Flash! Hansen Destroys 100 Breaststroke World Record

By Sarah Tolar

LONG BEACH, Calif., July 8. TONIGHT Brendan Hansen avenged the hurts of the 2000 Olympic Trials in a big way.

Four years ago at this meet, he swam to a third place finish in not one, but both of his events. The experience has played and replayed in his head ever since. But it seems that what he once saw as the lowest point for in his life, has turned out t be the impetus for what, thus far, is the highlight. The disappointments of 2000 have helped him to achieve more than he ever thought possible.

He says, “After 2000, I was a man on a mission. The emotions and visual pictures from that meet haven’t left me in four years.”

Tonight, though, all that seemed long ago and far away. Tonight he blazed off the blocks to hit the turn at the 50 in 27.93, and never looked back. His new world record of 59.30 broke Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima‘s year-old record by almost half a second, and smashed his own American record by eight-tenths of a second.

Hansen adds,” It still hasn’t hit me yet. I expect that it probably won’t hit me until sometime tomorrow.”

Though Hansen dominated the field, there was a race for the second spot on the Olympic team. The swimmers on either side of Hansen, Mark Gangloff of Auburn Aquatics and Scott Usher of Wyoming Aquatics, touched at the 50 within two-tenths of each other. Gangloff used his two-tenth lead to hold off Usher, touching the wall with a time of 1:00.87 and solidifying a spot on the Olympic team for himself.

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