Jul 4, 2008

Breeden America's best in 200 fly

Stanford junior earns second spot in Olympic games; Kirk's bid ends

FROM DAILY NEWS DISPATCHES

Stanford athletes racked up two more spots in next month's Olympics in Beijing, China, and one went home disappointed Thursday at the U.S. Olympic Team's swimming trials in Omaha, Neb.

Elaine Breeden won the 200-meter butterfly, and fellow Cardinal junior Julia Smit was chosen for the 800-meter freestyle relay team. It will be the first Olympiad for each.

Palo Alto's Tara Kirk failed to advance beyond the heats in the 200-meter breaststroke, the 26-year-old's last shot to advance to a seconod consecutive Olympics. Her time of 2:33.74 was the 32nd-best effort in the heats, a full 1.4 seconds behind the time needed to qualify for the semifinals.

Breeden, who earned a Beijing trip by finishing second in the 100-meter fly Monday, captured the 200 meter butterfly final Thursday evening with a time of 2:06.75 - .58 seconds ahead of Kathleen Hersey. Breeden owns the Stanford school record in the event she won at the 2007 NCAA championships.

Smit has enjoyed an excellent Olympic Trials thus far, finishing third in the 400-meter individual medley and the 200-meter freestyle. She will join Katie Hoff, Allison Schmitt and Caroline Burckle on the relay squad. Tonight, she will swim in the 100-meter free final.

Andrea Axtell, a rising senior at Stanford, will compete in the 200 meter backstroke prelims today.