.jpg)
By John Lohn
OMAHA, Nebraska, June 30. DURING the morning preliminaries, Natalie Coughlin and Hayley McGregory put on a show, posting back-to-back world-record swims in the 100 backstroke. At night, they weren't as quick. Nonetheless, the American women still looked pretty sharp in the two-lap backstroke.
Winning the first semifinal, McGregory corralled the top seed for tomorrow's final as she was timed in 59.48. McGregory went 59.15 in the morning and a return to that time is likely with a berth to Beijing on the line. As for Coughlin, she won the second semifinal in 59.74, off the world record of 59.03 from the morning.
"This felt a little bit different tonight," McGregory said. "I am just looking forward to tomorrow to see what I can do with Natalie next to me."
While McGregory and Coughlin look to be the favorites for Olympic spots, Margaret Hoelzer cannot be counted out of the picture. The world champ in the 200 backstroke, Hoelzer clocked 59.79 to finish just behind Coughlin in the semifinals. With her tremendous closing ability, expect Hoelzer to make a push for a spot.
Grabbing the fourth position for the championship heat was Lauren Rogers, who checked in with a swim of 1:00.76. She was followed by Elizabeth Beisel in 1:00.87 and Presley Bard was sixth in 1:00.92. Bard had to win a swimoff just to reach the semifinals. The rest of the field for the final will include Katie Riefenstahl (1:01.12) and Leila Vaziri (1:01.40).
Video Footage Removed Due to NBC Restrictions
Go to Swimming World's 2008 Olympics Landing Page for the most comprehensive coverage of the meet on the Internet.
