American's Swimmer,Scott Spann Won the 200 IM and the 100 Yard Breaststroke

BEIJING — Noones anticipated Scott Spann being at these Olympics, much less becoming the only American to grace the final of the 200-meter breaststroke. He surprised some people and astonished the rest.



In the semifinals of the breaststroke Wednesday, Spann qualified third in 2 minutes 9.08 seconds. It was his best time by more than a half second. Ranked 30th in the world last year, he won the United States Olympic swimming trials in 2:09.67, a sizable improvement over his 2007 personal best of 2:13.98. In Thursday’s final, he finished sixth in 2:09.76.

Eddie Reese, the United States Olympic men’s coach who works with Spann, said: “We knew Scott was coming along. We just didn’t know he’d get there that quick.”

Spann’s timing for a breakthrough year was perfect. His father, Scott, wasn’t so fortunate. In 1976, at the age of 18, he finished 17th in the 100-meter breaststroke at the United States trials in 1:08.14. (This year the younger Spann was third at the trials in 1:00.59).

from NYTimes