Phelps gains fourth Olympic appearance

OMAHA, Nebraska – Michael Phelps made his fourth Olympic team in the 200-meter butterfly Thursday, and he enjoyed it, for sure. There were grins and laughs as he chatted with reporters, even a bit of reminiscing.

But the happiest guy in the pool, maybe on the planet at just after 8 p.m., was Tyler Clary, who clinched the lone other Olympic team berth in the event three days after just missing in his first final with a third-place finish. As Phelps cherished the expected with his victory in 1 minute, 53.65 seconds, Clary reveled in a surprising second place with his finish in 1:55.12.

The way Clary described it, making your first Olympic team seems far more thrilling than your fourth.

“It can’t even put into words how the end of that race felt,” Clary said. “It’s like the biggest endorphin rush you’ve ever experienced. The biggest explosion of serotonin in your head. I’m on cloud nine right now.”

Thursday at the US Olympic team trials in swimming proved to be the sort of night in which order of placement did not always correspond to the magnitude of joy and relief. Ariana Kukors holds the world record in the 200 individual medley, but her hopes of making the Olympic team seemed to be slipping away halfway through the final of that event, when she found herself in fourth place. But Kukors recovered to clinch the second Olympic berth in 2:11.30 after Caitlin Leverenz finished first in 2:10.22.

Kukors met reporters with tears streaking her face.

“I’m just happy and blessed and thanks to my family for keeping me sane,” Kukors said. “A lot of people say this is the most nerve-racking meet in the world. . . . You try to separate yourself from the nerves, but it’s all around you. It’s a stressful meet, and I fell victim to it.”