Swimming
Thompson seeks one gold in freestyle

By Ron C. Judd
Seattle Times staff reporter

DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES A cheering section encourages Larsen Jensen as he closes in on a new American record in the 1500-meter freestyle last night.

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Jenny Thompson's lingering dream will be realized — or die for good — with the 50-meter freestyle in Athens.

Thompson, who won the 50 free here last night with a time of 25.02 seconds, holds 26 national titles — the most of any active U.S. swimmer. At 31, the oldest swimmer on the U.S. team for Athens, she has won 10 medals, eight of them gold.

But the legendary swimmer, who made her fourth Olympic team here this week, has never won a gold medal in an individual race. Athens will be her last chance, and she was suggesting last night that it might be a formidable task.

"I'll have to go a lot faster than I went here," she said. "I'm happy to make the team, but I'm not too happy with the time."

Thompson, who is on leave from Columbia Medical School in New York, where she is completing her medical residency, said she will retire from the sport after the Games.

"I don't know if I'll feel complete if I win an individual medal or not," she said. "But realistically, my times ... are not close" to the current world standard in the 50, she said.

The world record is 24.13 seconds, set at the Sydney Games by Inge de Bruijn of The Netherlands. Current top world times range from 24.70 to 25 seconds.

Thompson's win in the 50 was one of two finals closing up the U.S. Olympic swim trials last night. In the other, the freshly shaved head of Larsen Jensen, 18, of Mission Viejo, Calif., plowed through the water to set a new American record in the 1,500, the longest and most grueling event in the sport.

Jensen, who previously had qualified in the 400 freestyle, swam 14:56.71, thus becoming the third American to swim the race in less than 15 minutes.

How did it feel?

"It hurt like hell," he said.

Jensen was followed to the wall by USC's Erik Vendt, who finished in 15.11.96. Vendt also qualified in the 400 individual medley, a race in which he broke his own world record earlier in the trials, edging out Baltimore sensation Michael Phelps, 19.

Another U.S. swimmer made the team this morning in the most unlikely fashion: with a bang on his hotel room door by his coach, who had just learned that Phelps, who qualified in six events here, had decided not to compete in the 200 backstroke in Athens.

That put Bryce Hunt, 22, of Auburn Aquatics, into the Olympics. Hunt had finished third in the 200 backstroke final, swimming 1:58.70 — nearly three seconds behind Phelps, who finished second in the race behind a new world-record time by Aaron Piersol, 20, of Irvine Aquatics.

"I haven't seen (Phelps) yet," an ebullient Hunt said. "But I'm definitely going to thank him."

Phelps' coach said the swimmer would drop the 200 back for scheduling reasons, and to concentrate on other events. He still will endeavor to shatter Mark Spitz's 32-year old record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics.

Phelps' was the unquestioned star of the trials, swimming almost as well as advertised here. He qualified in the 200 free, 200 back, 200 fly, 200 and 400 IM, 800 freestyle relay and 200 breast. It took a pair of world-record swims — one by Piersol in the 200 back, the other by Ian Crocker in the 100 butterfly, to keep him from sweeping the entire event.

Those races were among six world records set in the temporary pool, built in a Long Beach parking lot.

Other meet highlights:

• Kaitlin Sandeno, 21, of USC, quietly emerged as the U.S. team's most versatile female swimmer, qualifying in the 400 free, 200 fly, 400 IM and 800 freestyle relay.

• Gary Hall Jr. proved that, at 29, he's still America's sprint king, winning the 50 freestyle in 21.91 and finishing second to Jason Lezak in the 100 free. The pair will make a formidable sprint duo in Athens.

• California swim coach Terrie McKeever was named an assistant to the U.S. women's swim team. Remarkably, she is the first woman to coach the U.S. women's team.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

E-mail this article

Print this article

Search archive

More sports headlines...