Crowd Favorite Upset in Butterfly

It was the shortest race of the evening, but Sunday night’s men’s 100-meter butterfly was longer on human interest and competitive drama than any other final in the first five days of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

In lane four, 26-year-old Byron Davis was bidding to become the first African American swimmer to make the U.S. Olympic team.

In lane six, Mark Henderson was trying to cap a distinguished 10-year competitive swimming career with his first trip to the Olympic Games.

In lane eight, gold medalist and aquatic teen idol Mel Stewart was trying to get back to the Olympics before embarking on an acting career.

Arrayed across the pool was the fastest eight-deep field in the history of the event, and the buzzing sellout crowd at the Indiana University Natatorium was expecting something special.

The race lived up to the hype, but it didn’t turn out the way most expected. Relatively unknown 20-year-old John Hargis of Clinton, Ark., came from behind in the second 50 meters to win in a personal best 53.42 seconds and become a surprise addition to the U.S. team. Henderson finished second in 53.51 to join him on the Olympic team and Jason Lancaster finished third in 53.73.

Local fans also had adopted Davis, who captured their attention earlier in the day when he sprinted to the best qualifying time in the preliminary heats. He historically has swam better at night, and he led for most of the race, but faded at the end and finished fourth.

It would have been a terrific story. Davis would have been the first American black to qualify for the Olympics as a swimmer, and he is coached by Jonty Skinner, a former world-record holder in the 100-meter freestyle who was barred from the 1976 Olympics because he was from South Africa. Skinner also coaches Henderson.

“I had to think that I was going to hold them off coming home the last five meters,” said Davis, who will get one more chance to make the U.S. Team today in the 50-meter freestyle. “Basically, coming into the wall the last five meters, I just tried to stay relaxed and it just wasn’t there. There were three guys that just out-touched me.”

Earlier in the evening, Stanford’s Kurt Grote and Eric Wunderlich finished 1-2 in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke.

Allison Wagner finished ahead of double-qualifier Kristine Quance in the 200-meter individual medley. Summer Sanders, the U.S. record holder and 1992 Olympic silver medalist in the event, failed to make her second Olympic team, finishing seventh.

Brooke Bennett, 15, led all qualifiers in the 800 freestyle with a time of 8:35.80 and will face a strong field in today’s final. Four-time Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans ranked third in qualifying at 8:41.77.