By Stephen J. Thomas
ATHENS, Greece August 14. MICHAEL Phelps had little trouble qualifying for the top slot in the 400 IM as the 2004 Olympic Games began.
He pushed through the first three legs in 3:12.52 (his WR-split 3:10.75), then noticeably coasted through the final 100 meters of freestyle to touch just under a full second ahead of his most likely rival, Hungarian Laszlo Cseh, silver medalist from Barcelona, who was second fastest in a quality 4:14.26.
World number two in 2004, Italian Alessio Boggiatto was third fastest, taking out the third heat in 4:15.78 and heading Japan’s Jiro Miki, who took the fourth spot in 4:16.32. The home crowd gave local boy Ioannis Kokkodis a real lift when he smashed his national record to take fifth spot in 4:16.56.
Tunisian Oussama Mellouli, bronze medallist from last year’s World Champs was next through in 4:16.68, tying for sixth with the USA’s Erik Vendt. Mellouli and Vendt were teammates and training partners at USC.
Aussie rookie Travis Nederpelt took the last spot for the final, just outside his best, in 4:16.77. The other more experienced Aussie, Justin Norris, missed out in eleventh place.
Phelps who will begin his attempt to equal or better Mark Spitz's record seven gold medal effort at the 1972 Olympics, dominated the final heat with teammate Erik Vendt taken second place.
After his heat Phelps said of his race, “I was glad the meet has finally started, I felt comfortable and in control. I’m not worried about the time tonight. I just want to get my hand on the wall first.”
RESULTS
DAY ONE Prelims: August 14, 2004
Men 400m Individual Medley Heats
Record Splits Name NOC Location Date
WR 4:08.41 55.66 1:57.85 3:10.75 PHELPS Michael USA Long Beach (USA) 07 JUL 2004
OR 4:11.76 58.02 2:01.12 3:13.06 DOLAN Tom USA Sydney (AUS) 17 SEP 2000
Event No: 1
Rank Heat Lane Name NOC R.T. Time Time
Behind
1 5 4 PHELPS Michael USA 0.78 4:13.29
29.48
50m 26.41
100m 55.88
29.47 150m 1:27.24
31.36 200m 1:58.35
31.11 250m 2:35.16
36.81 300m 3:12.52
37.36 350m 3:43.81
31.29
2 4 4 CSEH Laszlo HUN 0.84 4:14.26
29.48 0.97
50m 27.37
100m 58.26
30.89 150m 1:30.55
32.29 200m 2:01.66
31.11 250m 2:37.75
36.09 300m 3:13.60
35.85 350m 3:44.78
31.18
3 3 4 BOGGIATTO Alessio ITA 0.84 4:15.78
29.30 2.49
50m 27.86
100m 58.40
30.54 150m 1:31.44
33.04 200m 2:03.29
31.85 250m 2:39.52
36.23 300m 3:15.48
35.96 350m 3:46.48
31.00
4 3 5 MIKI Jiro JPN 0.67 4:16.32
29.17 3.03
50m 27.07
100m 57.80
30.73 150m 1:31.00
33.20 200m 2:03.48
32.48 250m 2:39.66
36.18 300m 3:16.50
36.84 350m 3:47.15
30.65
5 3 7 KOKKODIS Ioannis GRE 0.94 4:16.56
29.51 3.27
50m 27.60
100m 59.05
31.45 150m 1:32.37
33.32 200m 2:04.93
32.56 250m 2:40.32
35.39 300m 3:16.39
36.07 350m 3:47.05
30.66
6 4 3 MELLOULI Oussama TUN 0.77 4:16.68
28.86 3.39
50m 27.44
100m 58.26
30.82 150m 1:31.82
33.56 200m 2:04.17
32.35 250m 2:41.22
37.05 300m 3:18.05
36.83 350m 3:47.82
29.77
6 5 5 VENDT Erik USA 0.63 4:16.68
29.49 3.39
50m 27.23
100m 57.85
30.62 150m 1:30.74
32.89 200m 2:02.52
31.78 250m 2:39.16
36.64 300m 3:16.04
36.88 350m 3:47.19
31.15
8 5 6 NEDERPELT Travis AUS 0.80 4:16.77
28.76 3.48
50m 26.73
100m 57.28
30.55 150m 1:32.01
34.73 200m 2:06.56
34.55 250m 2:42.24
35.68 300m 3:17.66
35.42 350m 3:48.01
30.35
9 4 2 DRYMONAKOS Ioannis GRE 0.74 4:16.83
29.17 3.54
50m 27.03
100m 57.66
30.63 150m 1:31.38
33.72 200m 2:04.62
33.24 250m 2:41.08
36.46 300m 3:17.76
36.68 350m 3:47.66
29.90
10 4 5 MARIN Luca ITA 0.96 4:16.85
28.66 3.56
50m 27.95
100m 58.96
31.01 150m 1:32.11
33.15 200m 2:04.30
32.19 250m 2:41.16
36.86 300m 3:17.69
36.53 350m 3:48.19
30.50
11 5 3 NORRIS Justin AUS 0.81 4:16.90
28.90 3.61
50m 26.97
100m 56.92
29.95 150m 1:31.41
34.49 200m 2:04.89
33.48 250m 2:40.75
35.86 300m 3:16.71
35.96 350m 3:48.00
31.29
12 4 7 FRANCIS Robin GBR 0.91 4:18.34
30.72 5.05
50m 27.49
100m 58.60
31.11 150m 1:31.71
33.11 200m 2:04.67
32.96 250m 2:39.60
34.93 300m 3:16.36
36.76 350m 3:47.62
31.26
13 2 2 KENT Dean NZL 0.74 4:18.55
30.15 5.26
50m 27.40
100m 58.64
31.24 150m 1:32.56
33.92 200m 2:05.75
33.19 250m 2:41.34
35.59 300m 3:17.42
36.08 350m 3:48.40
30.98
14 3 6 WU Peng CHN 0.80 4:19.32
29.44 6.03
50m 27.04
100m 57.61
30.57 150m 1:31.01
33.40 200m 2:03.66
32.65 250m 2:41.08
37.42 300m 3:19.52
38.44 350m 3:49.88
30.36
15 5 2 JOHNS Brian CAN 0.80 4:21.10
31.00 7.81
50m 27.57
100m 58.72
31.15 150m 1:32.20
33.48 200m 2:05.15
32.95 250m 2:41.76
36.61 300m 3:18.95
37.19 350m 3:50.10
31.15
16 5 7 BEAVERS Keith CAN 0.72 4:21.47
30.19 8.18
50m 28.01
100m 59.18
31.17 150m 1:32.32
33.14 200m 2:04.69
32.37 250m 2:42.23
37.54 300m 3:20.15
37.92 350m 3:51.28
31.13
17 3 2 PEREIRA Thiago BRA 0.81 4:22.06
31.61 8.77
50m 26.72
100m 57.80
31.08 150m 1:30.53
32.73 200m 2:03.27
32.74 250m 2:40.43
37.16 300m 3:18.32
37.89 350m 3:50.45
32.13
18 3 3 TABUCHI Susumu JPN 0.85 4:22.46
31.12 9.17
50m 27.50
100m 57.85
30.35 150m 1:30.77
32.92 200m 2:03.75
32.98 250m 2:40.82
37.07 300m 3:19.72
38.90 350m 3:51.34
31.62
19 3 1 SALATTA Lucas BRA 0.76 4:23.01
30.65 9.72
50m 26.67
100m 57.50
30.83 150m 1:30.66
33.16 200m 2:03.25
32.59 250m 2:41.88
38.63 300m 3:21.43
39.55 350m 3:52.36
30.93
20 2 1 KIM Bang-Hyun KOR 0.86 4:23.05
30.52 9.76
50m 28.46
100m 1:00.01
31.55 150m 1:34.16
34.15 200m 2:07.82
33.66 250m 2:44.75
36.93 300m 3:22.23
37.48 350m 3:52.53
30.30
21 5 1 BEREZUTSKIY Igor RUS 0.85 4:23.20
30.35 9.91
50m 27.47
100m 58.84
31.37 150m 1:33.16
34.32 200m 2:06.21
33.05 250m 2:43.67
37.46 300m 3:21.69
38.02 350m 3:52.85
31.16
22 2 4 KNOWLES Jeremy Daniel BAH 0.75 4:23.29
30.21 10.00
50m 27.90
100m 59.32
31.42 150m 1:34.39
35.07 200m 2:08.20
33.81 250m 2:44.55
36.35 300m 3:21.95
37.40 350m 3:53.08
31.13
23 4 6 TURNER Adrian GBR 0.83 4:23.53
30.64 10.24
50m 27.58
100m 58.80
31.22 150m 1:33.47
34.67 200m 2:06.89
33.42 250m 2:43.82
36.93 300m 3:21.30
37.48 350m 3:52.89
31.59
24 5 8 KOVRIGIN Alexey RUS 0.87 4:23.77
30.05 10.48
50m 27.68
100m 59.22
31.54 150m 1:32.84
33.62 200m 2:05.34
32.50 250m 2:43.88
38.54 300m 3:22.66
38.78 350m 3:53.72
31.06
25 2 6 ALLY Bradley BAR 0.88 4:24.70
31.02 11.41
50m 27.82
100m 58.65
30.83 150m 1:32.09
33.44 200m 2:05.22
33.13 250m 2:42.52
37.30 300m 3:20.85
38.33 350m 3:53.68
32.83
26 4 1 NAZARENKO Dmytro UKR 0.88 4:26.15
31.38 12.86
50m 28.16
100m 1:00.41
32.25 150m 1:34.49
34.08 200m 2:07.94
33.45 250m 2:44.76
36.82 300m 3:22.34
37.58 350m 3:54.77
32.43
27 2 7 JANUSAITIS Vytautas LTU 0.85 4:26.30
31.18 13.01
50m 28.27
100m 1:01.63
33.36 150m 1:35.84
34.21 200m 2:09.38
33.54 250m 2:46.32
36.94 300m 3:23.91
37.59 350m 3:55.12
31.21
28 4 8 LIU Weijia CHN 0.77 4:27.02
30.38 13.73
50m 27.74
100m 59.87
32.13 150m 1:34.68
34.81 200m 2:09.73
35.05 250m 2:46.80
37.07 300m 3:25.13
38.33 350m 3:56.64
31.51
29 2 5 PLATEL Yves SUI 0.78 4:28.94
31.58 15.65
50m 28.08
100m 59.86
31.78 150m 1:34.49
34.63 200m 2:08.64
34.15 250m 2:46.29
37.65 300m 3:24.79
38.50 350m 3:57.36
32.57
30 2 8 DEICMANS Guntars LAT 0.87 4:29.17
31.50 15.88
50m 28.21
100m 1:00.63
32.42 150m 1:35.48
34.85 200m 2:09.60
34.12 250m 2:47.29
37.69 300m 3:25.45
38.16 350m 3:57.67
32.22
31 3 8 MILENKOVIC Marko SLO 0.81 4:30.99
31.01 17.70
50m 28.26
100m 1:00.68
32.42 150m 1:34.60
33.92 200m 2:08.39
33.79 250m 2:47.94
39.55 300m 3:27.73
39.79 350m 3:59.98
32.25
32 1 4 IMPRIC Sasa CRO 0.76 4:32.02
31.84 18.73
50m 28.62
100m 1:00.73
32.11 150m 1:35.72
34.99 200m 2:09.76
34.04 250m 2:48.22
38.46 300m 3:28.02
39.80 350m 4:00.18
32.16
33 1 5 MACKAY Andrew CAY 0.66 4:32.38
29.84 19.09
50m 28.84
100m 1:01.79
32.95 150m 1:37.31
35.52 200m 2:12.28
34.97 250m 2:51.08
38.80 300m 3:30.92
39.84 350m 4:02.54
31.62
34 2 3 MOLINA Miguel PHI 0.70 4:33.25
34.89 19.96
50m 27.64
100m 58.75
31.11 150m 1:33.31
34.56 200m 2:07.52
34.21 250m 2:44.77
37.25 300m 3:23.33
38.56 350m 3:58.36
35.03
35 1 6 LIN Yu-An TPE 0.66 4:41.76
32.45 28.47
50m 28.49
100m 1:01.72
33.23 150m 1:38.66
36.94 200m 2:14.98
36.32 250m 2:55.28
40.30 300m 3:36.28
41.00 350m 4:09.31
33.03
36 1 3 POLYAKOV Nikita UZB 0.87 5:09.66
34.11 56.37
50m 29.78
100m 1:04.70
34.92 150m 1:45.82
41.12 200m 2:26.39
40.57 250m 3:13.96
47.57 300m 4:00.36
46.40 350m 4:35.55
35.19