Thursday, August 10, 2000

Area swimmers struggle at Olympic Trials

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By Jeff Carlton
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        INDIANAPOLIS — On a day when records fell and another was resurrected, swimmers with Cincinnati ties failed to advance past the morning preliminary heats at the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials.

LOCAL SWIMMERS

WEDNESDAY'S RESULTS   • Women's 400 IM: Tami Ransom (Ursuline), 17th; Whitney Myers (Ursuline), 26th   • Men's 400 freestyle: Dan Ketchum (Sycamore), 21st; Steven McLeod (UC), 51st   • Men's 100 breaststroke: Brad Knueven (CovCath), 49th   TODAY'S SCHEDULE • Men's 100 backstroke prelims (Jayme Cramer, Ryan Earhart)   • Men's 200 freestyle prelims (Nate Dusing, Dan Ketchum)   • Women's 100 backstroke prelims (Emily Bresser)   • Women's 100 breaststroke prelims (Mandy Commons)   PREVIEW STORIES   • Wales, Dusing go head-to-head for Olympic berths   • Swimming trials loaded with locals   • Ursuline's Ransom trying to make Games in 3 events   • Profiles of local swimmers   • Trials schedule

        Tami Ransom, 17, an Ursuline senior and the Enquirer swimmer of the year, had the strongest showing of any area swimmer, finishing 17th in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:54.68. Only the top eight swimmers advanced to the final round. Kaitlin Sandeno and Maddy Crippen were the Olympic qualifiers.

        Whitney Myers, 15, of Ursuline finished three seconds behind Ransom in 26th.

        In the men's 400 freestyle, Sycamore graduate Dan Ketchum was 21st and University of Cincinnati senior Steven McLeod was 51st. Brad Knueven, a Covington Catholic graduate and Auburn sophomore, took 49th in the 100 breaststroke.

        In the 400 free finals Wednesday night, 18-year-old Klete Keller caught favorite Chad Carvin in the last 10 meters, touching the wall to claim a new American record in 3:47.18. The previous record stood for 12 years.

        Two records fell in the morning preliminaries. Dara Torres, 33, trying to become the first American swimmer to make four Olympic teams, set a U.S. record in the 100 butterfly with a 57.58, breaking Jenny Thompson's year-old mark by .3 seconds. Ed Moses set a trials record in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.19).

        The trials' lightest moment came when the fans gave Pat Calhoun a standing ovation following an announcement that he had set an American record in the 100 breaststroke. The applause quieted when the natatorium announcer apologized for mistakenly shaving a second off Calhoun's time. No record was set.

Complete swim trials coverage from Associated Press

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