Men's 50 Free Semifinal

Gary Hall Jr. broke his Olympic Trials record from the morning with a blazing 21.91. And right behind him was Anthony Ervin, qualifying second at 21.92. Hall, 25, and Ervin, 19, both swim for Phoenix Swim Club.

Neil Walker, the 100 free champion, qualified third in 22.29, winning the first semifinal heat. Aaron Ciarla, 22 and swimming for Mecklenburg, qualified fourth in 22.36. Defending world champion Bill Pilczuk, 28, was fifth in 22.46. Matt Macedo was sixth in 22.52, Jason Lezak seventh in 22.57 and Christian Hasbach eighth in 22.71.

Hall had broken Matt Biondi's 1992 record of 22.12 in the morning with a 21.93.

Women's 200 Breast Final

Kristy Kowal set a new American record to win the 200 breast, solidly breaking Anita Nall's 1992 mark (2:25.35) with a 2:24.75. Amanda Beard was second in 2:26.79.

Megan Quann, who set an American record in the 100 breast at this meet, was third in 2:27.60.

Quann was first at the 50 mark, taking the race out in a quick 33.17, and Stacianna Stitts was second in 33.73. Kowal's first lap was a 33.93. But by 100 Kowal had moved into first, a full .78 ahead of American record pace at 1:09.94. Beard moved up on the third 50, launching a serious challenge at Kowal until Kowal pulled commandingly away on the last lap. Kowal's last 50, a 37.29, was well over a second faster than anyone else in the field.

Kowal, 21 and representing Athens Bulldogs, took silver in this event and gold in the 100 breast at the World Championships in 1998. She missed making the team by .01 in the 100 breast at this meet, and she was also third in the 100 breast at the 1996 Trials.

"I can't even describe what it feels like to stand up here after being third in 1996 and the other night," said Kowal, thanking her family for coming to watch her swim. "Thank you guys for not losing faith in me."

Beard, 18 and representing Irvine Novas, took silver in both breaststrokes at the 1996 Olympics.

Kristen Caverly was fourth in 2:29.11, and Annemieke McReynolds was fifth in 2:29.54. Stacianna Stitts, who also made the Olympic team in the 100 breast, was sixth in 2:29.88. Jenna Street was seventh in 2:30.39, and Tara Kirk was eighth in 2:33.91.

This race means four different swimmers will be filling the four breaststroke slots in Sydney.

Men's 200 Back Final

World record-holder Lenny Krayzelburg held off a challenge by 17-year-old Aaron Peirsol to win the 200 back in 1:57.31, breaking the 1:57.93 Olympic Trials record Peirsol had set in the semi-finals. Krayzelburg's world record of 1:55.87 was set last August.

Peirsol was out fast in 56.92 to Krayzelburg's 56.57, and at the 150 mark Peirsol was only .26 behind the world record holder. But both tired at the end, with Peirsol finishing in 1:57.99.

Peirsol's coach, Dave Salo, also coaches Amanda Beard, who took second in the 200 breast right before Peirsol's swim. Krayzelburg, 24, swims for Trojan and won the 100 back earlier in the meet.

Brian Walters was third in 1:59.58, Marc Lindsay fourth in 2:00.27, Tate Blahnik fifth in 2:00.62. Brad Bridgewater, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist in this event, was sixth in 2:00.67. Joey Faltraco seventh in 2:01.79 and Daniel Shevchik eighth in 2:02.82.

Women's 200 Back Semifinal

Lindsay Benko, the champion in the 200 free, qualified first for finals of the 200 back with a 2:13.24. Amanda Adkins was second in 2:13.55, and Lea Maurer, the bronze medalist in the 100 back at the 1992 Olympics, was third in 2:14.24.

Shelly Ripple qualified fourth in 2:15.55, and Keegan Walkley fifth in 2:15.64, Beth Botsford sixth in 2:15.80, Linda Riker seventh in 2:16.05 and Katie Cowan eighth in 2:16.83. Botsford won gold in the 100 back at the 1996 Olympics.

Men's 100 Fly Semifinal

Ian Crocker, 17, qualified first for the 100 fly final with a 53.07. His time was slightly slower than his Olympic Trials record of 52.82 from the semi-finals, but it was still under the previous record, Matt Biondi's 53.09 from 1992. Crocker swims for the Portland Porpoises.

Second qualifier was Bryan Jones, 21, from Texas, with a 53.28. Third was Dod Wales in 53.46, fourth Tommy Hannan in 53.51.

The second half of the field qualified exceedingly close, with Adam Messner fifth in 53.71, Matt Ulrickson sixth in 53.73, Matthew Pierce seventh in 53.75 and Jeff Somensatto eighth in 53.78.

Women's 100 Free Final

Jenny Thompson broke her own American record to win the 100 free final in 54.07. The second best time in the world this year, it broke her 54.27 mark set in July.

Dara Torres, who was also second to Thompson in the 100 fly, qualified for another Olympic event with a 54.62 second place. Torres, 33, will be the first woman to swim in four Olympic games.

Torres, who broke Thompson's American record in the prelims of the 100 fly, was out first at the 50 in 25.99, slightly ahead of Thompson's 26.03. Ashley Tappin, 25 and swimming for Team Tyr, was third in 55.28.

Amy Van Dyken, who took four golds at the 1996 Olympics, was fourth in 55.30. Courtney Shealy was fifth in 55.52, and Erin Phenix was sixth in 55.61. 15-year-old Christina Swindle was seventh in 55.77, and Liesl Kolbisen was eighth in 56.05.

The top six qualifiers make the Olympic team for the 400 free relay. Tappin, Thompson and Torres were all teammates on the 1992 Olympic gold 400 free relay. (Thompson, 27, and Torres also both swam for Stanford.) And Van Dyken, 27, and Thompson also won golds on the 400 free relay in 1996.

"I'm just putting it all on the line here," Thompson said. "This will probably be my last go, so I want to make sure I'm doing everything right and covering all my bases."

Men's 200 IM Final

Tom Dolan won the 200 IM final in 2:00.81, adding to his win in the 400 IM. Tom Wilkens, who was third in the 400 IM, filled the second Olympic slot with his 2:01.38.

Kevin Clements was third in 2:02.55, and Ron Karnaugh was fourth in 2:02.91. Karnaugh, 34 and a medical doctor, had been attempting to become the oldest man in history to make the team. Karnaugh led after the fly (25.91) and back (30.74) and was in second behind Wilkens at the 150 mark, but tired on the free and finished in 30.89.

Dolan came from a half second behind Wilkens at the 150 to win solidly, riding a 28.70 last 50.

"I have so much confidence in the back half of my IM that I know if I'm close going into the free I can do it," said Dolan, who holds the Olympic Trials record of 2:00.11 from 1996. "This isn't my best event. It was a bit of a nail-biter, a little more than I would like. But I'm sure I can go faster in September."

Dolan, 24 and representing Curl-Burke, won gold in the 400 IM at the last Olympics. This is the first Olympic team for Wilkens, 24 and representing Santa Clara. He also qualified in the 200 breast.

Joe Montague was fifth in 2:03.75, Beau Wiebel was sixth in 2:04.34, Dan Trupin was seventh in 2:05.38 and Rob Canales was eighth in 2:05.77.

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