Gary Hall Jr. feels good, but it's not enough in the 50
OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS
Defending champion doesn't make the team.
OMAHA -- Garrett Weber-Gale, trying to take ownership of the title of sprint king from Gary Hall Jr., looked at Hall's get-up before the 50-meter freestyle final here Saturday night at the Olympic trials.
The two-time defending Olympic champion wore a multicolored cape with red trim with the words, "The Godfather of Swimming." It was Hall's self-proclaimed tribute to the late James Brown.
"Honestly, the spotlight doesn't really matter to me," said the 22-year-old Weber-Gale of Longhorn (Texas) Aquatics, who earlier won the 100 freestyle. "Part of me thought, 'Wow, that's awesome.' I don't think I can pull it off. Also I thought, maybe that guy's a genius and he's coming in here to psyche us out and set a record.
"But yeah, who the spotlight is on doesn't matter to me."
It took 21.47 seconds for the spotlight to rest on Weber-Gale, who won the 50, setting an American record. The previous mark (21.59) was held by Cullen Jones, who set the mark Friday in the prelims. Ben Wildman-Tobriner was second, Jones third and Hall Jr., fourth and Jason Lezak of Irvine fifth. Only the top two make the Olympic team.
The spotlight, you might say, has been most democratic here.
Four years ago, at the trials in Long Beach, it was all things Michael Phelps and his Spitz-ian quest. That hasn't gone away or awry, of course, and Phelps is still on track to unseat legend Mark Spitz and his record seven Olympic gold medals.
Phelps won his fifth individual race at the trials in a largely anticlimactic contest against Ian Crocker in the 100 butterfly, 50.89 to Crocker's 51.62. For Phelps, it was five for five in Omaha and, with three relays, the possibility of eight golds in Beijing not unrealistic.
"There are a few little things I can work on between now and the Olympics: being able to nail the finish and have better turns," said Phelps, who has won 12 of 16 races against Crocker, including the last four.
"This week turned out how I wanted to. I'm excited. At the Olympics, I think I'm going to be better than I was here."
Still, Phelps has not been hoarding the spotlight.
Hall is gone, perhaps for good. The ageless Dara Torres is back, for good, and faster than ever at 41, setting the American record in the semifinals of the 50 free, going 24.38. Then there was the requisite daily world record, this one coming from Margaret Hoelzer in the 200 backstroke (2:06.09). The previous mark, of 2:06.39, was set by Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe in February.
