By John Lohn<\/p>\n
MELBOURNE, Australia, March 25. RACING in back-to-back preliminary heats, the final two of the 200 freestyle, the Netherlands' Pieter van den Hoogenband and the United States' Michael Phelps put up quality swims in this much-anticipated event. Yes, just because Ian Thorpe has retired and there won't be a rerun of Athens, doesn't mean the 200 free is lacking in the hype department.<\/p>\n
In the 14th heat, van den Hoogenband pushed the pace from the start and held on for a mark of 1:47.36, just enough to turn back South Korean Tae Hwan Park. Van den Hoogenband, of course, was the 2000 Olympic champ and earned the silver medal at the 2004 Games. However, he did not race at the World Champs in 2005 due to his recovery from hernia surgery.<\/p>\n
As for Phelps, he handled his preliminary in different fashion. Among the leaders throughout the race, Phelps blew away the field on the closing lap to touch the wall in 1:47.52. Phelps is the defending world champ and was the bronze medalist to van den Hoogenband in Athens. That race in Athens featured Thorpe winning gold.<\/p>\n
One night after winning the 400 freestyle, Park nearly caught van den Hoogenband in their preliminary. The Korean teenager turned on the jets in the closing stages, the same way he did in the 400 free, and registered the third-fastest time of the morning, an effort of 1:47.58. Park was followed by Aussie Kenrick Monk (1:48.00), Italy's Nicola Cassio (1:48.32) and France's Amaury Leveaux (1:48.35).<\/p>\n
There were some notable struggles in the prelims, as American Klete Keller and Great Britain's Simon Burnett did not advance to the semifinals. Keller, who also failed to reach the 400 free final, was 18th in 1:49.58 while Burnett had an abysmal performance and took 25th in 1:50.11.<\/p>\n