Phelps, Coughlin grab easy wins at Santa Clara meet

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin, America's top swimming prospects for the Athens Olympics, easily won their events at the Santa Clara international meet Friday night.

Phelps slipped off the starting block in the 400-meter individual medley, so instead of diving, he entered the water on "all fours, face down."

"It's probably the slowest way possible to enter the water," he said, smiling. "I've never slipped off the block like that. I'm glad it happened here and not six weeks from now."

Phelps quickly joined the leaders on an overcast evening when temperatures dipped to the low 60s. He led by three body lengths at the halfway point and won in a meet record 4 minutes, 14.98 seconds. It was considerably slower than his world record of 4:09.09.

"As soon as I got into the water, I let out a little emotion," he said, estimating the bad start cost him 1½ seconds. "I had to overdo the fly to catch up."

Erik Vendt, who won the 800 freestyle Thursday night, chased Phelps most of the way and finished second in 4:17.23. Vendt was the silver medalist in Sydney. Tom Wilkens, another 2000 Olympian and a four-time Santa Clara champion in the event, was fifth.

Phelps and Coughlin are still in heavy training for the U.S. Olympic trials in July in Long Beach, so they are not aiming for best times during the four-day meet in Santa Clara's outdoor pool.

Phelps is expected to swim a full schedule of events in Athens in pursuit of Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in one Olympics. He was scheduled to swim six events in this tuneup meet, although he skipped the 200 butterfly, in which he holds the world record.

"I'm where I want to be right now," he said. "I'm feeling pretty confident."

Coughlin won the 100 freestyle for the third consecutive year in 54.77, breaking her own meet record of 54.93 set two years ago. Her time was well off her American record of 53.99 set in 2002.

"I thought I could go faster, but it's my best in-season time ever," she said. "It didn't really feel like the perfect swim, which shows I have a lot of improvement in me."

Colleen Lanne was second in 55.90, her same finish as a year ago. Gabrielle Rose and Courtney Shealy, a pair of Sydney Olympians, finished fourth and fifth.

Coughlin was scheduled to swim the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke on Saturday, and the 200 back on Sunday.

"I'm not going to make it a high-pressure meet for myself," she said.

The night's closest race was the 400 freestyle, won by Sydney silver medalist Diana Munz in 4:12.90. Munz overtook Adrienne Binder in the closing strokes of a four-woman sprint to the wall. Kate Ziegler, the 15-year-old swimmer who won the 1,500 freestyle on Thursday, was third. Sara McLarty was fourth.

Tom Malchow won the 200 butterfly in 1:58.66, the only swimmer in the nine-man field to break the 2-minute mark. He was second to Phelps last year. Malchow won gold in Sydney and silver in the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Former Stanford star Tara Kirk defeated three Sydney Olympians to win the 200 breaststroke in 2:28.26. Staciana Stitts was second and Kristy Kowal, silver medalist in Sydney, was third. Megan Quann, another 2000 Olympian, was seventh in the nine-woman field.

Brendan Hansen won the 100 breaststroke for the second straight year. Brent Hayden won the 200 freestyle, beating Sydney Olympians Neil Walker (third) and Klete Keller (fifth). Georgia swimmer Mary Descenza won the 100 butterfly in 1:00.06.