Bakersfield.com: Kern County news, events, classifieds, shopping, & search

RSS Feed   Print Story   E-mail Story        

'I am not going for silver'

BY JAY ERICSSON, Special to the Californian | Sunday, Jul 6 2008 11:55 PM

Last Updated: Monday, Jul 7 2008 10:51 AM

Even though Bakersfield-bred Larsen Jensen finished second in the last event of the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials, the former Garces High student wasn’t ready to concede anything to any other competitor — American or foreign.

“I am not going for a silver medal,” he said. “I am going for the gold medal, I already have a silver medal and I don’t want another one!”

Jensen, who won the 400-meter freestyle in American record time on the first day of the meet, was going for victory Sunday in the 1,500-meter free. The trials were conducted in a temporary pool at the Qwest Center in this sports crazy Midwest city. The 15-session meet attracted nearly 165,000 spectators, just a few miles north of where the annual College World Series is conducted.

The American record holder in all three distance swimming events, Jensen started his quest for his second victory just after 41-year-old Dara Torres completed her double. Torres, who is now the superhero for women well past college age, lowered her own American record in the 50-meter free to 24.25. Torres set her first national standard in the event in 1983, clocking 25.69 and has held the U.S. mark continuously since 2000, except for one day during this competition.

In trying to capture his second straight Olympic trials victory in the 1,500-meter free, Jensen started off with a different strategy than he normally employs in the event. Moving into the lead at the 200-meter mark, Jensen pulled away from the field with a pace that was faster than when he set the American record in 2004.

Jensen extended his lead until he hit the 900-meter mark, when he was more than four seconds ahead of Peter Vanderkaay, who won the event in 14:45.54. Vanderkaay’s time was just 0.16 slower than Jensen’s record time, but was the fastest ever swam on American soil.

After turning at 900 meters, Vanderkaay cut into Jensen’s lead during each length of the pool. Jensen finally lost his lead with 250 meters remaining, clocking a 14:50.80 to take second and the last spot for the Beijing-bound team.

Although Jensen altered his normal wait-until-the-end strategy, he thought he had the speed to start off with his fast pace. “I figured going out a little quick wouldn’t be that difficult, and it really didn’t feel that difficult,” he said. “I don’t know why I faded at the end, maybe I could have pushed it a little more. That is a race that I can second-guess.”

With the Olympics starting Aug. 8, the U.S. team now heads to a training camp, which will initially be held in Palo Alto. Swimming competition in Beijing will begin the day after the opening ceremonies.

Even though Jensen didn’t complete the double he desired, he is very optimistic about his chances in China.

“The 14:50 is a lot faster than I went in the last Olympic trials, and I dropped 11 seconds at the Games,” Jensen said. “If I drop another 11 seconds I will be in good shape.”

On another note, Jensen issued a warning for the rest of the swimming world.

“The rest of the world better look out … we’re going out there and put the hammer down and the USA is going to be a lot stronger,” he said.