Streamlined News: Boston Marathon, Competition Updates

PHOENIX, Arizona, April 19. THE manhunt for one of the suspects that was involved in the bombings at the Boston Marathon continues, and we are learning that he was a lifeguard at Harvard University a few years ago. Media reports say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did not seem like a violent person while he was a lifeguard and seemed to fit in at Harvard. The other suspect, Tsarnaev's older brother, was gunned down last night in a police shootout.

Let's turn our attention to the pool, where South Africa's world championship trials have produced four qualifiers for the Barcelona meet so far. Cameron van der Burgh did so on Monday in the 100 breast, and today, three others joined him. First Chad le Clos locked up the 200 fly qualification today with a 1:56.3, then Myles Brown got under the cut in the 800 free with a 7:58.6, and Roland Schoeman used the first 50 meters of his 100 free race today to get himself on the roster. His time of 22.19 should get him to the meet if Swimming South Africa allows the time, but if not, Schoeman will have the opportunity to swim it again in the actual 50 free tomorrow.

After seeing two national records fall yesterday, Russia's nationals were relatively quiet today, but still featured some fast swimming. Vyacheslav Sinkevich couldn't break 2:09 today in the 200 breast, but did put up the second-fastest swim of the year with a 2:09.00. And Vlad Morozov just missed his new record in the 50 back by three hundredths of a second with a 24.83. Nikolay Skvortsov put himself at the top of the world rankings, winning the 200 butterfly with a 1:55.70. Anastasia Zueva, still recovering from a broken foot, was able to win the 100 back today with a 1:00.24 to earn a spot on the world championship team.

Australia doesn't start its world championship trials until next Friday, but two big news items have gained the world's attention today. First, Swimming Australia has announced that the six members of the Olympic men's 400 free relay that misbehaved at a pre-Olympic training camp last year will be fined an undisclosed amount and serve a deferred suspension. Five of those six swimmers — James Magnussen, James Roberts, Cameron McEvoy, Tomas D'Orsogna and Matt Targett — will compete in next week's meet. Eamon Sullivan is taking some time off to heal from surgery.

Also in Australia news, Ian Thorpe will not be competing at the world championship trials, saying he doesn't believe he'll be in the condition needed to challenge for a spot on the world team. Thorpe had hinted as much back in January when he said his focus is shifting to the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Thorpe has also been hit with a $100,000 funding cut from Swimming Australia, though it's not clear how that will affect his training plans.

The Bergen Swim Festival began today in Norway, and the meet is serving as a tribute to the late Alex Dale Oen, who passed away almost a year ago. A few of Dale Oen's rivals and friends will attend the meet, including Cameron van der Burgh, who visited his good friend's gravesite yesterday. Daniel Gyurta, who lived up to his promise to offer the Dale Oen family a special medal in Alex's honor, will be racing in Norway, as well as British breaststrokers Michael Jamieson and Andrew Willis. Katinka Hosszu will be swimming as well, racing in just about every event on the schedule.

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