The favorite in the 200 Mens Breaststroke.. Brendan Hansen. He was hoping for another go at the Olympics in the 100 and 200 Meter Breaststroke Races, as he went in both back in 2004. The 100 went fairly well for him. Posting a 59.24. Just a mere .11 off of his World Record time set back in August of 2006.
With finishing .93 ahead of the rest of the competition, he had pretty much nothing to worry about...
Or did he?
200 Breaststroke Finals.
Lane 1.. Ryan Hurley
Lane 2.. Scott Usher
Lane 3.. Scott Spann
Lane 4.. Brendan Hansen
Lane 5.. Eric Shanteau
Lane 6.. Giordan Pogoli
Lane 7.. John Criste
Lane 8.. Clark Burckle
Going into the finals Brendan with the 2nd fastest time ever... behind rival Kosuke Kitajima by.99.
Eric Shanteau with the 10th fastest time ever, set the previous night.
Scott Spann with the 12th fastest time ever, also set the previous night, in Omaha.
Scott Usher also on the top 20 radar, at 20th, set way back at the trials in Long Beach, in 2004.
So, they would be under the radar?
Hansen was out in front of the pack for the first 100 meters of the race in the men’s 200m breaststroke, with Longhorn Aquatics teammate Spann and Eric Shanteau shadowing him closely in the lanes on either side. Shanteau drew within seven-hundredths of a second to Hansen on the third turn, and as the three swimmers raced home, Spann pulled ahead in the final 25 meters or so.
As they hit the wall, it was Spann first, followed by Shanteau in 2:10.36, Third was Usher 2:11.00, Hansen faded to fourth as he posted a time of 2:11.37.
Hansen had gone undefeated at the National level in this event since he set the world record at the last Olympic Trials in 2004. His American record of 2:08.50, set in 2006, is more than a second faster than Spann’s performance Thursday, which marks Spann as the second-fastest American of all time.
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