Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin are expected to emerge as major swimming stars in the Athens Olympics. They're taking different approaches to getting there.
Phelps will swim six individual events at the US Olympic trials beginning Wednesday in a temporary pool built on a parking lot along the Long Beach shoreline. His goal is to break Mark Spitz's record 32-year-old record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics.
"I'm very in awe of the confidence he has in himself," Coughlin said of Phelps. "I think he's going to do very well with all this pressure."
Coughlin's approach is less hectic. She'll focus on making her first Olympic team in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and, just for fun, the 50m free.
The top two finishers in each event are guaranteed trips to Athens.
Coughlin, who dominated college swimming when she starred at California, is limited by the schedule. She didn't want to be swimming a semifinal heat of one event just 12 minutes before a final in another, so she is skipping the 200m back and the 100m butterfly.
``The Olympic trials are filled with stress and anxiety,'' said Coughlin, who was coming off an injury and failed to make the team in 2000.
At the trials, Phelps will attempt to make the team in the 200m and 400m individual medley, which is comprised of all four strokes (freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke and backstroke). He's also scheduled to swim the 100m and 200m fly, the 200m free and the 200m backstroke.
In Athens, he hopes to swim two or three relays, which could add to his potential medal haul.
Phelps will be in the pool for seven of the meet's eight days, including five when he's got to take part in both the morning and evening sessions.
"He's got a difficult task ahead of him," said Ian Crocker, who upset Phelps while setting a world record in the 100m fly at last year's world championships. "There's a lot of people standing in his way."
But the 19-year-old from Baltimore isn't daunted by the pressure or the constant scrutiny.
"I'm extremely confident," Phelps said Tuesday. "The biggest thing is staying relaxed."
Spitz, who has never met Phelps, is pulling for the teenager to break the record.
"I have a feeling of empathy for him," Spitz said. "I hope he does it. It won't take away from anything I've done."
Phelps was the youngest member of the Olympic swim team in 2000. He didn't earn any medals in Sydney.
Phelps and Coughlin are swimming's newest rising stars. They'll be joined at the trials by several veterans trying to make yet another Olympic team. Among them:
-- Jenny Thompson, 31, who already owns a record 10 Olympic medals, but is still seeking her first individual gold.
-- Brooke Bennett, the two-time defending Olympic champion in the 800m freestyle, who has kept a low profile while rehabilitating from operations on both shoulders in 2001.
-- Jeff Rouse, the 1992 Olympic champion in the 100m backstroke, is making a comeback at 34 after seven years out of the pool.
-- Gary Hall Jr., the Olympic 50m free champion, will try to join his father as a three-time Olympian, which hasn't been done before.
-- Amanda Beard, the darling of the Atlanta Games as a 14-year-old who won a gold and two silver medals, will try to make her third Olympic team.
The trials are being held for the first time in a portable pool.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS