Black Men CAN Swim: Cullen Jones Sets American Record

 

Jones sets American record in 50 free at US trials - USATODAY.com

OMAHA (AP) — Cullen Jones rocketed to an American record in the 50-meter freestyle preliminaries at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on the Fourth of July.

Jones touched in 21.59 seconds, lowering the old mark of 21.76 set by Gary Hall Jr. at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Jones gulped one breath halfway through Friday's chaotic race.

 

"I'll take an American record," he said, smiling. "I definitely put my head down when I was going into the wall, but I think there's a lot more in the tank."

 

He, Ben Wildman-Tobriner and Hall were the only men under 22 seconds in the morning heats. World champion Wildman-Tobriner qualified second in 21.68; Hall, the 33-year-old, two-time defending Olympic champion, was third in 21.89.

 

"Everybody anticipated that record was going down," Hall said. "There's just been too much fast swimming in the world. Records don't last, especially these days."

 

Jones was the silver medalist at last year's world meet, where Wildman-Tobriner was the surprising winner. But he has struggled to regain the form that he first showed in 2006, when Jones became the first black swimmer to break a world record on the victorious 400 free relay at the Pan Pacific Championships.

 

"There's a lot of things that go into the 50 freestyle," he said. "One of the things is you have to be perfect for the most part or at least try to. There's never the perfect race, you always mess up something. That's what I love about the sport. You never swim that perfect race, but you keep trying."

 

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