The year's biggest international swimming meet begins
Wednesday, with Phelps racing in the first of four individual events.
“I'm not as happy as I want to be with my swimming and I
know how to change that,” said Phelps, who endured two losses in the recent US
nationals in the same pool.
Besides Phelps, the US team is loaded with world record-holders
including Ryan Lochte, Aaron Peirsol and Jessica Hardy, and 11-time Olympic
medalist Natalie Coughlin.
The US brought the biggest team — 60 swimmers — to the
outdoor William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center, the site of the 2005 Duel in the
Pool between the US and Australia.
At stake for the Americans are berths on the national team
for next year's world championships in Shanghai.
The Australian squad contains 59 swimmers, although
one-third are newcomers getting their first taste of major international
competition. Some of them are vying for the last spot on their national team
for the Commonwealth Games in October.
“It's a rebuilding of the Australian swim team,” coach Leigh
Nugent said Tuesday. “We're trying to put 2009 behind us with the suits.” The
meet is a test of the new swimsuit rules put in place earlier this year,
banning the neck-to-ankle outfits that helped produce 43 world records at last
year's world championships in Rome.
Men are allowed to wear no more than waist-to-knee “jammers,”
while women must wear no more than shoulder-to-knee suits and only textile
materials may be used.
“Now we're in a place where it's a much more level playing
field,” said Nugent, who speculated times this week could be closer to last
year's records, especially in the women's events.
Aussie Brenton Rickard won gold in the 100 breaststroke with
a world-record time at last year's worlds wearing a now-banned suit.
“The whole drama that was 2009 probably took away from some
of the racing that occurred,” he said. “I still feel I'm the world champion and
I want to prove that again.” Last week's European championships produced
several of the world's fastest times this year, but no world marks.
“I think it's going to be a super-fast event,” Nugent said.
Each country is limited to two swimmers in the finals, which
puts pressure to advance out of the morning preliminaries.
Triple Olympic gold medalist Stephanie Rice remains a
question mark for Australia because of a shoulder injury.
She is entered in four events, including the 50-meter
butterfly on Wednesday.
“Her shoulder is tender, so it's a day-by-day proposition,”
Nugent said. “She's been able to swim quite well some days and some days not so
good.” Olympian Leisel Jones, who took most of last year off, will challenge
American Rebecca Soni in the breaststroke events.
“It's always good when you have someone who is a small
margin in front of you,” Jones said.
Jess Schipper will defend her Pan Pac titles from 2006 in
the butterfly events, while 18-year-old Emily Seebohm challenges Olympic
champion Coughlin in the 100 backstroke.
Canada has a 57-member team and Japan brought 49 swimmers,
including two-time Olympic breaststroke champion Kosuke Kitajima. Brazil has 44
swimmers, including world and Olympic freestyle sprint champion Cesar Cielo.
China is here, too, although with just four swimmers.
At last year's worlds, the US topped the gold medal table,
followed by China, Germany and Australia.
“We're using it as motivation to help us try harder,”
Schipper said about the Aussies' fall from being the world's No. 2 swimming
power.
