ATHENS, Greece, August 15. EACH afternoon Swiminfo<\/b> will be posting the heat sheets for the day\u2019s events at the Olympic Games in Athens. Be sure to check them out so you have the best information provided to make your medal predictions! Enjoy Swiminfo\u2019s<\/b> coverage of the 2004 Olympic Games and be sure to check back frequently to get all the action from Athens!! <\/p>\n
Here's what to watch for tonight:<\/p>\n
Women's 100 meter backstroke semifinals<\/b>
\nNatalie Coughlin takes command, possibly with a sub-one minute effort. France's Manaudou hangs tough. Haley Cope makes it into the final along with Germany's Antje Buschschulte.<\/p>\n
Men's 200 meter freestyle semifinals<\/b>
\nThe Big 5 should all advance, although Hackett's morning swim was a bit shaky. Hoogie and Thorpe should be shooting for the top seed at around 1:45-high to 1:46-low. Phelps, Keller and Hackett all advance into tomorrow's final.<\/p>\n
Women's 100 meter fly final<\/b>
\nOff their first two swims, I think this race should go to Aussie Petria Thomas over Inge de Bruijn, with Inky going out hard and trying to hold off a fast-cosing Thomas. Moravcova and Jedrezecjak battle for bronze.<\/p>\n
Men's 100 meter breaststroke final<\/b>
\nThis should be a two-man race between the USA's Brendan Hansen and Japan's Kosuke Kitajima. Hansen has a definite edge, but this is no cinch. Kitajima has promised his country a gold medal and the Japanese team is swimming well. the USA's Mark Gangloff has a good shot at a bronze.<\/p>\n
Women's 100 meter breaststroke semifinals<\/b>
\nWhat I saw as a five-woman race is still a five-womaan race, but there's been a switch. It's still the two Aussies and two Yanks, but Germany's Sarah Poewe has replaced China's Luo Xuejuan as a potential medalist. This looks to me like Leisel Jones' race…unless she blows it in tomorrow's final.<\/p>\n
Men's 100 meter backstroke semifinals<\/b>
\nThe US is hoping for a 1-2 sweep behind Aaron Peirsol and Lenny Krayzelburg. Challengers to watch: Welsh (AUS), Morita (JPN) and Rogan (AUT).<\/p>\n
Women's 400 meter freestyle final<\/b>
\nThis remains a wide-open race, though France's Manaudou seems to be the Real Deal. If I have to pick a winner I'd go with the French girl. Major challengers include Japan's Ai Shibata, Poland's Otylia J. and, of course, the USA's own Energizer Bunny, Kaitlin Sandeno.<\/p>\n
Men's 400 meter freestyle relay<\/b>
\nThe US should win this one, but South Africa was very impressive in prelims. Will Phelps make the difference for the US team? Will he swim faster than Gary Hall did this morning? This looks to be a two-team race, though the Russians, defending world champs, might make it close.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ATHENS, Greece, August 15. EACH afternoon Swiminfo will be posting the heat sheets for the day\u2019s events at the Olympic Games in Athens. Be sure to check them out so<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n