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    Posted on Sat, Jul. 05, 2008 10:15 PM

    Phelps faults time in butterfly

    OMAHA, Neb. | Michael Phelps completed what he called a “pretty decent” week by winning five of his six events and qualifying in all eight of his events for the Olympics.

    Phelps said he was disappointed Saturday night with his time in the 100-meter butterfly, which he won by nearly a second over runner-up Ian Crocker.

    “I knew about two or three strokes out that I wasn’t going to have the finish that I wanted,” he said. “I knew as soon as I picked the last stroke, that wasn’t the finish that I wanted. There are a few little things that I can work on between now and the Olympics.”

    Phelps said his turns and finishes must improve if he is to fulfill his goal of breaking Mark Spitz’s 36-year-old record of seven gold medals. Phelps was about 0.5 seconds off the world record time, set by Crocker in July 2005.

    “This week turned out how I wanted it to,” Phelps said. “I’m excited. I’m ready for the challenge that lies ahead of me.”

    Crocker qualified for the Olympic team with his second-place finish. It was his only chance after a slip-up earlier in the week; he was disqualified for a false start in the 100-meter freestyle preliminaries.

    Hall motivated by Torres

    The league of aging swimmers lost a member from this year’s Olympic team when 33-year-old Gary Hall failed to qualify Saturday in the 50-meter freestyle. Hall finished fourth, nearly a half-second behind winner Garrett Weber-Gale.

    The flamboyant Hall, who has won five gold medals in three Olympics, was the oldest male swimmer in last week’s meet. He said that after watching 41-year-old Dara Torres win the 100-meter freestyle on Friday — and qualify for the U.S. team — he thought that his career might not be over either.

    “It’s definitely expanded the horizon of possibilities,” he said. “I’m not saying I will do this. I’m looking forward to getting back and spending some time with my family now.”

    Torres had the best time in the 50-meter freestyle semifinals Saturday. She will be the top seed in tonight’s final and will try to qualify in her second event.

    Bollier comes up short

    Mission Hills’ Bobby Bollier finished sixth in the 100-meter butterfly, 1.8 seconds behind Phelps.

    The 18-year-old Kansas City Blazers swimmer failed to qualify in any of his three events last week but said he was not discouraged.

    “I’m pretty happy,” he said.

    Another world record

    Margaret Hoelzer got a great surge off the wall heading into her third lap in the 200 backstroke then closed strong to finish in 2:06.09, beating the record of 2:06.39.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

     

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