Streamlined News: Recapping Day Five Swimming Prelims at Olympics; Diving and Water Polo News


PHOENIX, Arizona, August 1. LESS than 12 hours after becoming the most decorated Olympian in history with 19 medals, Michael Phelps was back into the pool for the heats of the 200 IM today, qualifying fourth with a 1:58.24.

Ryan Lochte did the tough 200 back-200 IM double in prelims today, just coasting through to get to the semifinals comfortably in both events. None of the other swimmers really showed their hands, either, in both events. Tyler Clary took top seed in the men's 200 backstroke, while Laszlo Cseh will be the top qualifier in the 200 IM.

China's Tang Yi is the top seed in the semifinals of the women's 100 freestyle, with defending champion Britta Steffen down on the list in the 14th spot. Tang swam a lifetime best to get that top seed with a 53.28. The top swimmer in the world, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, is also going through to the next round as are the Americans, Jessica Hardy and Missy Franklin, and NCAA champion Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace of the Bahamas.

Satomi Suzuki set a blistering pace in the heats of the 200 breaststroke with a 2:23.22, but Rebecca Soni answered the challenge with a 2:21.40, a time she's done quite often. Rikke Pedersen, who is the bronze medalist in the 100 breast from 2008, also swam fast with a 2:22.69 in prelims.

Australia is looking to defend its 2008 gold medal in the women's 800 free relay, and they qualified first in today's prelims. The United States was second with the team of Lauren Perdue, Shannon Vreeland, Alyssa Anderson and Dana Vollmer. Vollmer didn't put much effort into the heat, which would suggest that she's already been hand-picked to swim in the final with Allison Schmitt and Missy Franklin. The other swimmer to race in the final might be Vreeland, who split a 1:57.04. That would be a major boost for Vreeland, swimming in not only her first Olympics, but first major international meet after being a key performer for the University of Georgia in the past two years.

Tonight's finals will feature James Magnussen trying to back up not only his world championship in the 100 free, but his 47.10 from the Australian Trials. Kathleen Hersey will attempt to become the fourth American to win gold in the Olympics in the 200 fly, and Kosuke Kitajima will get one more chance to be that first male swimmer to win the same event three times at the Olympics in the 200 breast final.

We'll have complete race recaps and analysis for you on swimmingworld.com.

The Chinese keep rolling through the diving competition, having now won three gold medals. The most recent one came in the women's platform synchro, where Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao won by 25 points. Mexico won another silver medal, this time by Alejandra Orozco and Paola Espinosa. And Canada continues to do well in diving with another bronze, as Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito took third. Today features the final of the men's three-meter synchro, which features the Chinese duo of Luo Yutong and Qin Kai, as well as Americans Troy Dumais and Kristian Ipsen.

Men's water polo saw a lot of controversy yesterday. Spanish player Ivan Perez scored a goal in the final minutes but the referee disallowed it, causing Croatia to win 8-7. Spain is protesting the decision to FINA, which has already overturned a major decision in the pool with reinstating Tae Hwan Park in the 400 free final. The United States and Romania were quite physical in their match, drawing two red cards, and the US was able to win 10-8, their second win of the tournament.

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