Bennett Wins Again on a Bizarre Swimming Day

Olympian Brooke Bennett won her second gold medal at the U.S. National Swimming Championships on Monday, a day when the swimming was smooth but little else was in Nashville.

Three power failures and a broken pool bulkhead caused the meet to be delayed four times and a men’s 100-meter freestyle final to be invalidated and raced again.

Bennett won her 11th national title in the 400-meter freestyle in 4 minutes, 11.34 seconds.

Meanwhile, the first men’s 100 was nullified. Neil Walker, 21, had touched first in 49.46 and Scott Tucker, 22, was second in 49.74, the top two fastest times in the world this year. In the re-race, Tucker (49.68) and Walker (49.70) finished in reverse order, still the two fastest world times this year.

Track and field

Track and field’s ruling body is ready to cut its penalty for drug use from a four-year ban to a two-year ban because of pressure from athletes and regional federations.

A ruling on the proposal, supported by the European federation, will probably be made during a two-day meeting of the IAAF congress, starting Wednesday in Athens, Greece, where the World Track and Field Championships begin Friday.

“The idea was accepted, so discussion on this probably won’t come up again at the council meeting,” said Giorgio Reineri, spokesman for the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

In other action, IAAF officials said they would ban Norway from the sport if it failed to report positive drugs tests on time. Norway reported only in the last few days the name of an athlete who tested positive May 14.

Jurisprudence

Charles Barkley, who is being sued for at $50,000 in damages over a bar fight, mouthed an expletive at his accuser, Jeb Tyler, 23, of Spencerport, N.Y., as the trial began in Cleveland, then later signed autographs at the courthouse.

Basketball

The New Jersey Nets signed Utah forward Keith Van Horn, the second pick in the NBA draft, to a three-year contract. Financial terms were not disclosed, but under the rookie salary scale, Van Horn of Diamond Bar can receive a maximum of $9.161 million over three years.

Darrell Walker, the lowest-paid coach in the NBA last season at $265,000, signed a three-year contract extension with the Toronto Raptors worth a reported $1.8-$2 million over three seasons.

Hockey

As expected, Mark Messier, the only player to serve as captain of two teams that won Stanley Cups, agreed to a three-year contract with Vancouver that is reportedly worth up to $20 million.

Messier, 36, has lifted the Cup six times--five with Edmonton--and he led New York to the 1994 championship over Vancouver, ending the Rangers’ 54-year Cup drought.

John Spano, 33, the businessman who faces federal fraud charges in his failed attempt to buy the New York Islanders, posted his $3.15-million Dallas home to make bail, prosecutors said.

Tennis

Justin Gimelstob, the former UCLA standout who upset Andre Agassi last week in the Infiniti Open, knocked off ninth-seeded Petr Korda of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the du Maurier Canadian Open at Montreal.

Defending champion Wayne Ferreira beat Daniel Vacek, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, in a rain-delayed opening-round match and Sebastien LeBlanc of Canada downed No. 10 Tim Henman of Britain, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-3.

Second-seeded Albert Costa of Spain was the first upset victim at the Grolsch Open, losing, 6-3, 6-4, to Dutchman Dennis van Scheppingen in Amsterdam.

Henry Talbert, former president of the New Jersey Tennis Assn., has been named executive director of the Southern California Tennis Assn, replacing Bob Kramer, who will become full-time tournament director of the Infiniti Open.

Miscellany

The families of 78 Guatemalans crushed to death in an overcrowded soccer stadium last year in Guatemala City received checks for $6,500 each from FIFA, the international soccer authority. . . . Doctors in Seattle repaired “a near amputation” of unlimited hydroplane driver Dave Villwock’s right hand after he was injured in a crash in the Budweiser Columbia Cup. Doctors believe Villwock, 42, will fully recovery. . . . Nick Price beat Vijay Singh 1-up, Ernie Els bested Frank Nobilo 1-up and Steve Elkington defeated Mark McNulty 1-up as their competitors all bogeyed the 18th hole in the international leg of the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf at Kohler, Wis. Greg Norman, the defending champion, beat Robert Allenby 2-up in the match-play tournament. . . . The Senior PGA Tour will abandon its stop in Lexington, Ky., after September’s Bank One Classic, replacing the tournament with one in a larger market, tour officials said. Cleveland, Seattle and Portland, Ore., are contenders for the spot as the senior tour seeks tournaments with purses of at least $1 million. . . . Peter Graf, the father of Steffi Graf, reported to a German prison hospital for treatment of alcoholism as he began serving a sentence for tax evasion. . . . The Atlantic Coast Conference has given ESPN exclusive rights to televise 100 college football games from 1998 to 2005. The conference also extended its national TV agreement with ABC Sports