Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff smashed world records at the opening night of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials at Qwest Center, Omaha in the men's and women's 400m individual medley, clocking 4:5:25 and 4:31.12 minutes, respectively.

Wearing the new high-tech Speedo LZR Racer suit, Phelps -- nicknamed the "Baltimore Bullet" -- fired out of the blocks next to Ryan Lochte, his "great friend and great competitor."

The two took the lead from the start, and increased their advantage stroke by stroke until they touched the final wall at 4:5:25 and 4:06.08 minutes, respectively.

Although both beat Phelps' previous record of 4:06.22, set at the World Championships in Australia last year, Lochte's would-be record of 4:06.08 was only good enough to claim runner-up of the night.

Robert Margalis finished third, over seven seconds behind the top two.

Less than one hour later, spectators witnessed the birth of another world record.

Nineteen-year-old Katie Hoff finished in 4:31:12 minutes in the women's 400m individual medley, breaking the previous record of 4:31.46 set by Stephanie Rice at the Australian Olympic trials in March. Another rising star, 15-year-old Elizabeth Beisel finished second with a time of 4:32.87 minutes.

Larsen Jensen set an American record in the men's 400m freestyle, clocking 3:43:53 minutes, to beat Peter Vanderkaay's record of 3:43.82, which was set last month in California. Vanderkaay finished second in 3:43.73, also faster than his former record.

The Women's 100m butterfly semifinals and the men's 100m breaststroke semifinals were also held on Sunday night (June 29). Christine Magnuson finished first in the women's 100m butterfly with a time of 57.50 seconds, and Brendan Hansen topped the men's 100m breaststroke with a time of 59.24 seconds. The top four finishers from each semifinal will go on to the finals on Monday night (June 30).

BEIJING -- China's top backstroker Ouyang Kunpeng has been banned for life for failing a doping test, a major embarrassment for the host country just six weeks before the Beijing Olympics.

In a statement Friday, the Chinese Swimming Association said Ouyang tested positive for a doping substance on May 1. It gave no details about the substance. The CSA said Ouyang's coach Feng Shangbao was also given a life ban.

Ouyang was not considered a contender for gold at the Olympics. China is expected to produce few winners in the pool and has won only one gold medal in swimming in the past two Olympics. The top candidate is probably Wu Peng in 200 meter butterfly.

Ouyang won three silver medals at the 2006 Asian Games.

China is hoping to overshadow problems leading up to the games -- including choking air pollution, chaotic protests on the torch relay and issues of freedom of the press -- by topping the gold-medal table and overtaking the United States.

Any positive doping test by a Chinese athlete during the Olympics would be a major blow.

"The Chinese Swimming Association has made lots of effort on anti-doping, however this positive test case still happened," the statement said. "It's a big lesson, and we need to stay alert on anti-doping and pay constant attention."

"The Chinese Swimming Association strongly opposes doping and is cracking down on doping to guarantee a fair-play environment, to protect athletes' health and guarantee athletes are clean when competing in Olympics."

Chinese swimmers were involved in a series of doping scandals in the 1990s. In the past year, under pressure from the World Anti-Doping Agency, China has begun toughening its drug testing and is also trying to close factories in China that produce performance-enhancing drugs and sell over Web sites.

The China Anti-Doping Agency recently opened a new laboratory that will do 4,500 doping tests for the Olympics. This is up 25 percent from Athens.

Watched the Women's Qualification tonight...did anyone else notice the massive camel toe that Shawn Johnson was sporting in the intro?

Don't worry if you missed it, I took a pic...

Laure Manaudou

And Italian swimmer Luca Marin's penis.

That's what I get for watching the Olympics...

So...you've seen his penis before? I'm impressed that you can recognize it without seeing his face.

Misty May and Kerri Walsh with President Bush

Whats going on in this picture?

Laure Manaudou

Whats going on in this picture?

Jenifer Benitez Oops Video



http://rapidshare.com/files/138532477/JB001.rar

Got a password for that rar?

An odd mix: