OMAHA, Neb. — Brendan Hansen clung to the lane rope, glaring at the scoreboard.
No matter how long he stared, the shocking result just wouldn’t go away.
He wasn’t first — or even second.
He won’t be swimming one of his signature events at the Beijing Olympics.
In the first major stunner of the U.S. swimming trials, Hansen failed to make the Olympic team in the 200-meter breaststroke Thursday night. The world recordholder less than a month ago was knocked out by a fourth-place showing, laboring to the finish in the wake of three countrymen.
Hansen’s only solace: He still has a spot in the 100 breast and, most likely, the 400 medley relay.
It was of little comfort on this night.
“I did my best,” said Hansen, the last of the eight finalists to leave the pool deck. “I gave everything in the pool tonight. I left it all out there. It just wasn’t there. It wasn’t my day.”
Hansen wasn’t the only big name to falter on the fifth night of the meet, which failed to produce a world record for the second straight night. Six were set over the first three days.
Katie Hoff, who already had qualified for four individual events and one relay, failed to advance out of the semifinals of the 100 freestyle, denying her a chance to go for as many as eight medals in Beijing.
But Hoff’s 11th-best time against a field that included Natalie Coughlin and 41-year-old Dara Torres wasn’t that surprising — the 100 was by far the longest shot on the 19-year-old’s grueling program.
Hansen, on the other hand, has long been this country’s top breaststroker, and the crowd gasped when he touched the wall behind three others.
He led the first 150 meters, only to fade badly on the final lap as Scott Spann — a Hansen training partner — powered to the biggest win of his career. Eric Shanteau, who also trains with Hansen, was second.
“I came to the pool tonight and didn’t have a very good feeling about warm-up and just everything in general,” Hansen said. “I might have been worrying too much about what I needed to do to get this done and didn’t worry about the guys that were gunning after me at the same time.”
Hansen finished in 2 minutes, 11.37 seconds — nearly 3 seconds slower than his American record, which also stood as the world’s fastest time until Japanese rival Kosuke Kitajima broke it June 7 with a time of 2:07.51.
Spann won in 2:09.97 — far off Kitajima’s pace. Shanteau locked up the expected second spot on the team in 2:10.36.
“My hats off to those two,” said Hansen, who also finished behind Scott Usher’s 2:11.00. “I train with them every single day, and ultimately, I might have trained them a little too well.”
Michael Phelps had a relatively easy night, posting the second-fastest time in the semis of the 200 individual medley. He moved on to another showdown Friday with rival Ryan Lochte, who had the top time.
Coughlin was the top qualifier for Friday’s final in the women’s 100 free. She won her heat in 53.64, touching just ahead of Torres, the four-time Olympian who has twice retired from swimming but is back again — 24 years after her first U.S. trials.
Torres also moved on to the final with the second-best time (53.76).
“It was my best time ever,” said Torres, holding her 2-year-old daughter Tessa. “I had nerves, but it was a good nerves, it was like I was ready to go out there and have fun.”
But Hansen’s flop was the talk of the night.
“He just didn’t come home like he usually does,” said good friend and trials roommate Aaron Peirsol, the fastest in the 200 backstroke semifinals.
“That’s just kind of the cruel nature of this meet,” Coughlin added. “We’ve all been there at some point, and it’s really difficult. It’s difficult to watch.”
Garrett Weber-Gale locked up his first trip to the Olympics, winning the 100 freestyle at 47.92 — nearly a half-second off the world record held by France’s Alain Bernard.
Weber-Gale beat out two-time Olympian Jason Lezak, who led at the turn but touched second in 48.05, still locking up a spot on his third team. Cullen Jones was third (48.35) and Nathan Adrian fourth (48.46), both earning their first Olympic berths as relay swimmers.
Elaine Breeden won the 200 butterfly in 2:06.75, ahead of Kathleen Hersey. Breeden also will swim the 100 fly in Beijing after taking second in that event Monday.
Three-time Olympian Amanda Beard emerged as a solid contender in the 200 breaststroke, her last chance for No. 4. She was second in the semifinals, more than two seconds behind leader Rebecca Soni but well aware that only takes second to get to Beijing.
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