Hansen's flop takes edge off Kitajima clash

2008-7-5  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

BRENDAN Hansen's failure to qualify for an Olympic spot in the 200 metres breaststroke at the US swim trials on Thursday provided a shock that was felt all the way to Japan.

An Olympic rematch between Hansen and Japan's double Athens gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima was expected to provide one of swimming's most intriguing storylines at the Beijing pool.

But the showdown will now be limited to the 100 after Hansen once again failed to deliver at the big event, finishing fourth.

After winning the 100 on Monday, Hansen had confidently looked forward to reclaiming his 200 world record from Kitajima and atoning for a poor effort at the Athens Olympics.

Instead it will be Scott Spann and Eric Shanteau offering up the American challenge in the 200, after both men stormed past their training partner to secure their first Olympic berths.

Hansen has three of the top five times ever in the event and secured a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics.

But that all counts for nothing at the cut-throat US trials where only the top two finishers earn Olympic berths.

"I tried to stay with Brendan then really attack the last 50," Spann said.

"The last 15 metres I got so tired but all I could think of in my head was this is summing up four years these last strokes and I touched the wall and was really surprised I won."

A top two finish would have sent Hansen to Beijing with a second chance to grab the gold medals that slipped through his fingers four years ago in Athens.

After setting world records in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the US trials in 2004, Hansen headed to Greece as the red-hot favorite but it was Kitajima who returned home with double Olympic gold, while the American settled for silver and bronze.

"I don't know what went wrong, I came to the pool tonight and I didn't have a very good feeling," a stunned Hansen said. "I did my best, I gave everything in the pool tonight, I left it all out there. It wasn't there. It just wasn't my day ... "I'm going to show these guys what they need to do beat him (Kitajima) because if I can't do it I'm going to make sure that they do."

"He just didn't come home like he usually does," said good friend Aaron Peirsol, the fastest in the 200 backstroke semifinals.

"That's just kind of the cruel nature of this meet," Coughlin added. "We've all been there at some point and it's really difficult to watch."

Katie Hoff, who already had qualified for four individual events and one relay, failed to advance out of the semifinals of the 100 freestyle, denying her a chance to go for as many as eight medals at the Olympics.

But Hoff putting up the 11th-best time against a field that also included two-time Olympic gold medalist Natalie Coughlin and 41-year-old Dara Torres wasn't all that surprising - the 100 was by far the longest shot on the 19-year-old's grueling program.