Katie Hoff

INDIANAPOLIS -- Baltimore's best swimmers traveled to the Midwest and spurred high hopes for what they might accomplish a year from now in the Far East. Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff were named the top individual performers at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming Nationals last night. Phelps leaves here with six new gold medals, including one from last night's 400-meter medley relay, won in 3 minute, 38.32 seconds, and Hoff won three national titles, capped by an impressive win in the 200-meter individual medley last night.

BEIJING - Katie Hoff won her third medal of the 2008 Olympics, swimming the anchor for the United States on the 800-meter freestyle relay and helping the Americans to a third-place finish today behind Australia and China. The Americans - who came into the event owning the world record - were in fourth place for much of the race after swims by Allison Schmitt and Natalie Coughlin, but Caroline Burckle and Hoff helped the U.S. rally past Italy to win bronze in a time of 7 minutes, 46.33 seconds.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA -- Imagine this: You check into your hotel after a long flight across the ocean, grab a towel and swimsuit, and head to the pool for a quick dip before lunch. It's empty, except for one person, a 17-year-old girl methodically swimming laps. The water churns and parts as she glides along, powered by a stroke that is technically perfect.

- The giggler who became the sweetheart of the 1988 Seoul Games, Janet Evans, found her situation this week pretty comical. She was trying, quite in vain as it turned out, to recapture Olympic glory at age 40. "There was a 16-year-old," the three-time gold medalist said of a swimmer two lanes over from her, "closer in age to Syd. " The mother of 5-year-old Sydney and 2-year-old Jake, Evans is not the only swimmer watching time pass...

OMAHA, Neb. -- Katie Hoff doesn't do cocky. And unlike the way some elite athletes try to come off as humble, it's not an act. "Something I value is humility," she said recently. "I can't stand cocky." You can present her with all the evidence. You can remind her that she's regarded as one of the best female swimmers in the world. You can bring up her six world championship medals. You can read back to her all the praise that coaches and competitors tend to throw her way each meet, and at most she'll smile and greet it with a shrug.

The Sun's Olympic correspondents, Rick Maese and Kevin Van Valkenburg, are blogging back and forth to each other at baltimoresun.com/olympicsblog . An excerpt: Let's get this straight: Katie Hoff's times here are not bad. Let's get this straight, too: They aren't as good as many anticipated. I have a hard time blaming Hoff. Take Tuesday's first race, for example. She set the American record in the 200-meter free, swam the fastest she'd ever swam in the race, and finished fourth. Is that failure?

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.

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Get ready for another double dip from the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. Michael Phelps goes after his third victory at the U.S. Olympic team trials tonight, in the 200-meter butterfly. One of the women's finals is the 200-meter individual medley, and Katie Hoff appears ready to make that the second event she'll swim in Athens. On Wednesday, the two swept the 400 IMs. Riding a wave of confidence, Hoff awoke yesterday with a personal best of 2 minutes, 15.26 seconds in the shorter race, which requires less endurance and more strength.

LONG BEACH, Calif. - For those of you keeping score at home, it's 8-5, with the rest of the U.S. leading the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. Through four nights and 13 finals at the U.S. Team Trials for swimming, there have been only two multiple winners. Michael Phelps has owned half of the men's events, and Katie Hoff became the first women's double-winner with a surprise title in the 200-meter individual medley last night. Four mornings ago and five weeks past her 15th birthday, Hoff was a scared kid in her first race here on Wednesday morning.

Now, the fun begins. Over the next few days, two young Maryland athletes - Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff - will be cheered by millions around the world as they surge through the pool of the Beijing National Aquatics Center in pursuit of an extraordinary achievement. Together, they aim to win more than a dozen Olympic gold medals, more gold than all but a handful of nations captured in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. We know it's not supposed to be about the medals. The thousands of athletes from more than 70 nations who have gathered in Beijing are competing for the love of their sport and the honor of representing their country.