Men's 200 Breast Final

In perhaps the most exciting race of the meet, Kyle Salyards came from third at the 150 mark to win the 200 breast in a breathtaking race with only .32 separating first from fourth. Salyards, 19 and representing Tempe Rio, touched in 2:13.21, ahead of Tom Wilkens at 2:13.34 and Brendan Hansen at 2:13.49.

Ed Moses, the favorite and American record-setter in the 100, led for the first half of the race but ended up fourth in 2:13.53 at the end. His semifinal time of 2:13.13 would have won the event.

Unlike in the 100 where Moses took a commanding lead from the start, the 200 was a tight race all the way. Moses had a slight lead over Salyards at the 50 (29.82 to 30.01) and at the 100 (1:03.70 to 1:03.86), but by the 150 a surging Tom Wilkens was in first place at 1:38.11, with Moses at 1:38.31 and Salyards at 1:38.35.

Brendan Hansen, 18 and swimming for Suburban, joined the race on the last 25 yards, and until the touch it could have been any man's race. (Hansen actually had the fastest last 50, with a 34.33 compared to 34.86 for Salyards and 35.22 for Moses.)

Salyards was making his first Olympic team and winning his first national championship to boot; Wilkens redeemed himself for his disappointing third place finish in the 400 IM.

Fifth was Sean Quinn in 2:15.70, sixth Jeff Hopwood in 2:17.12, seventh Jeff Hackler in 2:18.65, and eighth Scott Werner in 2:19.54.

Women's 100 Free Semifinal

Jenny Thompson qualified first and Dara Torres qualified second in the 100 free semifinals, mirroring the rivalry the Stanford teammates had in the 100 fly, where Torres broke Thompson's American record but then Thompson won the event.

Thompson, 27, qualified first in 54.41. Torres, who will be the first woman to swim on four Olympic teams at age 33, was second in 54.92. Ashley Tappin, 25 and representing Team Tyr, was third in 55.36. Amy Van Dyken, the Olympic gold medalist in the 50 free in 1996, qualified fourth in 55.37. Fifth was Courtney Shealy in 55.44, sixth Christina Swindle in 55.50, seventh Liesl Kolbisen in 55.79 and eighth Erin Phenix in 55.96.

The top six finishers in this event make the Olympic team for the 400 free relay. Thompson, Torres and Tappin were all teammates on the 1992 Olympic gold-winning 400 free relay.

Men's 200 Back Semifinal

Kyle Salyards's surprise win in the 200 breast was followed up with another surprise swim by a young up-and-comer, as 17-year-old Aaron Piersol set a new Olympic Trials record in qualifying first in the 200 back.

Piersol's 1:57.93 qualified for finals ahead of world record-holder Lenny Krayzelburg, who won the second heat in a smooth 1:58.10. (Krayzelburg's world record of 1:55.87 was set last August.)

Piersol broke Royce Sharp's 1992 Trials mark of 1:58.66. Piersol won his heat by many body lengths, while Krayzelburg hung behind Brian Walters until the 150 mark and then pulled gracefully ahead of the field.

Tate Blahnik qualified third in 1:59.18, and Walters was fourth in 1:59.99. Fifth was Marc Lindsay (2:00.77), sixth was the 1996 Olympic gold medalist in this event, Brad Bridgewater (2:00.89), seventh was Joey Faltraco (2:01.22) and eighth was Daniel Shevchik (2:01.36).

Women's 200 Fly Final

Misty Hyman won the 200 fly in 2:09.27, just ahead of 400 IM champion Kaitlin Sandeno (2:09.54).

Hyman went out fast to build a commanding lead at the 50, 100 and 150 points; her 1:00.08 100 split was under world record pace. At 150 she was still 2.39 seconds ahead of Sandeno, but Sandeno finished strong to nearly catch Hyman.

With this swim Hyman, 21 and representing Stanford, makes up for a disappointing 100 fly in which she was seventh. Sandeno, 17 and representing Nellie Gail Gators, adds another event to her Olympic schedule.

Third was Emily Mason in 2:11.96, fourth Shelly Ripple in 2:13.30, fifth Kristine Quance-Julian in 2:14.18, sixth Melissa Greene in 2:14.44, seventh Molly Freedman in 2:14.85 and eighth Maddy Crippen in 2:15.20.

Men's 100 Free Final

Neil Walker won the 100 free with a 48.71, taking the lead at 50 and beating out Gary Hall Jr., who finished second in 48.84. Walker, 24 and representing Texas, was out in 22.71, followed by Hall in 22.92. Neither seriously challenged Matt Biondi's 1988 American record of 48.42, though Walker had come close in semifinals with a 48.55. Third was Scott Tucker in 48.95, fourth Jason Lezak in 49.15, fifth Anthony Ervin in 49.29, sixth 200 free champion Josh Davis in 49.40, seventh Jamie Rauch in 50.19 and eighth Sabir Muhammad in 51.00. The top six finishers qualify for the 400 free Olympic relay team in this event.

Women's 200 Breast Semifinal

Kristy Kowal qualified first for the finals of the 200 breast with a 2:25.92, just .57 off the American record.

Kowal, 21 and representing Athens Bulldogs, was followed by Megan Quann, the American record-setter and champion in the 100 breast. Quann, 16 and swimming for Puyallup, logged a 2:27.29. Amanda Beard, the silver medalist at this event in the 1996 Olympics, qualified third in 2:28.59. Staciana Stitts, who beat out Kowal by .01 to make the team in the 100 breast, qualified fourth in 2:29.31.

Fifth qualifier was Annemieke McReynolds in 2:29.41, sixth Jenna Street in 2:30.40, seventh Kristen Caverly in 2:30.53 and eighth Tara Kirk in 2:30.97.

Men's 200 IM Semifinal

Tom Dolan qualified first in the 200 IM with a 2:01.76. Tom Wilkens qualified second in 2:02.43, after making the team with a second-place finish in the 200 breast earlier in the evening.

Kevin Clements qualified third in 2:02.52, Beau Wiebel was fourth in 2:02.84, Robert Margalis fifth in 2:03.22, 1992 Olympian Ron Karnaugh sixth in 2:03.35, Joe Montague seventh in 2:03.58 and Dan Turpin eighth in 2:04.81.

Kari Lydersen, a contributing editor to Swimming World, writes for The Washington Post.