Maya DiRado wins 200-meter backstroke, qualifies for third Olympic event

OMAHA, Neb. - Maya DiRado is adding another event to her slate in this summer’s Olympics in Rio.

The Maria Carrillo graduate and Stanford alumna knocked off defending Olympic champion Missy Franklin in the 200-meter backstroke final on Saturday, finishing in first by a full second and earning the chance to represent the U.S. in a third event.

She’ll also swim in the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medleys.

DiRado’s time of 2 minutes, 6.9 seconds is fifth-fastest among American backstrokers. Franklin holds the record, which she set in 2012 with a time of 2 minutes, 4.06 seconds.

“This is a dream,” DiRado said.

For DiRado, it’s been a huge surprise, the first-time Olympian setting herself up to make quite a splash before she retires at age 23. She has already lined up a job as a business analyst in Atlanta.

Michael Phelps also made it three-for-three at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, rallying on the return lap to win the 100-meter butterfly Saturday night.

In what was billed as the farewell race in his home country, Phelps competed in lane seven after a sluggish swim in the semifinals. As usual, it took him a lap to really get going, making the turn in fourth place.

But Phelps powered to the front, as he’s done so many times.

Even with a long glide to the wall, he finished in 51 seconds.

When Phelps saw the “1” beside his name, he pounded the water and pointed toward his family - including 7-week-old son Boomer - up in the stands. He’ll now get a chance to win his fourth consecutive gold in the 100 fly at Rio.

When his longtime coach, Bob Bowman, asked for a game plan before the race, Phelps kept it simple.

“I don’t want to lose my last race on American soil,” he said.

Phelps, of course, is also planning to retire - for the second time - as soon as his fifth Olympics are over. At age 31, he cruised through Omaha with victories in both butterfly races as well as the 200 individual medley.

Assuming he is on all three men’s relays in Rio, a virtual lock, he’ll get a chance to add six more medals to his already massive collection of 18 golds and 22 medals overall.

The second Olympic spot in the 100 fly went to Tom Shields, who touched in 51.20 to barely beat out Seth Stubblefield (51.24).

“We did everything that we wanted to do,” Phelps said.

Well, not quite. He’ll need to go even faster in Rio.

“A 51.0 is OK,” he said, “but it’s going to take more than that to win a gold medal.”

Also on Saturday, Katie Ledecky had the dominating performance everyone expected, this one a nearly 10-second victory in the 800 freestyle.

One night after competing in the 100 free, the 19-year-old Ledecky didn’t have quite enough in the tank to challenge her own world record. She finished in 8 minutes, 10.32 seconds, far off the mark of 8:06.68 she set in January at a meet in Austin, Texas.

The swimmer who surprisingly captured gold in the 800 free four years ago will go into Rio as one of the biggest favorites in any sport. Leah Smith took the second Olympics spot in 8:20.18 - nearly half a lap behind Ledecky.

Ledecky also posted Omaha wins in the 200 and 400 free, which means she’ll have three individual events and a relay at the Olympics. The only thing that didn’t go her way: a seventh-place finish in the 100 free, an event she only recently started focusing on in hopes of landing a second relay race.

Ledecky will be busy enough as it is.

“She’s going to tear it up,” Phelps predicted. “She always does.”

Franklin, a big disappointment at the trials but still set to swim three events in Rio, finished the 200-meter backstroke in 2:07.89 to hold off Lisa Bratton for the second berth.

“I got a spot and that’s all that I needed to do,” Franklin said. “There’s so much room for improvement.”

Franklin claimed her second individual event in Rio, having also taken the runner-up spot in the 200 freestyle. She’ll also swim the 4x200 free relay, a far cry from her grueling seven-event program at London four years ago.

“One of the things I’ve been trying to do this whole year is not compare myself to where I was in 2012,” she said. “I’m here to be the best of who I am right now.”

Nathan Adrian, who failed to qualify in the 50 free at the 2012 trials, swept the sprint events.

In a furious dash from one end of the pool to the other, he touched ahead of Anthony Ervin in 21.51 seconds. Ervin claimed the second spot for Rio - one-hundredth of a second behind the winner.

“It’s an honor to come out of that field on top,” Adrian said.

Two-time Olympian Cullen Jones won’t be heading to Rio. The silver medalist from London finished third at 21.75, missing a spot on the U.S. team.

At age 32, it might’ve been Jones’ last realistic shot at the Olympics. He was the final man to climb out of the pool, soaking up the moment for as long as possible.