The Day 2 finals of the Beijing Olympic Games started out with the women’s 100 Back semifinals. Kirsty Coventry bettered Natalie Coughlin’s World Record from the US Trials with a scorching 58.77 effort in the second semifinal heat. In the first heat, Natalie posted a solid 59.43 to qualify second overall. Fellow American Margaret Hoelzer also advanced to finals in 59.84.
Up next was the men’s 200 Free semifinal heats. The second of the two semis featured faster times as evidenced by Peter Vanderkaay’s field leading 1:45.76 race. He will swim from Lane 4 tomorrow. World Record Holder Michael Phelps also qualified, putting up the 4th fastest prelim time of 1:46.28, after Park Tae Hwan’s 1:45.99 and Jean Basson’s 1:46.13.
Australia went 1-3 in the women’s 100 Fly, led by Libby Trickett’s 56.73 finish. Team USA’s Christine Magnuson scored silver in her first Olympics on the heels of a 57.10, followed by Jessicah Schipper’s bronze medal-winning 57.25.
Brendan Hansen was shut out of the medals in the men’s 100 Breast, finishing 4th in 59.57. The gold, and new World Record, went to his main rival Kosuke Kitajima of Japan with a 58.91 performance.
To no one’s surprise, Leisel Jones locked up the top seed for the women’s 100 Breast, touching the wall in 1:05.80; well ahead of the rest of her competitors. USA’s Rebecca Soni’s 1:07.07 was the 2nd fastest semifinal, qualifying her for the final. Megan Jendrick’s 1:08.07 was also fast enough to earn her a spot in the final.
After setting a new Olympic Record in the 100 Back and assisting the men’s 400 Free Relay to a new World Record in prelims the night before, Matt Grevers posted a 52.99 semifinal time to secure the 2nd overall seed for the men’s 100 Back final. Teammate and World Record Holder Aaron Peirsol also advanced, with a 53.56 showing. Hayden Stoeckel grabbed the top finals seed after setting a new 52.97 Olympic Record.
Katie Hoff looked on her way to her first individual gold medal, in the 400 Free, before being out touched at the wall by Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington (4:03.22). Katie hit just .07 after to garner a silver. Another Brit, Joanne Jackson, made the podium with a 4:03.52.
The session ended with a bang as the American men’s 400 Free Relay came from behind to steal the gold medal from the French. Michael Phelps swam the lead-off leg in 47.51, a new American Record. He was followed by Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak, who swam the fastest relay split in history, chasing down France’s Alain Bernard in the final 25m of the race. Team USA broke the French World Record in prelims, and bettered that mark by 4 more seconds in finals. The new global standard sits at 3:08.24.