Phelps wins final race on American soil
OMAHA (Reuters) – Michael Phelps gave the home fans one last thrill when he touched first in the 100-meter butterfly at the US Olympic trials on Saturday night in his final race in an American pool.
The world record holder and three-time Olympic champion in the event, Phelps would not be denied a winning send-off as he charged to the wall to the roar of a capacity crowd in a time of exactly 51 seconds, just ahead of Tom Shields.
With his trials over, Phelps heads to Rio for what he says will be his fifth and final Games qualified in three events; the 100 and 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley, ready to add to his staggering record total of 22 Olympic medals.
“Bob [coach Bowman[ asked me what the game plan was tonight and I said, ‘I don’t want to lose my last race on American soil’,” said Phelps. “There’s been a lot of history here and 51 seconds is OK, but it’s going to take more than that to win a gold medal.”
Phelps began his final US race from an unfamiliar spot, lining up in lane seven.
But everything else was vintage Phelps as he powered into the lead over the final 50 meters.
When he hit the wall, the 31-year-old immediately turned and looked up at the clock, clenching his fist and punching the water underscoring how much the win meant to him.
As he climbed out of the pool the crowd stood and cheered the 18-time Olympic champion, who raised both hands in the air, soaking up the moment as he turned to all for corners of the arena taking a final bow.
While Phelps came through with the victory almost everyone at the packed CenturyLink Center wanted to see, Katie Ledecky cruised to a commanding win in the women’s 800meter freestyle, but could not deliver the first world record at the trials that many expected.
After clocking the third fastest time ever in the event during Thursday’s preliminaries, the Olympic and world champion looked primed to eclipse her own world mark of 8:06.81.
Ledecky went out in world record pace but faded on the back half and finished in 8:10.32, a comfortable 10 seconds clear of her nearest challenger Leah Smith.
Like Phelps, Ledecky will also go to Rio having qualified in three events, the 200, 400 and 800 free. She hopes to become the first swimmer since 1968 to complete the Olympic gold medal distance hat-trick.
Maya DiRado’s first Olympics will be a busy one, after the 23-year-old added the 200-meter backstroke to her Rio dance card to go along with wins in both the 400 and 200 individual medley.
DiRado capped off a productive trials in impressive fashion beating a desperate Olympic and world record-holder Missy Franklin to the wall with a time of 2:06.90. Elizabeth Beisel, the bronze medalist in London, finished seventh. Nathan Adrian, the 100-meter
free winner, will be doubling up, blitzing to victory in the 50
free in 21.51 seconds ahead of Anthony Ervin and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Cullen Jones.
Franklin’s road to Rio bumpy
Franklin, meanwhile was the 17-year-old darling of American swimming in 2012, returning home from the London Olympics with four gold medals and being hailed as the sport’s brightest young star.
Four years later, Franklin is headed back to the Olympics having qualified in two individual events, the 200-meter freestyle and 200 backstroke, at the US trials and is assured of another spot on the 4x200 relay team.
But the trials, which ended on Sunday, did not gone completely according to plan for Franklin, who has struggled to find the form that made her one of the sport’s biggest names.
She failed to top the podium in any individual event in Omaha, qualifying for the 200 freestyle as runner-up behind the new queen of women’s swimming, Ledecky, and the 200 backstroke behind first-time Olympian DiRado.
Franklin will have a shot at defending her 200 backstroke title in Rio, but not her signature event, the 100, after laboring to a seventh place finish in the final.
With her trials over, even the usually optimistic Franklin said things could have gone better.
“I’ve been saying I don’t think I swam it as well as I could have,” said Franklin. “But you know what? I got a spot.”
Franklin returned from London as the fresh-faced future of American swimming. She followed up her dazzling Olympic debut with a haul of six gold medals at the 2013 world championships in Barcelona, but the road to Rio not been smooth.
“I learned a lot at this meet about how to deal with expectations, and I don’t think that all kind of hit me until I got here,” explained Franklin.
“I still need to prepare for that, even though I may not be feeling it at the time, so if I come in and all of the sudden I do feel that pressure, I know how to handle it.”