By John Lohn
OMAHA, Nebraska, July 3. THE men's 200 breaststroke figured to feature a one-two finish by Brendan Hansen and Eric Shanteau. What unfolded was a shocker. While Shanteau placed in his expected spot, Scott Spann grabbed victory. Hansen, who won the 100 breaststroke earlier in the week, settled for fourth, just behind Scott Usher.
Hansen was in the lead through 150 meters, but he ran out of gas on the last lap as Spann and Shanteau got stronger and moved ahead. Spann touched the wall in a career-best of 2:09.97, joining the exclusive sub-2:10 club, while Shanteau was timed in 2:10.36. Usher followed in 2:11.00 and Hansen was clocked in 2:11.37.
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Spann split 33.62 for the last lap and Shanteau covered his last 50 meters in 35.07. Hansen, meanwhile, was timed in 36.15, well off the 34-mid he went in the semifinals and the 33-point performances he has produced during his career. Hansen was 2:09.60 in the semifinal round and his American record sits a 2:08.50.
"I really don't know what to say," Hansen said. "I didn't have a good feeling after my warmup and those guys brought it. I might have been worrying too much about getting the job done. My hat is off to those guys. I train with them every day. Maybe I trained them too well."
Spann was the third-place finisher in the 100 breaststroke and punched his first Olympic ticket with the swim of a lifetime. Following Hansen in fifth place was Clark Burckle (2:13.86), followed by John Criste (2:13.87), Ryan Hurley (2:13.90) and Giordan Pogioli (2:15.07).
"I tried to be long and smooth," Spann said. "I wanted to stay right with Brendan and attack the last 50 meters. I was disappointed with my 100 (third place) and told myself not to mess up. This is a real surprise. That was definitely an off swim for Brendan. To me, he's still the best in the world. I still need to get to his level. I know he's going to take on the world in the 100."
Kitajima also weighed in according to the Associated Press.
"For a swimmer of his level it shouldn't be that difficult to qualify," Kitajima said Friday on his official Web site. "He didn't seem to set his goals and rise to the challenge just one month before the Olympics."
Kitajima watched the U.S. swimming trials on television and said that Hansen didn't swim up to his potential.
"His timing was off," said Kitajima. "He didn't swim in his usual powerful style."
Full Results
Video Footage Removed Due to NBC Restrictions
Go to Swimming World's 2008 Olympics Landing Page for the most comprehensive coverage of the meet on the Internet.
Full text of the Associated Press article.
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Reaction Time Comments
July 3, 2008 Wow. What a choke job. How does that happen? Submitted by: MJB
July 3, 2008 OMG i can't believe hansen sucked that bad. He is the ultimate head case. Submitted by: WUswimmer
July 3, 2008 No disrespect intended, but I am not surprised by the results. A part of me feels badly for Brendan, but the other half is excited as heck for Spann. He is young, hungry and getting faster. Submitted by: paddles
July 3, 2008 Even though Hansen was ahead on the first lap, I had a strange feeling this might happen for some reason, right after the start. Maybe because both the other guys beat him recently and his 100 time was a bit off. But I think when he said last night how easy it felt, it reminded me of when he said that at the Olympics. Didn't he turn out to be sick? Maybe he's run down/gettnig sick. Submitted by: liquidassets
July 3, 2008 yeah spann is def. the future of breaststroke Submitted by: WUswimmer
July 3, 2008 John Nabor putting his arm around Scott Spann's waist is creeping me out. And to ask, "What was going through your head when you passed Brendan?" is way out of line, for both Hansen and Spann.
He should go away - he and Rowdy are embarassing for the sport. Submitted by: kcswimjk
July 3, 2008 Might be sign of things to come, seems like a lot of oldsters trying to just hang on. Could US swimming be in trouble? Submitted by: ED
July 3, 2008 ED,
Oldsters like Nabor and Rowdy? Submitted by: kcswimjk
July 3, 2008 ED, as long as I have been involved with the sport, I have seen the greats come and go only to be replaced by the "new crop". US swimming's future looks as bright as it ever has. No need to worry. Submitted by: paddles
July 3, 2008 No, Lezak, Hansen, etc. There are not a lot of fresh faces. OT's is the toughest meet in the world, no doubt. Just seems like there is some fading happening in the finals. If that happens in Beijing.... Submitted by: ED
July 3, 2008 Paddles,
You are probably right, just don't see the new crop showing up in Omaha. Submitted by: ED
July 3, 2008 Brendon,
What a man you were in the interview after the 200 Breast. No excuses and deflected to props for the qualifiers. Very classy. Be proud of yourself. You find out what people are made of in bad times. You're made of good stuff Submitted by: boydd
July 3, 2008 A lot of the new faces were swimming prelims. I guarantee that in two years time, the unknowns from this OT will be making themselves VERY well known.
I truly believe that Jason Lezak has the talent to take the gold in Beijing. He just needs a little more "Gary Hall Attitude" to pull it off. Submitted by: paddles
July 3, 2008 Amen to that. Hansen is a class act. He's been hounded by the Japanese media all week and dealt with everything as best he could. Here's to hoping he rocks the 100 and the medley relay in Bejing.
Submitted by: kcswimjk
July 3, 2008 ED you were right about the fading, all 3 finals were a bit slowish. People are getting tired....even Hoff only took 10th in the 100, a second off her best time. Submitted by: liquidassets
July 3, 2008 I am proud of the man that Brendan Hansen is. He handled himself with such grace tonight. He is a great ambassador for this sport and now a two-time Olympian. We will be very happy to have him in the 100 Breast and on the Medley Relay. Submitted by: laurenish
July 21, 2008 What a shocker this was. I do hope he destroys the 100 though Submitted by: justaddwater
July 25, 2008 Kitajima has no class. Brendan will focus only on the 100 and on his speed, and Kitajima can just forget it...he'll be in the race for silver. He should have been DQed in Athens too. Bad news for him is everyone gets a dolfin kick this time. Submitted by: Jim
July 25, 2008 Jim,
Do you know Kosuke? How do you know he has no class? Submitted by: Hodori88
Reaction Time responses do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Swimming World Magazine or SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
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