Katie Hoff

So what if Katie Hoff found out she was on the World Championship team in the 400-meter freestyle by land, not by water? Hoff, who was raised in Towson, had to watch two agonizing heats of the 400 freestyle Friday night at the Pan Pacific Championships hoping that her time from the recent U.S. nationals would hold up. It did. Barely. Hoff won the 400 free earlier this month in 4 minutes, 5.50 seconds but did not make it out of the morning heats here. Two Americans would have to put down better times to knock her off the World squad, and only the winner, Chloe Sutton did so, going 4:05.

Et cetera Phelps-led U.S. relay team 3rd in 400 free Michael Phelps of Fells Point and his United States teammates finished third in the 400-meter freestyle relay on the first day of the World Swimming Championships in Shanghai, China. The Americans were second after Phelps' opening leg, and Garrett Weber-Gale , Jason Lezak and Nathan Adrian completed the third-place effort. Australia won in 3 minutes, 11 seconds; France was .14 of a second back and the Americans .96 behind.

On Monday, Katie Hoff won the 200-meter individual medley at the FINA world championships with the fourth-fastest time in history (2:10.41). This morning, she goes for another medal in the 200 freestyle. She set an American record (1:57.19) yesterday in the semifinals of the 200 free (she's shown at left on finishing that race).

swimming Hoff takes gold in 400 free at short-course championships Katie Hoff , who spent most of her swimming career at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club while growing up in Towson, won the 400-meter freestyle at the short-course world championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Friday. Hoff, who moved to California slightly more than a year ago to continue her training, captured the event in 3 minutes, 57.07 seconds, beating Kylie Palmer of Australia (3:58.

BEIJING - You can easily measure the distance between gold and silver. In heartbreaking fashion, for Katie Hoff today, it amounted to just .07 of a second. What's harder to measure is the distance Hoff traveled just to get here, to go from lying on a pool deck to becoming a regular visitor to the Olympic medal podium. So everyone can fully appreciate what she's doing in China, let's go through this one last time. Feel free to cut this out. Carry it in your pocket, if you must. Hang it on your refrigerator, even.

OMAHA, Neb. - Michael Phelps did not grow up a dreamer of small dreams. His reach, even from a very young age, always managed to exceed his grasp, as poet Robert Browning once wrote. * Phelps yearned to become a professional athlete like his idol Pablo Morales, and, in time, even though he made it so, it was not enough. He longed to win just one gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, ended up with six in Athens, and when it was over, he wanted more. He vowed to change the sport of swimming, and 25 world records later, there is so much more he still wants to achieve.

BEIJING - If karma counts for anything, Katie Hoff deserves to win a gold medal at these Olympics. Because if that happens, she'll never again have to explain why she threw up after the 400-meter individual medley at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. It's a story that gets told and retold virtually every time the Towson native is written about, but most of the media never seem to tire of hearing it. Hoff, who used to loathe discussing the incident, has been a pretty good sport about recounting her worst moment as a swimmer, including yesterday during the first news conference for the U.S. swim team.

Katie Hoff has seen the future. Between her smashing victories at the world swimming championships 4 1/2 months ago and her triumphs at nationals last week, Hoff toured Beijing to see what next year will bring. She did the tourist things but also inspected the outside of the swimming venue and viewed a model of the unfinished Olympic pool. With the Summer Olympics set to begin one year from today, Hoff said she liked what she saw. "I think it gave me a great advantage to be able to know what to expect and what it's going to be like," Hoff said of her spring visit.

MALLORCA, Spain - In some households, a 15-year-old who can operate the microwave is considered self-sufficient. Then there's Katie Hoff. The youngest member of the American delegation who is headed to the Athens Olympics, Hoff hasn't been home in Abingdon, Md., since early July. Her parents will follow the Games from there. Hoff last saw her North Baltimore Aquatic Club coach on the morning of Aug. 1, when the U.S. swim team began a journey that crossed 10 time zones. In one five-day span, the nights' rest was spent in three beds and a jet. "When you get this far, the challenge for most is that you have to do it on your own," coach Paul Yetter said.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Abingdon's Katie Hoff has grown physically by at least a half-inch, approaching 5 feet 9, over the months since the 2004 Summer Olympics, and this past week, during the U.S. world championship trials, she has grown in stature within swimming, too. Yesterday, after Hoff, 15, had finished her last preliminary qualifying effort in the 200-meter freestyle, Jack Bauerle, coach of the American women's world championships team, was trying to...

So what if Katie Hoff found out she was on the World Championship team in the 400-meter freestyle by land, not by water? Hoff, who was raised in Towson, had to watch two agonizing heats of the 400 freestyle Friday night at the Pan Pacific Championships hoping that her time from the recent U.S. nationals would hold up. It did. Barely. Hoff won the 400 free earlier this month in 4 minutes, 5.50 seconds but did not make it out of the morning heats here. Two Americans would have to put down better times to knock her off the World squad, and only the winner, Chloe Sutton did so, going 4:05.

NBA Summer League With 24 points in debut, Wall leads Wizards to opening win Guard John Wall finished with a team-high 24 points and eight assists in his Summer League debut, and the Washington Wizards defeated the Golden State Warriors, 84-79, at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas on Sunday. The No.1 overall pick in June's draft, Wall shot 7-for-15 from the field, collected a pair of rebounds and also blocked a shot as the Wizards began their five-game Summer League schedule.

AIFA Mariners trample Stampede, 63-15, to win Eastern title Led by five touchdown passes from E.J. Nemeth and five interceptions from the its defense, the Baltimore Mariners defeated the Harrisburg Stampede, 63-15, on Saturday to win the American Indoor Football Association Eastern Conference championship. The Mariners will host either the Wyoming Cavalry (13-1) or the San Jose Wolves (9-5) in the AIFA championship at 4 p.m. July 25 at 1st Mariner Arena. Major League Lacrosse Bayhawks fall into early 9-0 hole, drop fourth in row Midfielder Paul Rabil scored four goals and led an early onslaught that lifted the Boston Cannons to a 16-10 victory over the Chesapeake Bayhawks at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Geovany Garcia set a personal best Thursday when he captured four races from seven mounts at Laurel Park. Garcia, 21, the younger brother of Maryland mainstay Luis Garcia , won on Reckless Runner ($5-first), Jackie Lad ($9.60-second), Giron ($9.80-fifth) and Roi de Coeurs ($10-seventh). Women's college lacrosse: Stevenson's 14-11 comeback victory at York on Wednesday was the 100th win in the career of head coach Kathy Railey , who is 36-31 with the Mustangs in five seasons and 100-70 in 11 seasons overall.

Olympians Katie Hoff of Towson and Matt Grevers of Lake Forest, Ill., took home the women's and men's high-point award Monday at the Southern California Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif., and Michael Phelps of Fells Point took home a gold medal in the 100-yard butterfly on the final night of competition. Phelps won in 45.68 seconds, beating out Japan's Masayuki Kishida (46.32) and Grevers. Phelps won three of his five events in Long Beach and claimed 16 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series points.

Swimming Phelps, Hoff win 400 IM gold at Southern California GP Michael Phelps, who lives in Fells Point, and Katie Hoff of Towson won gold medals Sunday night at the Southern California Grand Prix in Long Beach. Phelps held off Japan's Hidemasa Sano in the 400-yard individual medley to take home his second gold of the meet. Phelps finished in 3 minutes, 38.42 seconds; Sano's time was 3:39.63. Hoff won the 400IM in a meet-record-4:04.39, edging Ariana Kukors (4:06.04). Hoff was second in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:44.

Blue is for first, red is for second ... Swimming meant a kaleidoscope of ribbon colors to Katie Hoff until a fateful finish in an otherwise forgettable summer meet in Virginia. "It was a 25-yard breaststroke," Hoff said. "I remember looking up and seeing one of my friends far ahead of me, and saying, `I don't like this.' I guess the competitive side of me broke free. I started racing at that point, instead of just swimming." That occurred in 1996, the year of the Atlanta Olympics, and it's convenient to mark her growth in terms of the quadrennial.

At 17, Katie Hoff and Kimmie Meissner are already Olympic veterans, each making her mark by bending water to her will. Hoff, of Towson, cuts an imposing figure as the fastest swimmer in the world in the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley. Meissner, of Bel Air, glides on the surface as the reigning world and national figure skating champion. This week the teens are half a world away from home, trying to burnish their international credentials with an eye toward the next Olympics.

Olympians Michael Phelps of Fells Point and Katie Hoff of Towson won 400-yard individual medleys on Sunday night at the Southern California Grand Prix. Phelps finished in 3 minutes, 38.42 seconds, about a second behind his preliminary time but well ahead of second-place finisher Hidemasa Sano, who touched in 3:39.63. Todd Patrick was third in 3:45.54 at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool. Phelps won the 500-yard freestyle on Saturday as he continues getting back in competition shape.

Michael Phelps , who lives in Fells Point, and Katie Hoff of Towson won gold medals Sunday night at the Southern California Grand Prix in Long Beach. Phelps held off Japan's Hidemasa Sano in the 400-yard individual medley to take home his second gold of the meet. Phelps finished in 3 minutes, 38.42 seconds; Sano's time was 3:39.63. Hoff won the 400IM in a meet-record-4:04.39, edging Ariana Kukors (4:06.04). Hoff was second in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:44.