2004 Olympic Swimming Trials

:screams: Yes! Yes! YESSS!!! Thank you for that wonderful tip, Mark!!! I WILL BE THERE! I tell ya, this site gets better and better and makes me feel proud to be a Masters Swimmer!

Oh, no doubt, Swimr4life! I say dedicated swimmers are like wine, the older they get, the better they become. I don't exactly have a favorite swimmer (yet) but these events will be worth watching. I'm so excited that I've marked my calendar to remind me of these upcoming events. Much better than Monday Night Football, yes sir, MUCH BETTER!

I'm getting very stoked for Trials! Check out the psych sheets on usaswimming.org. There are going to be some great races. Here are a few to watch. Men's 100 fly: Phelps and Crocker will have a dog fight, but could Ben Michaelson sneak in there? A false start, a bad turn, or just a phenomenal swim by Ben and this could be very interesting. Women's 400 IM: The top three seeds are Bowen, Hoff and Sandeno. Two relative veterans and a young up-and-comer. We'll probably see several lead changes. Men's 200 free: Phelps should win, but with relay spots at stake the next several spots should be exciting. A few guys in there are Keller, Dusing, Davis, Goldblatt and Carvin. Women's 100 ***: This could be the event of the meet. Amanda Beard is the top seed, and I think will win, but right on her heels are Quann, Kirk, Kowal, Stitts and a couple more not far off the pace. Men's 100 back: Lots of fast swimmers. Peirsol and Krayzelburg have to be the favorites, but look out for Bal and Marshall plus the old-timers Neil Walker and Jeff Rouse! Women's 200 fly: three way race between Sandeno, Dana Kirk, and Mary Descenza. Women's 800 free: several women could contend. Good mix of veterans and youngsters. Diana Munz was 2nd at last summer's World Championships, so is the favorite. Kalyn Keller had a phenomenal college season and would be my pick for the second spot, but Peirsol, Sandeno and Binder could also be in the hunt. And what about Brooke Bennett? She's the defending Olympic gold medalist, but is coming back from surgery and hasn't really swam well for a while. Can she contend? Both 50s should be good, of course, plus the men's 1500 could be interesting. I'm very skeptical that Chris Thompson can contend due to his recent injury, but stranger things have happened! Just about every other event will be good. The big national story will probably be Michael Phelps, but for the real fan there will be many other stories.

I'm pulling for Amanda Weir in the 50, 100 and 200 free!! She swam the 2nd fastest US time ever in the 100 free at the Pan Am games. She swims at my home pool. She is not only a phenomenal swimmer but she is a VERY humble, sweet girl. GO Amanda!

Originally posted by swimr4life I'm pulling for Amanda Weir in the 50, 100 and 200 free!! She swam the 2nd fastest US time ever in the 100 free at the Pan Am games. She swims at my home pool. She is not only a phenomenal swimmer but she is a VERY humble, sweet girl. GO Amanda! Another swimmer with Georgia connections (freshman at UGA last season) who could do some damage in those same events is Kara Lynn Joyce. She looked outstanding at NCAAs.

Yes! She is definitely a contender too. I would LOVE it if they went 1-2 in any of those events!

Dcarson, it inspires me that so many swimmers are continuing to swim and IMPROVE well into their thirties! I think it would send a great message to the world for a "old" swimmer to do well at the Olympics.

Being from the Baltimore area, there's no doubt who we'll be pulling for. (And I missed seeing him beat his own record for the 200 'fly on June 14th. #%^@%!) Trials ought to be interesting in the very least.

I'm pulling for anyone 30 and older! :) There are quite a few excellent veteran Olympians that have a great shot at making the team.

I'm lucky enough to swim at Germantown Academy, where *** Shoulberg has been training Maddie Crippen and Erica Hansen (former Olympians both). And Erica is 34 YEARS OLD!!!! Both are lovely people and Erica has amazed us all (inasmuch as I'm old as dirt, I'm especially impressed by Erica's dedication to hard-core training). Fran Crippen has a shot at some of the distance events, so don't count him out either. I also know someone who had the misfortune of qualifying in the 100 fly (another Shoulberg swimmer) for whom the next week or so will be largely academic because of the Phelps/Crocker dogfight. Thanks for the schedule. Kathy