Post by Taxigirl on Aug 16, 2004 11:59:54 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/swimming/3568922.stm
American swimming sensation Michael Phelps eased into the semi-finals of the men's 200m butterfly on Monday.
Phelps bounced back from missing out on gold in the previous day's 4x100m freestyle relay with a confident display in the morning heats.
The 19-year-old, who is still on course for a record seven golds, qualified joint fastest with Japan's Takashi Yamamoto in one minute 57.36 seconds.
Britain's Stephen Parry scraped through in 16th with a disappointing 1:58.88.
The 27-year-old faced an anxious wait for the completion of the session before learning he grabbed the final qualifying spot, by just 0.05 of a second.
"I am a bit surprised because I thought I was going really well but I messed up at the end," said Parry, who has secured the fourth best time in the world this year.
"I don't know what went wrong."
Although Parry is a medal contender, his chances of a gold are seemingly ruled out by the presence of Phelps in the event.
Phelps became the youngest man ever to hold a world record when he beat the old mark set by fellow American Tom Malchow, the Sydney Olympic champion, in 2001.
He has lowered that mark twice since and could go even faster in Athens as he aims to emulate Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven gold medals.
American swimming sensation Michael Phelps eased into the semi-finals of the men's 200m butterfly on Monday.
Phelps bounced back from missing out on gold in the previous day's 4x100m freestyle relay with a confident display in the morning heats.
The 19-year-old, who is still on course for a record seven golds, qualified joint fastest with Japan's Takashi Yamamoto in one minute 57.36 seconds.
Britain's Stephen Parry scraped through in 16th with a disappointing 1:58.88.
The 27-year-old faced an anxious wait for the completion of the session before learning he grabbed the final qualifying spot, by just 0.05 of a second.
"I am a bit surprised because I thought I was going really well but I messed up at the end," said Parry, who has secured the fourth best time in the world this year.
"I don't know what went wrong."
Although Parry is a medal contender, his chances of a gold are seemingly ruled out by the presence of Phelps in the event.
Phelps became the youngest man ever to hold a world record when he beat the old mark set by fellow American Tom Malchow, the Sydney Olympic champion, in 2001.
He has lowered that mark twice since and could go even faster in Athens as he aims to emulate Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven gold medals.