Scott Usher's 2008 Olympic dreams came to an end Thursday night. Usher was swimming in the finals of the 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials. The top two advance to the Olympics in Beijing. Usher ended up third. The Grand Island native finished the race in 2 minutes, 11 seconds. Scott Spann was the surprise winner in 2:09.97 while Eric Shanteau was second in 2:10.36. Usher seemed at ease with the third-place finish after the race. "Four years ago I didn't know if I'd be here," Usher said. "It's been a fun ride. It's great to go down like this. I gave it my all for Nebraska and Omaha. I just came up short." Brian Jensen of Grand Island, who was Usher's club coach when he was in high school, said it all came down to the finish. "He was in good shape at the 100," Jensen said. "It just came down to who was going to hit the wall first. The breaststroke is about timing at the finish. One guy happened to be at the end of his stroke and Scott was at the beginning of his stroke and that was the difference." Usher was in second after the first split, then was pretty much third the rest of the way. "This whole meet I haven't felt the best, so I think my taper was a little off," Usher said. "I knew I was there. I could feel the guys moving on my right side there in that last 50, but I was doing all I could to keep my stroke rate going and everything. I just got out-touched." Jensen said he talked to Usher a little befor ...
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Scott Usher's 2008 Olympic dreams came to an end Thursday night. Usher was swimming in the finals of the 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials. The top two advance to the Olympics in Beijing. Usher ended up third. The Grand Island native finished the race in 2 minutes, 11 seconds. Scott Spann was the surprise winner in 2:09.97 while Eric Shanteau was second in 2:10.36. Usher seemed at ease with the third-place finish after the race. "Four years ago I didn't know if I'd be here," Usher said. "It's been a fun ride. It's great to go down like this. I gave it my all for Nebraska and Omaha. I just came up short." Brian Jensen of Grand Island, who was Usher's club coach when he was in high school, said it all came down to the finish. "He was in good shape at the 100," Jensen said. "It just came down to who was going to hit the wall first. The breaststroke is about timing at the finish. One guy happened to be at the end of his stroke and Scott was at the beginning of his stroke and that was the difference." Usher was in second after the first split, then was pretty much third the rest of the way. "This whole meet I haven't felt the best, so I think my taper was a little off," Usher said. "I knew I was there. I could feel the guys moving on my right side there in that last 50, but I was doing all I could to keep my stroke rate going and everything. I just got out-touched." Jensen said he talked to Usher a little befor ...