Freestyle

INDIANAPOLIS -- The third day of the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships was marked by a pair of exciting rivalry races -- one marred by a bad start, and the other capped by an exciting finish. Just a half-hour after his third-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle yesterday, Michael Phelps took to the starting blocks for the 100-meter butterfly and another showdown with world record holder Ian Crocker. As the racers awaited the start, Crocker flinched slightly at what appeared to be a camera flash, drawing a collective moan from the crowd.

The Fallston girls team used its depth to capture a third consecutive Harford County swimming championship last night at Magnolia Middle School. The Cougars won five of the meet's 11 events. In addition, Fallston finished in the top three in nine events to compile 294 points, beating out North Harford (249). "The girls just did an awesome job again," said Sheri Huppenthal, who coaches Fallston with Jeff DeHart. "From the kids that placed first to the kids that placed 12th, we needed them all."

McDonogh has never beaten Loyola in swimming, and Eagles senior Mike Wheeler says it's time for a change."I've thought about it since my freshman year. I've thought about it, it seems, forever," said Wheeler, 18, a Woodbine resident. "To go out on top would be a great way to end my high-school career."Wheeler set meet records at last year's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association championships in both the 200 freestyle (1 minute, 42.85 seconds) and the 500 freestyle (4: 35.94).He also swam the first leg of the Wheeler winning 400 free relay and the backstroke leg of the runner-up 200 medley relay.

The University of Maryland will play host to the Atlantic Coast Conference women's swimming and diving championships starting at 11 a.m. today and continuing through Saturday at the Campus Recreation Center Nata- torium.The Terps, whose fourth-place finish last year was their best ever, are led by Kim Piotro. The senior from Gilbert, Ariz., is the ACC's defending champion in the 200-yard freestyle and has the league's top time (50.39) in the 100 freestyle.Virginia is considered the favorite after winning the meet last season.

At age 14, City's Donte Coleman hasn't yet developed the chiseled physique of most champion swimmers. In the water, however, the sophomore is about as imposing as they come.VTC Coleman won a pair of individual events -- taking 24 seconds off the previous meet record in the 500 freestyle -- in leading City to the boys team championship at the Baltimore City Swim Championships at Morgan State University last night. The Knights won the meet with 356 points, followed by Poly (339) and Lake Clifton (280)

The Pilot Killer? Everex Freestyle does Windows CEThe Everex Freestyle, the first of the Microsoft Windows CE-based "Palm PCs" is here, and it's one cool computer. Being a big fan of the PalmPilot, and well aware that the PPC is Microsoft's assault on the Pilot's palmtop supremacy, I approached the Everex with mild disdain. But the Freestyle offers a number of significant improvements over the PalmPilot.First, there's more RAM. Lots of it. The new PalmPilot Palm III has 2MB. The basic model of the Freestyle, called the Associate ($329)

After losing several top swimmers from last year's national Catholic championship team, Loyola coach Keith Schertle wasn't sure what to expect this season. Yesterday, in what shaped up as the Dons' biggest challenge of the season against McDonogh, the first-year coach found more than he bargained for.The host Dons won nine of 12 events, thanks in large part to their newly-discovered depth, in a 105-71 win over the previously unbeaten Eagles."I knew we lost a lot, but last year's team was absolutely phenomenal," said Schertle.

Mount St. Joseph swimmer Tommy Hannan is local swimming's mystery man.No one quite knows the origin of his athleticism or his innate aquatic skills, though rumor has it they came from his mother's side, said his father, Tom Hannan. He's called "an anomaly" by one of his coaches, all of whom are perplexed by Hannan's seemingly endless durability in workouts."He's a superb athlete with a natural gift and a great feel for the water," said Mount St. Joseph coach Greg McDivitt. "I think he's really looking forward to swimming in college, and because of his late start, I think his best swimming is ahead of him."

More high-profile collegiate basketball is scheduled for the Baltimore Arena, as the third annual Black College All-Star Basketball Classic comes to town April 18 after two years in Atlanta.Coppin State's Antoine Brockington and Danny Singletary will headline a 12-man North squad that also will include Morgan State's Tremain Byrd and Jerard Rucker.Former Boston Celtics great Sam Jones will coach the North team, and former Baltimore Bullets Hall of Famer Earl "The Pearl" Monroe will return to the site of his many feats and guide the South team.

The Baltimore Museum of Art resembled a scene from the children's book about a brother and sister locked in the Metropolitan Museum of Art all night. But in the local version, the lights were on and the children had plenty of grown-up company.On a soft spring evening, the BMA held its 26th "Freestyle" open house, which is free and open to the public from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. the first Thursday of every month."It's less museum as a cathedral, more a place to socialize," said Alan Hirsch, 42, co-owner of the Donna's at the BMA restaurant.

Cadet and Junior Wrestling 15 All-America awards at nationals is state record The Maryland national wrestling team brought home 15 individual All-America awards from the Cadet and Junior National Championships on Sunday in Fargo, N.D., the highest number in state history. Tyler Goodwin (119), Frank Goodwin (125), Bubba Scheffel (152; Southern-Garrett) and Karl Green (285; Mount St. Joseph) were double All-Americans. Tyler Goodwin made the cadet national finals in Greco-Roman competition and placed eighth in freestyle.

ROME - -The Great Stroke Experiment is over. By mutual decision, Michael Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, are putting that relatively new windmill, straight-arm stroke - designed for sprinting - right back on the shelf. "It actually was [mutual]. It's funny, as often happens, he came out and said the same thing," Bowman said this morning at the world championships. "He said, 'I don't think this is working.' I said, 'You're right.' Experiment failed. Next." The Baltimore swimmer told Bowman that on Sunday night, almost immediately after his opening leg in the winning 400-meter freestyle relay.

Horse racing 'Rachel' assigned top weight for Sunday's Delaware 'Cap Rachel Alexandra has been assigned top weight of 123 pounds for the 72nd running of the 1 1/4-mile, $1 million Grade II Delaware Handicap to be run Sunday at Delaware Park. The 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d' Oro is 6-for-6 this year, including victories in the Preakness, Kentucky Oaks and Mother Goose Stakes. Acoma, the recent winner of the Grade III Mint Julep Stakes, and Unbridled Belle, the winner of the Grade II Delaware Handicap in 2007, have both been assigned 119 pounds.

He tinkered with his stroke and exhausted his muscles in the weight room. He grew a mustache. He won some races and lost a few. He just missed out on grabbing the world record he wants but doesn't own. All that, however interesting or mundane, was merely part of a three-month dress rehearsal for swimmer Michael Phelps. The real opening act - the one likely to provide the first snippet of drama to his return to competitive swimming - begins Tuesday at the national championships in Indianapolis.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Michael Phelps couldn't hear it because he had his iPhone ear buds tucked in, but when he walked into the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center on Friday night for the 200-meter freestyle final, AC/DC's "Back in Black" was blaring over the loudspeakers. Though perhaps a bit cliche, it was still a mildly clever choice by the organizers of the Charlotte UltraSwim. Phelps was, after all, officially back, returning to competition for the first time since the Beijing Olympics.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Normally, the Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix is a pretty tame affair. In a busy year, USA Swimming credentials eight to 10 media members to cover the meet, and that would probably be a generous estimate. But when Michael Phelps announced that the UltraSwim, which begins Friday, would be his first meet since he won eight gold medals in Beijing - and the first meet since his three-month suspension for being photographed with a bong ended - normal and tame got tossed out the window.

The day that Katie Hoff realized the Second Act of her swimming life had truly begun, she was struggling to finish a workout at Meadowbrook Athletic Club. Her muscles were shaking, pleading with her brain to give the order to quit. She was so emotionally strung out, she fell to the ground and started to bawl. Her new coach, Bob Bowman, bellowed at her from across the pool deck. Katie! Don't you dare give up, he barked. Get up! Keep going! Hoff knew on some level that this is what it would be like to work with Bowman, who helped Michael Phelps win 14 gold medals during the past two Olympics.

LANDOVER -After shattering her own state records in the 200-yard individual medley and 100 butterfly yesterday, Sarah Lloyd of Severna Park took a few moments to soak it all in as she casually swam a few laps to cool down at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex. Meanwhile, her twin sister, Emily Lloyd, was breaking state records in the 100 freestyle and the 500 freestyle events. The record-setting day by the juniors helped the Falcons win the Class 4A-3A state championship with 334 points, ahead of second-place Urbana (275.

Loyola kept its streak alive - although the host McDonogh swimmers made it interesting. The Dons won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship again last night. Loyola has won or shared the title for 17 straight years. The Dons won it 16 times outright and split the championship with Calvert Hall in 1994. They won the crown despite a national record-setting swim by McDonogh's Giles Smith in the 50-yard freestyle. His 19.74-second performance was the best ever for a private-school competitor.

C. Milton Wright ended Fallston's recent dominance in the Harford County swimming championships last night. The Mustangs easily won the girls meet at Magnolia Middle School, and their big victory helped C.M. Wright also come away with the combined (boys and girls) team championship. Fallston had won its sixth straight boys crown in Tuesday's meet, edging the Mustangs, but two Cougars streaks ended in this two-day event. Their girls had won the team title four straight times, and the Cougars also had taken the combined team title for five consecutive seasons.