The 18-time Olympic champion advanced to the semifinals of the 200-meter butterfly at the USA swimming trials today with the fastest time in the preliminaries.
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She remained under world record pace through 350m before settling for the third-fastest time in history.
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“I knew what I needed to do was built the first 50 breaststroke like I talked to Michael and (Coach) Bob (Bowman) about”, Kalisz said.
The 19-year-old is headed back to the Olympics after holding off a persistent challenge from Leah Smith to win the 400-meter freestyle Monday night at the United States of America swimming trials.
“Just had to get those first-swim jitters out of the way”, said Ledecky, who has become a dominant force in the sport since her surprise win in the 800m free at the London Olympics.
A hurting Lochte was back again on Monday morning, reaching the semi-finals of the 200m free.
And for all seven of those scintillating laps, she powered toward qualifying for the Rio Games in the middle-distance event for the first time while also pushing newcomer Leah Smith into stardom. By contrast, Pellegrini (1:54.55 in June) trails her in the 2016 world rankings by only twelve-hundredths of a second.
“I did everything I could in that race”.
Missy Franklin, a star in the 2012 Olympics with four gold medals and one bronze in London, finished in 1:58.61, which tied for seventh-fastest.
Walking gingerly from the pool, the 31-year-old said he was feeling the injury, especially on the kicks coming out of the turns. If that happens, it will be her first time competing in an Olympic Games. It’s always exciting, so you just have to manage the energy a little bit.
Phelps, who is a training partner of Kalisz, said the success of the two youngsters in the race came as no surprise to him.
A 20-year-old who swims for the University of Louisville, Cottrell had a semifinal time of 1 minute, 7.44 seconds, placing sixth-fastest among the eight in the final.
Posting a time of 4.00.65, Smith set a personal record and finished roughly two seconds behind 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Kaite Ledecky.
Before Phelps swam, youngsters rushed to the tunnel to get a glimpse of him just before his race. Four years ago he said he would retire, but two years later he was back.
He put up the best American time of 2015 in the 200 freestyle, and he’s one of the favorites to make the Olympic team in the event.
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“I guess there is no way to know for sure, but I think the reason I’ve had this success this year is because I know that swimming is wrapping up for me and it’s so much easier to work hard every day and push myself to be excited about all the little things that make swimming great”, she said.
