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She's no slacker

Kate Ziegler hugs Katie Hoff, right, after Hoff won the women's 400-meter freestyle final with a time of 4 minutes, 2.32 seconds at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Neb., Monday.
Hoff set to log more pool time than Phelps

OMAHA, Neb. — Hey, Michael Phelps. You've got some catching up to do.

Katie Hoff, a teenager from the same North Baltimore club that launched Phelps, is set to swim 900 more meters at the U.S. Olympic trials than the sport's resident superstar.

And Hoff is already 2-for-2, having rallied to win the 400-meter freestyle Monday night, just 24 hours after she set a world record in the 400 individual medley.

She held off Kate Ziegler, America's best distance swimmer, to win with a time of 4 minutes, 2.32 seconds.

Phelps has earned a spot on his third Olympic team, having won the men's 400 IM, also in world-record time on opening night. He figures to swim up to 3,800 meters over the eight-day meet, making him a relative slacker compared to Hoff's anticipated 4,700 meters.

She'll pull double duty today, competing in morning preliminaries of the 200 freestyle and 200 IM. If she advances as expected, Hoff will return in the evening for two semifinals.

Whew!

She's already done about a mile of races in Omaha and plans to compete in four more before the week is out, pursuing an Olympic program just slightly less ambitious than the one Phelps will attempt in hopes of knocking off Mark Spitz's record of seven golds in one Olympics.

Phelps will be in action on Day 3, going in the 200 butterfly prelims, where he's likely to be king of the pool. He's the world record holder and there's no Ryan Lochte to challenge him in the event.

But the two rivals and friends will meet up in the 200 freestyle final to night, and if he advances, Phelps will swim the 200 butterfly semifinals, too. On opening night, Phelps and Lochte both eclipsed the old world record in the 400 IM, but Phelps got his hand on the wall first.

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