Daytona Beach Swimming

June 29, 2008

5 local friends ready to take on nation in the pool

By MICHAEL LEWIS
Staff Writer

PORT ORANGE -- It was last August in Indianapolis when the coolness of the moment snuck up and bit Dustin McLarty, making him smile during the nervous moments before a swimming race.

He and his buddies, some kids he'd grown up with and logged thousands of hours next to in the Port Orange YMCA pool, were in Indiana for the U.S. national championships.

The now-22-year-old looked around before the start of the 4x200 freestyle relay, and saw club teams from Michigan and Maryland and places in between, kids who had been brought together not by geography but by the recruitment efforts of coaches.

Then McLarty looked at his team. There he was, brother of a local swimming star who cast quite a long shadow, but not long enough to keep Dustin out of the spotlight.

There was Kyle Deery, who always tagged along with that crazy Lochte kid and his family. There was Rex Tullius, usually quick with a joke or a wisecrack to keep things light. And there was Matt Norton, the gangly kid with the easy smile, always a few years behind in age but only a few yards behind in the water, and closing fast.

Standing near the pool was that Lochte kid, Ryan, already a local legend, with a gold medal in his pocket but the same old goofy smile above his chin.

These were all "neighborhood boys," growing up in the same county and realizing the dream set by the greatest coach they'd ever had. And now, McLarty marveled, they were at the U.S. friggin' nationals, swimming against the best kids in the country.

"We were leading halfway through the race, and I was just like, "Man, this is so cool, my friends and I are winning!," McLarty said recently. "We didn't win the race, but it was so awesome because it was just us, at this incredible level."

This is the level Steve Lochte, the mastermind behind the rise of Daytona Beach swimming, envisioned 12 years ago. This week, those five boys are in Omaha, Neb., for the U.S. Olympic Trials, competing for a chance to go to Beijing next month for the 2008 Olympics.

Five is the most swimmers the area has ever sent to one Trials. In 2000, it sent one (Sara McLarty). Four years ago, it was three (Sara McLarty again, Ryan Lochte, and Daniel Cruz).

Only Lochte, perhaps the second-best overall swimmer in the world, broke through four years ago to make the Olympic team, and only he is favored to make it to the '08 Games.

But the ripple that began 12 years ago and rose into a small wave in 2004 has now become a surge. Daytona Beach is now a nationally-known pool power, with more champions on the way.

These five boys, all current or former Florida Gators, helped make it so. Together.

"In a way I'm kind of shocked, but not really," Deery said. "If you know what great coaching we've had and what great support we get, you'd know why we're here."

FAST, FASTER AND FASTEST

"You just don't see one homegrown club do what they're doing very often," said Eddie Reese, the U.S. national team coach and a Mainland graduate. "It's very unusual."

The quintet didn't all start excelling at the same time. Deery and Lochte, both now 23, became friends once the Lochtes moved to town when the boys were 11. McLarty was soon right behind, a DeLand kid who was always competing, always striving at a time when Ryan hardly took the sport seriously.

As they entered high school Tullius, 21, moved into Volusia County and threw off the whole dynamic.

"We looked at him and were like, 'Who is this kid?" McLarty said, laughing. "Ryan and I were talking and we were like, 'he could be something, but he doesn't know what he's doing yet.' "

"Five years ago," Tullius said, "I didn't even know what an Olympic Trial was."

Norton, 19, grew up watching the older kids and waiting for his chance to shine.

None of them set the pool on fire in high school, because Steve Lochte doesn't believe in burning his kids out before they take the SATs. Instead, while they recall the grueling workouts, they also all recall the fun they had, the silly games they played when Coach Lochte knew they needed a break.

Still, the competition never waned.

"Ryan has to always win, and so do I, and so does Kyle, so that could've been a problem," Tullius said. "We were so competitive in everything that we never let up on each other."

Great swimmers beget great swimmers, so all that competition made them all faster. Without Lochte as a yardstick, Deery might not have joined the coach's son at the University of Florida. McLarty and Tullius both kept getting better as they advanced through high school -- and people say Tullius still hasn't reached his peak.

Soon national teams were calling, and Norton was invited as a high school junior to swim in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center.

"I saw Ryan do so well in 2004 and I was like, 'I could do that, I used to train with that guy,' " Tullius said. "That's big motivation right there."

In the last two years, one Olympic Trials cut time turned into so many more, and that, too was a competition.

Combined, they qualified for 20 events, Lochte leading the way with 11.

COACHING OPENS THE DOOR

It isn't fair to say Steve Lochte is completely responsible for the five kids taking the blocks in Omaha representing Daytona Beach. Gators coach Gregg Troy deserves a huge amount of credit for his work with all of them, and self-determination plays a part, too.

But . . .

"We owe our careers to Coach Steve," McLarty said. "When we swim, I feel like we're representing him and all he stands for."

All along the way it's been Lochte motivating, cajoling, easing off and on the gas pedal. Each swimmer pointed to a different virtue they got from the man Troy calls "one of the best developmental coaches in the country," but Ryan Lochte sums it up well.

"He's just got that quality in the pool of knowing what to do with each kid, and what not to do," Ryan said. "You may not always like what he's telling you, but you know he's right."

Troy said Lochte has made his job easier because the Daytona Beach swimmers all come to Gainesville with solid stroke mechanics, and "an exact idea of how to race. Some kids don't really get that."

As Deery, Lochte and the rest all eventually moved away to UF, they still leaned on Steve Lochte for advice and support.

And they leaned on each other. For the past year all five have lived and trained in Gainesville.

ONE LAST HURRAH

Being such close friends, they would hang out all the time outside the pool; since Lochte signed his pro contract two years ago, they've been congregating at his house.

As with any great group, the end eventually comes. McLarty has just graduated and will be heading off to California "to become a genius or something," Tullius said. (Actually, he's pursuing a Masters degree in aerospace engineering.)

This week will be their final time swimming together, at the same meet, for the same little team that is still rising to heights dreamed of more than a decade ago. Every four years, the number of Daytona Beach Speed swimmers at the Trials could keep ballooning. Girls swimmers like Ginny Grams, Shaun Casey and Julia Nagy may be at Trials in 2012. Norton, Tully, Lochte and Deery could return, possibly joined by other boys including Ryan's younger brother Devon.

But for now it's just the five friends hanging out and doing some laps, with thousands watching from the stands.

It's one last week of being together, representing their hometown, and having a blast, safe in the knowledge that the tradition they helped start will blossom.

"It's going to be really hard, I think, at the end of the meet when we all split," McLarty said. "All the inside jokes, all the laughs.

"But we get to all compete at the Olympic Trials together, so how rare is that?"

michael.lewis@news-jrnl.com

About the Trials

WHEN: Today-July 6

WHERE: Omaha, Neb.

TV COVERAGE: 8 p.m.-9.p.m. every night; Tonight, July 4-6 on NBC; June 30-July 3, on USA Network.

HOW TO QUALIFY FOR OLYMPIC TEAM: Swimmers finishing first or second in an event at the Trials make the U.S. team. The only exceptions are the 100- and 200-meter freestyle. The top six finishers in those events make the Olympic squad as relay team members

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June 30, 2008

Lochte earns trip to Beijing in 400 IM

News-Journal Services

OMAHA, Neb. -- Spruce Creek High School graduate Ryan Lochte finished second in the 400-meter individual medley, good enough to earn him a trip to the Beijing Olympics.
But it was Michael Phelps -- starting his second attempt to break Mark Spitz's Olympic record -- who turned in another epic swim.
Phelps set a world record in the winning the race, his first event of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, touching just ahead of Lochte in 4 minutes, 5.25 seconds Sunday night.
Wearing the high-tech Speedo LZR Racer, Phelps beat his own mark of 4:06.22, set at last year's world championships in Australia when he turned in one of the greatest performances in swimming history with seven gold medals.
After saying he had no fear of Phelps, Lochte proved it by also going under the previous record. But his time of 4:06.08 was only good enough for second with Phelps in the next lane over.
There are two Olympic berths available in each event.
DeLand High School graduate Dustin McLarty finished sixth in 4:16.14. He had qualified in the eighth and final spot in Lochte's heat, touching the wall in 4:21.05.
Lochte was the fastest in the qualifying heats earlier in the day, turning in a 4:13.38.
"Not bad," Lochte said of his qualifying heat. "I felt really good and smooth the whole way. It was a good first swim of the meet."
Lochte is competing in the eight-day trials just more than a month after spraining his left ankle while chasing his Doberman named Carter, in honor of Lochte's favorite rapper, Lil' Wayne. He felt some twinges during the breaststroke portion of the four-stroke qualifying event.
But the final belonged to Phelps.
"That was probably one of the most painful races of my life," the winner said. "Everything was left in the pool. I definitely would not have been able to do it without Lochte beside me. He's a great friend and a great competitor. I love racing him."
Katie Hoff matched her former North Baltimore teammate Phelps in the 400 IM, taking down the women's mark in 4:31.12.
The 19-year-old Hoff -- playfully described by Phelps as the little sister he never had -- showed no signs of the nervousness that ruined her first trip to the Olympics four years ago. The youngest member of the U.S. team, she was overcome by the moment and threw up on deck after failing to advance from her first event.
All grown up, Hoff dipped under record pace on the breaststroke leg and held on with her freestyle to beat Stephanie Rice's mark of 4:31.46, set in March at the Australian Olympic trials.
Like Phelps, Hoff also was wearing the revolutionary Speedo suit, which has been worn for 40 of the 44 world marks set since it was unveiled in mid-February.
"It definitely gave me a few tenths," Phelps said. "At the end, when I was getting a little tired, the suit gave me a little extra edge."
Phelps was slightly off world-record pace after the opening butterfly, but he had a body-length lead on Lochte as they switched to the backstroke.
The minus sign -- indicative of a swimmer under record pace -- flashed on the board when Phelps made his flip turn on the back, sending the crowd at the Qwest Center into a frenzy. But Lochte was starting to close the gap, and he nearly pulled even as they headed toward the far wall in the breaststroke.
Lochte, a world recordholder himself, was less than a second behind at the 300 mark and looked poised to pull off a monumental upset. He and Phelps went at it stroke for stroke over the final two laps, but Phelps never relinquished his lead.
After his arm touched the wall ahead of Lochte's, Phelps looked at the scoreboard, saw the record and thrust his right fist in the air. Then he slapped the water.
Lochte, breathing heavily, grinned as Phelps celebrated. They hugged in the water, and then again on deck while the fans saluted them both with a standing ovation.
Robert Margalis finished third, more than 7 seconds behind the top two.
"He looked great, and what an epic swim," said Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman. "One of the best swims I've ever seen."
Phelps won six gold medals and two bronzes at the Athens Olympics, just missing Spitz's record of seven wins at the 1972 Munich Games. Phelps -- who turns 23 today -- is determined to knock off the mark in Beijing.

Tullius comes up short; Lochte makes 2 finals

By MICHAEL LEWIS
Staff Writer

Daytona Beach Speed swimmer and current Florida Gator Rex Tullius just missed qualifying for the 100-meter backstroke semifinals Monday at the U.S. Olympic trials in Omaha, Neb.

Tullius finished 17th overall with a swim of 55.52 seconds, just .007 behind the 16th-place finisher. Only the top 16 made it to tonight's semifinals.

Daytona Beach's Ryan Lochte advanced to the 200 freestyle finals with an outstanding semifinal swim. For the second event in a row, Lochte was the fastest competitor, qualifying with a time of 1:45.61, 0.03 ahead of Michael Phelps.

Lochte and Phelps dueled in the same prelim heat of the 200 freestyle, with Phelps first and Lochte second.

Phelps took the lead on the final turn and touched in 1:46.63 on his 23rd birthday. Lochte was next at 1:46.83.

For Phelps' birthday, Lochte ordered up a set of grillz, the mouth jewelry favored by their favorite rappers, but the gaudy bling hasn't come in yet.

Also Monday night, Lochte qualified for the 100 backstroke. His semifinal time of 53.37 was fourth-fastest among the semifinalists.

"I'm disappointed because I knocked two seconds off my best time ever," Tullius said by phone. "I had no idea it was going to be that close. When I looked up at the scoreboard after all the heats, I was just like, 'Man.' "

Tullius said he wasn't completely crushed since the 200 backstroke is his best event. He qualified 15th in the 200, the final of which takes place Thursday.

Meanwhile, Tullius' fellow Daytona Beach Speed alumnus Dustin McLarty was still enjoying the afterglow of his sixth-place finish in the final of the 400 IM on Sunday night. McLarty, who said before the trials his goal was to just make the final, swam a personal best 4:16.14.

"That was the fastest I've ever swam, so I'm thrilled," McLarty said. "The atmosphere in there was just incredible. Ryan and Michael (Phelps) were in their own little world up at the top, but after them it was very exciting."

McLarty said he knew something amazing had happened "when I still had 15 meters to go, and the crowd just exploded. I was like, 'Someone must have set a world record, but man, I've still got more to swim.' "

Today's local highlights at the week-long trials include Daytona Beach's Matt Norton and McLarty starting the 200 butterfly preliminaries in the morning, and Lochte swimming in the 200 freestyle final at night as well as perhaps the 100 back finals.

michael.lewis @news-jrnl.com

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July 02, 2008

Lochte fails to get bid in 100 back

By MICHAEL LEWIS
Staff Writer

Ryan Lochte suffered his first setback of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Neb.

The Port Orange native, already in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, finished in third place Tuesday night in the finals of the 100 backstroke, finishing in 53.37 as Aaron Peirsol set a new world record.

Peirsol, whose world record in the 200 backstroke the 23-year-old Lochte beat last year, grabbed one of the two Olympic bids awarded with a winning time of 52.89. Matt Grevers came in second in 53.19.

Lochte didn't bother to share his disappointment with the media. He walked right past reporters and never came back.

"He's got other races, and I'm sure he's trying not to get caught up in this one," said Michael Phelps, who beat Lochte in the 400 individual medley when they both went under the previous world record. "He's trying to move forward."

Earlier Tuesday, Lochte elected to swim the 100 backstroke and bypass the finals of the 200 freestyle, for which he had qualified first, Lochte's father, Steve, confirmed.

Lochte has already qualified to go to the Olympics by virtue of his second-place finish in the 400 IM event Sunday night.

Steve Lochte said Ryan wanted to rest his body for the 100-meter backstroke final. After consulting with USA Swimming, Steve Lochte said Ryan "had been assured that he'd be on the 4x200 relay team in Beijing, so we thought it was best to rest up for the other events."

Michael Phelps raced in the 200 free final. He said he and Ryan had discussed Ryan sitting it out, but that he was disappointed not to renew their 200 free rivalry.

"He's definitely going be a big part of that relay (4x200) this summer," Phelps said.

Ryan had swam the fastest qualifying time in the 200 freestyle semifinals Monday, qualifying in 1:45.61, .003 ahead of Phelps.

Two other Daytona Beach Speed swimmers competed in preliminaries Tuesday morning. Spruce Creek High graduate and current University of Florida student Matt Norton was in the 200 butterfly, and finished 69th overall, in 2:04.51.

"It was a little nerve-wracking; I was definitely more nervous than I thought I'd be," said Norton, 19, making his first-ever trials appearance. "I'm glad to get this one out of the way. Hopefully, I'll do better in my other two (events)."

Speed and Gator teammate Dustin McLarty, of DeLand, also swam the 200 fly and finished 44th overall, in 2:02.26. McLarty finished fifth in his heat. Only the top 16 advanced to the semifinals.

"I just squeaked in under my best time ever, so I was excited about that," McLarty said. "I was hoping to make semis and that didn't work out, but I was happy with how I did."

Phelps takes 200 free

Michael Phelps has locked up his second Olympic race but just missed breaking his own world record in the 200-meter freestyle.

Phelps was right on pace with the mark he set at last year's world championships in Australia as he made the final flip.

He powered to the wall and made one final lunge, but his time of 1 minute, 44.10 seconds was 24-hundredths off the record. His training partner, Peter Vanderkaay, claimed the likely second spot on the U.S. team in 1:45.85.

michael.lewis @news-jrnl.com

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Today at the Swimming Trials

THIS MORNING: Daytona Beach Speed alums are in action as Matt Norton competes in the 100 free preliminaries (race available on the Web at nbcolympics.com), while Kyle Deery competes in the 200 breaststroke. Ryan Lochte will compete in the 100 freestyle.

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July 03, 2008

Lochte makes 100 final, withdraws

By MIKE WATKINS
Special to The News-Journal

OMAHA, Neb. -- Ryan Lochte swam the fastest time of his life in the semifinals of the 100 freestyle Wednesday night at the 2008 Olympic Swimming Trials -- and he needed every saved second.

His time of 48.65 -- .23 faster than his preliminary swim -- was the fifth fastest of the night and advanced him to tonight's finals. He decided to withdraw to concentrate on the other events according to an official. All eight original finalists finished the race in under 49.00.

Nathan Adrian and Alex Righi both swam 48.89 in the semifinals and then swam again to see who would replace Lochte in the final. Adrian won the two-man race in 49.01 seconds.

In his laid-back fashion, Lochte was nonchalant about making the semis.

"That was my personal best, so there isn't much more you can ask for," Lochte said following his morning prelim race where he finished ninth in 48.88, his personal best at the time.

Jason Lezak, who watched his American record fall during the morning session to Garrett Weber-Gale, regained his mark with the second fastest time in the world this year at 47.58. He is the top seed in tonight's final.

Lochte dropped out of the 200-freestyle final Tuesday night -- even though he had the fastest semifinal time -- to concentrate on what he thought was the better chance of making the Olympic team, the 100 backstroke.

Unfortunately for Lochte, Matt Grevers hit the wall ahead of him to finish second behind champion Aaron Peirsol. The decision left Lochte off the medals stand in both events but with few apparent regrets.

"I knew I would have never gone faster than my best time (1:45.61) in the 200 freestyle, so that influenced our decision," Lochte said. "After semis in both events, we said we were going to choose one and that was the 100 back. You can only control what you can control, so that was the decision that we made."

Next up for Lochte is the 200 backstroke this morning. He is the world record holder in the event.

Lochte's Daytona Beach Swimming Club teammate Kyle Deery beat his personal best time by more than three seconds in prelims of the 100 breaststroke Wednesday morning. He was seeded 68th out of 70 entrants coming in, but his time of 2:17.18 moved him up to 22nd after the morning swim. He was ecstatic about the final result and swimming in his first Olympic Trials.

"It was so much fun. That is the best pool I've ever swam in," Deery said. "I knew this race was going to be a lot faster for me than anything I swam before, but I just wanted to stick to my own race and compete. Being at Trials is amazing. It felt special the minute I stepped on the deck."

Locals at today's trials

THIS MORNING: Ryan Lochte and Rex Tullius will both compete in the 200 backstroke preliminaries at noon (races available on the Web at nbcolympics.com ). Then Lochte, Matt Norton and Dustin McLarty are scheduled to compete in the 200 IM preliminaries.

TONIGHT: Lochte and perhaps Tullius will compete in the 200 backstroke, while Lochte may also swim in the 200 IM semifinals (Races televised on NBC starting at 8 p.m.)

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July 04, 2008

Tullius in 200 back final with Lochte

By MICHAEL LEWIS
Staff Writer

Rex Tullius is saving his best swims for the biggest meet of his life.

The Port Orange native turned in two tremendous performances Thursday night at the U.S. Olympic Swim trials in Omaha, Neb., with a blazing time in the 200-meter backstroke in the morning, and a 1:59.12 at night to reach the final on Friday evening.

Tullius, currently a student at the University of Florida, had the sixth-fastest qualifying time, a 1:58.71 he achieved in the morning prelims.

In the semifinal, Tullius, competing in the same heat as Ryan Lochte, finished third in the heat, and seventh overall to make his first-ever trials final.

"It feels good. Hopefully tomorrow will be better," Tullius said. "The race felt good. I couldn't see anybody, but I thought I was doing well. I saw my time and I knew I'd be in there."

As expected, Lochte cruised into the final in both the 200 backstroke and the 200 IM. He captured his semifinal in the 200 back in 1:56.52, second only to Aaron Peirsol's 1:55.78.

That result sets up a much-anticipated showdown tonight in the 200 back final between Peirsol and Lochte. It was the Port Orange native Lochte who snapped Peirsol's seven-year winning streak in the 200 back final event with a world-record 1:54.32 at the World Championships in Australia in March, 2007.

In the 200 IM semifinals, Lochte advanced to face Michael Phelps in the final; Lochte swam a 1:57.57 to take the top seed; Phelps swam a 1:58.05. Tonight's 200 IM final will be only the second head-to-head Phelps-Lochte showdown of the meet: Phelps just nipped Lochte in a thrilling 400 IM Sunday night.

Lochte could've been swimming three times Thursday evening, but he decided to pull out of the 100 freestyle final after Wednesday night's semi.

Even without swimming the 100 freestyle final, Lochte qualified for the 4x100 relay team in Beijing. Lochte's semifinal time of 48.65 was fifth-fastest among the 100 free times after the final -- the top six times qualify for the relay at the Olympics.

Lochte's and Tullius' strong swims were just part of several strong performances by four Daytona Beach swimmers Thursday.

It was also a bittersweet day for DeLand's Dustin McLarty, who finished an outstanding career by placing 23rd in the 200 IM qualifying. McLarty's time of 2:04.02 was a little more than two seconds behind the time needed to make the semifinals.

"I'm a little sad, hoping I could have one more swim, but what can you do?" McLarty said. "It was a little tough getting out of the pool."

Fellow Daytona Beach Speed swimmer Matt Norton also competed in the 200 IM preliminaries, finishing 68th in 2:07.52.

Today should be the most exciting day of the week-long trials, with the 200 IM and 200 backstroke finals.

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July 05, 2008

Lochte swims to 2nds

News-Journal Services

OMAHA, Neb. -- Port Orange's Ryan Lochte had seconds in the 200-meter backstroke and 200 individual medley Friday, but he still qualified for two more events at the Beijing Olympics.

Lochte has now qualified for the Olympics in five events. He qualified in the 400 IM earlier, and has times good enough to make the 4X100 and 4X200 freestyle relay teams. The relay teams won't officially be named until later.

Daytona Beach Speed and Florida Gator swimmer Rex Tullius had the race of his career on the biggest stage of his career Friday.

Tullius, who has only been a serious competitive swimmer for six years, finished a stunning fourth in the 200 backstroke final, completing the race in 1:57.73. Tullius' time was nearly a second better than his career best, set Thursday morning in the preliminaries.

"I felt so good for the whole race. After the first 50 I looked over and I couldn't believe how fast I was going," Tullius said. "Before the race I was really rushed, with my preparation and everything, so I didn't know if I could swim top four, which was my goal.

"It's an incredible feeling right now, to reach that goal."

To put Tullius' time in perspective, his 1:57.73 would have been good enough for a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and every previous Olympics before 2000.

Lochte finished second to Aaron Peirsol, who gained a measure of revenge for his upset loss at the 2007 world championships, tying the world record.

The two were stroke for stroke the whole race, but Peirsol lunged to the wall just ahead of Lochte to win in 1:54.32, equaling the mark set by Lochte at the last worlds. This time, the laid-back Floridian was two-hundredths of a second slower, leaving him in second place at 1:54.34.

Lochte smiled when he saw the time. The two shook hands, and Peirsol patted his rival on the head, both mindful theSEE LOCHTE, PAGE 10B

LOCHTECONTINUED FROM PAGE 9B

stakes will be higher in their next race.

About 28 minutes later, Michael Phelps broke a world record in beating Lochte in the individual medley.

"He's not disappointed," Ryan Lochte's father and Daytona Beach Speed coach Steve Lochte said of his son. "He knew he had to get in there and do the job (Friday). It was a lot of work. He felt pretty good about it. He's kind of happy his record didn't get broken, only tied. Ryan, he's just going to go faster with another month of rest. I feel he'll go much faster in Beijing.

"(Today) Ryan's flying back to Gainesville, and he'll be home for two days."

Phelps claimed his fourth individual victory of the trials in 1 minute, 54.80 seconds, beating his mark of 1:54.98 he set last year.

It was the second world record of the meet for Phelps, who also swam faster than anyone in history to win the 400 IM. His only piece of unfinished business: the 100 butterfly and an expected showdown with world recordholder Ian Crocker.

Phelps must finish first or second in that event tonight to ensure he swims eight events at the Olympics. Then he'll need to win them all to beat Spitz's record of seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Spitz, who was at the Qwest Center and presented Phelps with his award for winning the 200 IM, believes the 23-year-old from Baltimore has a good chance to take down the Holy Grail of Olympic records.

"It's time for someone else to take the baton of responsibility," Spitz said. "Thirty-six years is a long time."

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July 06, 2008

Lochte, area racers enjoy stellar week

Tullius, McLarty make finals; Lochte Beijing-bound

By MICHAEL LEWIS
Staff Writer

NBC may have provided the most telling television image of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on Friday night.

After Ryan Lochte's epic 200-meter backstroke final against Aaron Peirsol in Omaha, Neb., the TV network showed reaction shots of Steve Lochte, Ryan's dad, during the final few seconds of the race.

The elder Lochte leaned back, his face contorted in anxiety. Then he leaned forward, seemingly about to shout something. Then he saw the finish and screamed, thinking his oldest son had pulled off the win.

Then he checked the scoreboard, and saw Ryan had lost by .002 seconds, and Steve Lochte slapped his program into his fist.

"The agony of second" is something Ryan and Steve Lochte had to get used to this week at the trials, but they both know that this is merely the warm-up meet for them. The big one starts on Aug. 8 in China.

For a quartet of other Daytona Beach swimmers, though, the week in Omaha was the culmination of four years of hard work, and that hard work paid off in a big way.

Everywhere you looked, there was a Daytona Beach Speed swimmer doing something great in the Qwest Center water. There was Rex Tullius, finishing fourth in the 200 back final, a stunning result for a kid who's only been swimming competitively for seven years. Tullius' time of 1:57.73 would've been good enough for a gold medal at every Olympics before 2000.

There was Dustin McLarty, capping a terrific swim career with a sixth-place finish in the 400 individual medley final, a race that will forever be remembered for Lochte's duel with Michael Phelps.

And there were Kyle Deery and Matt Norton, who both distinguished themselves with strong efforts, Deery in the 200 breaststroke, and Norton gaining valuable experience in three events.

The entire week was a testament to the growing excellence of Daytona Beach swimming.

"It was just tremendous to see our boys do this," Steve Lochte said. "Everybody swam well and really did themselves and our club so proud."

McLarty, who was likely competing in a national swimming meet for the last time, said it was a few moments on Sunday he'll never forget.

"That was the best I've ever felt in the water, by far," he said of his 400 IM swim. "All of us were talking about how the training and the tapering got us ready, and we felt really good about competing."

Ryan Lochte, of course, dominated the headlines this week -- after qualifying for two Olympic events in 2004, he will swim five times in Beijing.

What shouldn't be lost in those second-place finishes is this truth: Lochte swam the second-fastest 400 IM in history (4:06.08), and the third-fastest 200 IM in history (1:54.34).

"What Ryan did this week, just blows me away," Tullius said. "People don't know how hard it is to do what he did (Friday), swimming two big events like that in a half-hour. He's an amazing athlete."

Lochte, who was en route back to Gainesville Saturday, offered one prediction after his exhausting swimming night.

"Beijing," he said, "is gonna be a lot different."

How they FINISHED:

RYAN LOCHTE

400IM 4:06.08 (2nd) beat world record time

100FREE 48.65, 5th best in semifinals, qualifies for 4x100 relay team in China

200IM 1:55.22 (2nd), 2nd fastest time ever.

200 FREE 1:45..61, fastest semifinal time, qualifies for 4x200 relay in China

200Back 1:54.34 (2nd)

100BACK 53.37 (3rd)

REX TULLIUS

100BACK 55.52 (17th)