His 4th-place finish in the 100 fly casts major doubt for him to challenge Spitz record.
By wire services
Published July 14, 2004
Phelps
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Michael Phelps will head to Athens trying to bounce back from another loss.
Brooke Bennett isn't going to the Olympics, at all.
Ian Crocker broke his world record in the 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials Tuesday, handing Phelps his second defeat in as many days.
Crocker led at the turn and withstood a challenge coming down the stretch, touching the wall in 50.76 seconds - the sixth world record of the trials. Phelps finished in 51.15, the fourth-fastest time in history but not fast enough.
"I knew it was going to take a world record to win that race," Phelps said. "Ian got too far ahead of me. It was right on my best time. Hopefully in five weeks, we'll change a few things and get faster."
Aaron Peirsol beat Phelps in the 200 backstroke final Monday - also setting a world record in the process. Crocker's time beat the mark of 50.98 he set at last year's world championships in Barcelona.
Bennett, who succeeded Janet Evans as the queen of American distance swimming, won't get a chance to become the first to win three straight Olympic golds in the 800. She finished third behind Diana Munz and Kalyn Keller.
Munz, the 400 silver medalist in Sydney, won a great sprint to the wall in 8:26.06, barely edging Keller (8:26.33).
Maritza Correia, the Valrico resident who became the first black woman to make the U.S. Olympic swim team on Monday, qualified for tonight's 50 final with a fourth-place finish in the semis (25.37). Jenny Thompson touched first in 25.11
Gary Hall Jr. will get a chance to defend his Olympic gold in the 50. He beat rival Jason Lezak with a time of 21.91, equaling the sixth-fastest time in history. Lezak touched second (22.05).
The rivalry was spurred on by trash-talking and other antics from Hall, Lezak and their representatives. But the two seemed to get along just fine after the 50, shaking hands and exchanging smiles.
Ever the showman, Hall climbed atop a starting block and bowed to the cheering crowd. Then, still dripping wet and wearing nothing but his suit, he walked into the stands to hug his wife.
Hall tied now-retired American Anthony Ervin for the 50 gold at Sydney and has eight medals from the past two Olympics. He'll have a chance to add to that haul in Athens, becoming part of the first father-son duo to both qualify for three Olympics.
Hall won't get a chance, however, to swim the 100 at Athens. Lezak won that race, with Hall finishing third.
While Phelps became the first U.S. swimmer to qualify in six individual events at the Olympics, the past two days cast serious doubts on his quest to break Mark Spitz's record of seven golds at the 1972 Munich Games.
Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, plan to decide by Thursday whether to swim all six individual races in Athens, or go with a lighter schedule that might keep him stronger but give him fewer chances to beat Spitz.
Phelps has qualified for at least one relay and also wants to swim the other two, giving him as many as nine races at the Olympics.
Crocker established his supremacy in the 100 fly with an upset of Phelps at the 2003 world championships. Both swimmers eclipsed Phelps' world record on that night - a race that prompted Phelps to put up a picture of Crocker in his bedroom as extra motivation.
It didn't help at the trials, where Phelps swam the last of his 17 races during a grueling, weeklong stretch.
"Michael is a phenomenal swimmer and he's trying to do something really special," Crocker said. "He is attracting attention to this sport we haven't had in a long time and it's a healthy thing."
Then again, he's hardly the only swimmer at these trials worth noticing.
Brendan Hansen set two world records in the breaststroke, while Peirsol, Crocker and Amanda Beard have as many world records as Phelps.
"Brendan Hansen, Aaron Peirsol and myself deserve similar attention," Crocker said.
The 21-year-old Maine native laid down a challenge to Phelps, vowing to take the world record even lower in Athens.
