Hansen's disaster should have been front page headlines in the Philly Inquirer and his home county paper but they weren't. It was the back cover headline in his hometown county paper. The headline was "Bren-Done". But, yet, it was probably breaking news in Tokyo. I don't get American papers.
I am still in disbelief because he is a fellow former Suburbanite that I have alot of respect for. But, I guess that there is a reason for these mishaps in Hansen's stellar career. First, he got third in both breaststrokes in 2000 Trials. Then, missing the gold in Athens because the judges didn't DQ what his face in the 100 ***. Now, this wash out in the 200 ***.
Andrea (and I'm not saying she's good) is much better than Jim Gray, NBC's former poolside/trackside guy. He did two types of interviews: velociraptor and buttkisser. You could always tell right away which mode he was in...
Women I am very surprised that did not make the team:
Tara Kirk
Dana Vollmer
Amanda Weir - after her performance in 06
Kara Lynn Joyce - she's still got a shot in the 50 though
Whitney Myers
Kaitlin Sandeno
I cannot believe all of these incredibly talented girls that have rocked in the last three years missed out ... what a brutal sport.
It looked to me like Hansen gave up the last 15 meters even though he disputed that in his interview.
He really faded terribly. I'm sure we can all appreciate it. No matter how well prepared you are sometimes you just don't have it on that day--assuming your name isn't Phelps, anyway.
Ande: yeah, with the Hansen upset, Hoff missing finals in the 100 free wasn't even mentioned. Perhaps she bit off a little more than she could chew this week?
swimnetwork.com/.../day_5_finals_recap-14718.html
In the first semi-final, Michael Phelps provided a strong but conservative effort as the only swimmer under two minutes, touching in 1:58.05. The second semi-final saw Ryan Lochte easily stride away from the heat, winning 1:57.57. This sets up setting up a reprisal of the 400 IM matchup with Phelps tomorrow night. Of note, Eric Shanteau, fresh off qualifying for the Olympic Team in the 200m Breaststroke, qualified for tomorrow's final in 2:00.74.
