McGregory now with Michael Phelps' club

Ex-Bowie, UT swimmer McGregory now with Michael Phelps' club Former world record-holder points to London Olympics. By John Maher AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Tuesday, January 20, 2009 The swimming odyssey of Hayley McGregory, the best American swimmer not to go to the 2008 Summer Olympics, has taken her to the home pool of Michael Phelps, the winner of eight gold medals in Beijing. "Michael was supposed to be coming back every day, but he isn't here yet," laughed McGregory, who has been training at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club for the past three weeks. Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, recently formed a business partnership to run the club they helped to make famous. Their plans include creating a training site for about one dozen professional, post-collegiate swimmers. In December, the club received a $100,000 grant from the United States Olympic Committee to help toward that goal. In addition to Phelps and Katie Hoff, another Olympian and North Baltimore star, Bowman has added McGregory and Nick Thoman to North Baltimore's stable of swimmers. "I think she has great potential. Everyone saw what she did last summer," Bowman said of McGregory, a Bowie High graduate who also swam for the University of Texas. McGregory and Thoman, a backstroker who competed for the University of Arizona, dramatically dropped their times in 2008 while working with former Longhorn Aquatics coach Randy Reese. McGregory set a world record in the 100-meter backstroke, and Thoman barely missed doing the same. Both swimmers followed Reese to Florida late last summer, when Reese left Austin to direct the Clearwater Aquatics club. Less than two months later, however, McGregory and Thoman moved on to Baltimore. "Randy and I just decided to go our separate ways," said McGregory, who has competed for several clubs, two high schools and two universities (Texas and Southern California) in a roller-coaster career. The 6-foot McGregory is now pointing to the world championships in Rome this summer and the 2012 Olympics. The London Games would be a homecoming for McGregory, who was born there 23 years ago — if she can finally make the U.S. team. She has come agonizingly close to accomplishing that goal four times at the past two United States Olympic swim trials. Last summer in Omaha, McGregory again finished third in both the 100- and 200-meter backstroke events, just as she did in 2004. Unfortunately for McGregory, her best swim at the 2008 trials came in the preliminaries of the 100 backstroke, when she broke Natalie Coughlin's world record with a 59.15-second time. That mark lasted for all of two minutes as Coughlin sprinted to a 59.03 in the next heat. "I really didn't want her to have it for very long," Coughlin said at the time. In the final, Coughlin lowered her world record to 58.97 seconds, while McGregory's time of 59.42 was only good enough for third place behind Margaret Hoelzer. A stunned McGregory hung on her lane rope while Coughlin paddled across McGregory's lane to give Hoelzer a congratulatory hug. With her best event gone, McGregory tried to regroup for the 200 backstroke, but she finished third behind Hoelzer and teenager Elizabeth Beisel. In Omaha, McGregory was one of six U.S. swimmers to set a world record. The other five went on to win 23 medals, 11 of them gold, in Beijing while McGregory was left to once again ponder what might have been. Her talent has been undeniable since her high school days. In 2001, as a freshman, she was named the best Texas high school athlete in any sport, after winning the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke in the UIL state championships. She later transferred from Houston Lamar to Bowie, and in 2003 she led the Bulldogs to a state title. After her senior year at Bowie, McGregory went to the Olympic trials in Long Beach, Calif. Coughlin proved to be a lock for the top spot in the 100 back, and McGregory just missed out on the second slot, finishing 0.7 seconds behind Hayley Cope. In the 200 backstroke, McGregory came in third behind Hoelzer and Kristen Caverly. McGregory was a star recruit for the University of Texas, but she soon transferred to Southern California to work with coach Mark Schubert, only to see Schubert take a job overseeing the U.S. national team. After Schubert left USC, McGregory moved to Austin to train, then to Florida and now to Baltimore. She's looking for a university where she can complete her undergraduate degree. Of her most recent coaching change, McGregory said, "Both (Bowman and Reese) really grind you. They want you to be there and work hard. Bob is someone who walks up and down the deck a little more." "At the top" of her sport, she added, "very subtle changes can make big differences." In the backstroke, McGregory is probably without peer on top of the water, with her long arms breaking the surface in almost a straight line, as if she were being reeled in by a pulley. "She has excellent technique with the way she places her hands," Bowman said. Her Achilles' heel has been her underwater dolphin kick — a strength of Coughlin's — and her turns. "She's not strong going into or coming out of a turn. That's not a good combination," Bowman said. "You need to be good in at least one of those. We've tried to change her technique going into the wall, but old habits are hard to break." With Bowman, McGregory also will spend more time on sharpening her freestyle. In March she could possibly return to Austin for a Grand Prix event at the University of Texas. The summer will bring the trials for the U.S. team and the world championships in Rome. The ultimate goal for McGregory, however, remains the one she barely missed in 2004 and 2008: the Olympics. Although she could take an easier path by trying to qualify for Great Britain's team, McGregory said she will try to compete for the U.S. in the 2012 London Olympics. "I'd have my own cheering section. I have a lot of family there," she said. www.statesman.com/.../0120hayley.html