Peirsol, Coughlin are world beaters

OMAHA -- The planet of sound reached out and touched Natalie Coughlin, underwater, no less, and Aaron Peirsol said he used his vision to eye his rivals in the lanes to his right and left.

Different senses. But they helped achieve the same result Tuesday night at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials: World records in consecutive finals, both in the 100-meter backstroke.

That barrier breaker, Coughlin, pushed through the pain to reach a place no woman had gone before, breaking the 59-second barricade, winning in 58.97 seconds.

“It was the first time I could hear a crowd underwater,” Coughlin said. “I don’t know if they have speakers underwater or they were really that loud, but I knew I was having a good swim and I just needed to hold it together.”

The buzz from the Qwest Center had barely calmed when Peirsol stepped up and beat a formidable field, going 52.89.

Among the other winners were Jessica Hardy of Long Beach in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.87) and Michael Phelps in the 200 freestyle (1:44.10), the third-fastest time in history against a tough field.

The top five finishers in the 200 freestyle had times that put them among the top 10 in the world this year.

Not often does Phelps get relegated to a near footnote.

“I’m very elated,” said the Orange County-raised Peirsol, whose previous mark, set in 2007, was 52.98. “That’s amazing. That was probably the best field I’ve ever been in. That’s ridiculous.”

Just how ridiculous?

Well, it meant the bold gamble of Ryan Lochte backfired in a big way. Lochte, who scratched from the final of the 200 freestyle after posting the fastest-qualifying time to concentrate on the 100 backstroke, was third in 53.37 behind Matt Grevers’ 53.19.

“I made it. I don’t know what to say,” said Grevers, the Northwestern graduate who trains at the University of Arizona. “My parents are out there crying.”

You wondered whether Lochte might have been doing the same.

The sad part of the equation, for Lochte, was that his semifinal time would have put him second in the 200 freestyle final.

He wasn’t hoarding the misery though. Lochte had company in Hayley McGregory, who went from world-record holder to unfortunate outsider.

McGregory, who briefly took the world record from Coughlin on Monday in the preliminaries before Coughlin took it back, finished third behind Coughlin and Margaret Hoelzer.

The 22-year-old from Longhorn (Texas) Aquatics was disconsolate, hanging on the lane line, seemingly unable to move after the results were posted. It was suggested to Coughlin that McGregory’s experience epitomized the cruel nature of the trials.

“That’s a very good way to put it,” Coughlin said. “It is a cruel meet. . . . People assume that if you’re the world-record holder that you’re going to go to Beijing, no problem. Anything can happen in this meet. It’s just how the sport is. It’s the nature of the beast. It’s unfair.”

For every Lochte and McGregory, there are the requisite stories of redemption at the trials.

Example No. 1: Hardy, who finished fifth at the trials in this event in her own backyard in Long Beach in 2004. “I have no words,” she said. “I’m just so happy. That’s four years of emotion out there. . . . Every day for the past four years, I have had this in the back of my mind.”

Going to Beijing with Hardy in the 100 breaststroke will be 24-year-old Megan Jendrick, who won gold in 2000 in this event when she was known as Megan Quann. Jendrick was second in 1:07.50.

Jendrick’s husband, Nathan, was hospitalized after an automobile accident in May in the Seattle area where they live, and he downplayed the seriousness of it because she was swimming at a meet in Santa Clara, Calif., when it happened.

Nathan still is walking with a limp but was wearing a huge smile in the press room on Tuesday night, saying: “It’s been a long eight years.”

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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Duels in the pool

Highlights from Day 3 of the U.S. Olympic swim trials at Omaha:

* Finals: Today’s marquee event should be the women’s 200-meter individual medley, featuring American-record holder and reluctant one, Natalie Coughlin, versus the former record holder, Katie Hoff. Coughlin had to be coaxed and persuaded to swim this one here.

There’s also Michael Phelps in the 200 butterfly, who was not happy with his last turn in that event in the semifinals Tuesday night. The other final is the women’s 200 freestyle. Meanwhile, there are semifinals in the men’s 100 freestyle, women’s 200 butterfly and men’s 200 breaststroke.

* Old guard: Amanda Beard finished sixth in the 100 breaststroke Tuesday night and failed to qualify for the final of tonight’s 200 IM. The 200 IM medley final will be the last race of Kaitlin Sandeno’s long career. The Orange County native, who has been training with Club Wolverine in Ann Arbor, Mich., has been beset by a recent bout of bronchitis and an injured knee and failed to qualify in two other individual events. “It’s a good thing,” Sandeno said of the approaching end. “This 25-year-old is on her way out.”

* Quotable: “Is there baggage around the 200 IM? Yes. There’s baggage for a lot of years,” said coach Teri McKeever, of Coughlin’s relationship with that event.

-- Lisa Dillman