puts us in tornado alley during tornado season," Vendt told the AP, jokingly.

Details weren't finalized for Saturday's practice sessions yet, but the damage appears minimal and the trials should go off as planned Sunday.

Category: Tennis

No real surprises on US Olympic tennis team...

The U.S Tennis Association (aka the USTA) has named the players for Beijing. Barring injury, and that is a real factor with some of these players, this is who you will see on the women's side: Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and doubles specialist Liezel Huber. For the men: Sam Querrey, James Blake, Robby Ginepri, and doubles crew Mike and Bob Bryan.

The Williams sisters will play doubles, and the other team will be Huber/Davenport. Tennis geeks might wonder how Huber's on the team, as she's a native South African. She became a U.S. citizen last year. And keep an eye on Davenport. She just pulled out of Wimbledon due to injury.

The men's side is a bit lackluster, as fading Andy Roddick said he didn't want to play in the Olympics this go-around. Querrey is young, Blake is still not breaking through to being totally dominant, and Ginepri...nice guy, but he's not going to be wearing a medal.

Best chances for a medal? The Williams sisters in doubles and definitely the Bryan brothers.