By Kari Lydersen
The 50 free event got off to a fast start in prelims, with the top three qualifiers tying or beating Matt Biondi's former Olympic Trials record (22.12) from 1992.
Gary Hall Jr., second in the 100 free last night, qualified first with a new Trials record of 21.93. He is only .12 off Tom Jager's American record from 1990.
Second qualifier was Neil Walker, who won the 100 free, in 22.05. Third was 19-year-old Anthony Ervin, tying the old record in 22.12.
"It felt good for a morning swim," said Walker, 24. "The 50 is really hard to swim in the morning, particularly as the first event, because it's tough to get going. In the night time you can really put all your energy into it. It's going to be a fast race tonight. Gary swam really well this morning, and I'm sure he'll go faster each time he swims."
Fourth qualifier was Jason Lezak (22.47), followed by defending World Champion Bill Pilczuk (22.65), Matt Macedo (22.80), John Stratman (22.83), Aaron Ciarla (22.88), Greg Busse (23.02), Christian Hasbach (23.02), Coley Stickels (23.08), Shaun Zitani (23.13), Justin Ewers (23.15), 35-year-old John Miranda (23.19), Sabir Muhammad (23.22) and Matt Weghorst (23.22).
For live results feeds check the OMEGA TIMING site.
Full results and schedule of events are available from US Swimming
