OMAHA — This Olympic Trials has been about a handful of legends building legacies in dramatic duels, contrasting with a plethora of eager new faces earning their first tickets to the Olympics.
That played out Friday night when Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte engaged in yet another epic battle in a rivalry that goes back to 2003, and Missy Franklin looked tough to beat in her best event, winning her 200 backstroke semifinal easily. Then there was Lilly King, 19, one of the new faces, who won the 200 breast stroke after previously winning the 100 breast.
But the trials are also about athletes working their way up with big dreams, thrilled just to make the finals of an event. That was the story for Stuart Hennessey, who grew up swimming with Franklin at Colorado Stars and swam at Regis Jesuit High School before going to North Carolina State. Hennessey finished last in the 200 back final Friday, 4.74 seconds behind winner Ryan Murphy, but the important thing was that he made the final at age 21.
At the 2012 trials, he raced the two backstroke events but didn’t make the semifinals..
“To come back four years later, itap really building my experience as I progress through the sport,” Hennessey said. “Hopefully I’ll continue my climb and contend in 2020 for some of the spots on this team. To get ninth in the 100 and eighth in the 200, itap a big jump and I’m really excited for whatap to come. Itap very encouraging to know I’m still on the climb, but obviously eighth is not where I want to be. I’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
Franklin cruised to first place in her semifinal heat in 2:08.63 after Maya Dirado took the other heat in 2:08.14. Franklin also won her preliminary heat Friday morning.
“It felt great,” Franklin said. “It was a great race. I got a great lane for tomorrow, and thatap all I needed to do.”
Franklin can sleep in Saturday with only one more race left for her, the 200 back finals, which will be held Saturday night. Coach Todd Schmitz said she had “relaxed swims” in the prelim and the semi.
“She’s kind of letting the work show,” Schmitz said. “In that 100 back (when she finished seventh), she was working too hard, using a lot of energy. For her to go 2:08 tonight is exactly what she needed to do, get in that middle lane.”
Phelps edged Lochte in the 200 individual medley final by 0:31 of a second. It was thrilling but bittersweet, given that Phelps is retiring after Rio.
“It was a little heartbreaking because after we finished, we gave each other a hug and said good job,” Lochte said, “but we both knew that was probably the last time me and him were going to race against each other on American soil. The journey is not over. We have another month to get ready and show the world that the U.S. is still No. 1.”
QUALIFYING HEATS
9 a.m. (3 p.m. on NBCSN)
Women’s 50 free
Men’s 1,500 free
EVENING SESSION
5:45 p.m. (on NBC at 6 p.m.)
Women’s 200 back final
Men’s 100 fly final
Women’s 800 free final
Men’s 50 free final
Women’s 50 free semifinal
WHAT TO WATCH
Missy Franklin bids to make the team in the 200 fly, her favorite event and the one in which she holds the world record. Also, Michael Phelps, Tom Shields and Jack Conger in the 100 fly final. They went 1-2 in the 200 fly, but Conger bears
watching as well.
