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July 18, 2008

AUSTIN, Texas -- A whirlwind month of July continues for University of Texas rising junior Ricky Berens, who joins classmates Dave Walters and Scott Spann on the U.S. Olympic Men's Swimming Team.

The meet that changed his life forever began on June 30 for Berens when he qualified fourth out of the 200-meter freestyle preliminary round at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Neb. Berens qualified fifth in that evening's semifinal round to earn a spot in the finals on July 1, when he took a surprising third place in a new personal-best time of 1:46.14 to earn his first spot on the U.S. Olympic Team.

Berens, Walters, Spann and the rest of the U.S. Olympic Team members departed Omaha on July 7 and began their U.S. Olympic Team Training Camp on July 8 in Palo Alto, Calif. The teams will remain in Palo Alto through July 25, when they will head to their next training camp site in Singapore before departing for Beijing.

For Berens, the reality of making the U.S. Olympic team has yet to sink in completely.

"For now, it feels like I'm on another National Team trip," said Berens, who represented the United States last summer at the Pan American Games in Brazil. "Once we get to Beijing and start training there, it will start to hit me."

The Olympic training camp has presented Berens and his Texas teammates a unique opportunity to work with their college coach, Eddie Reese, in a national-team setting, but also the chance to experience the workout regimen placed on Michael Phelps by his coach, Bob Bowman.

"Dave (Walters) and I have been training with Phelps and the Club Wolverine guys, with coaches Bowman and (Jon) Urbanchek, and it has been worthwhile to see how they practice and train. We've been through some tough practices with those guys, but, of course, we've been through tough workouts with Eddie Reese, too. It's been great to see another perspective, training-wise."

As members of the 800-meter freestyle relay pool, Berens and Walters may get the opportunity to swim that relay with Phelps, who has informally set an ambitious goal for the relay in Beijing.

"We were in the middle of our training the other day, and (Michael) Phelps yells out, 'First 800 free relay under 7 minutes!,' Berens said. "So, yes, we've got a lot to train for before we get to Beijing."

U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials: A truly burnt orange affair
Current and former Longhorns landed seven of the 22 spots on the U.S. Olympic men's swimming team headed by UT coach Eddie Reese, who will begin his 31st season in Austin upon his return from Beijing. The recent U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials served as yet another marker of the UT program's excellence under Reese and long-time assistant coach Kris Kubik, who will begin his 26th season with Reese next month. But, beyond the seven Longhorns who earned spots on the U.S. Olympic Team, the program's excellence manifested itself throughout the Trials.

· Current and former Longhorns broke two world records, four U.S. Open records and four American records at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
· Current and former Texas swimmers nailed down 12 finals berths, and a Longhorn appeared in nine of the 13 finals contested in Omaha.
· Current and former Texas swimmers secured 24 semifinals berths in Omaha and landed spots in eight of the 10 events in which a semifinals session was contested.

Future Horns Compete at FINA World Junior Championships
Incoming UT freshmen Eric Friedland and Hayes Johnson represented the USA at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships contested July 8-13 in Monterrey, Mexico.

Friedland (Bethesda, Md.) placed fourth in the 200-meter breaststroke in 2:16.08. Friedland took 16th place overall in the event at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Johnson (Nashville, Tenn.) took fourth in the 200-meter backstroke in 2:01.18. Johnson placed 23rd in the event at the U.S. Olympic Trials.