Olympian fails to break record in LV

Victoria Sun

Friday, March 1, 2002 | 10:15 a.m.

Matt Biondi's record in the 100-yard freestyle (41.80 seconds) is safe, at least for now.

But Olympic gold medalist Jason Lezak is working hard to change that.

The 26-year-old Lezak was one of five members of the U.S. Olympic team among the 816 swimmers competing in the Speedo Champions Series, which concludes Sunday at the Desert Breeze pool.

Lezak, who won his gold in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney in the 400-meter medley relay and added a silver on the 400-meter free relay, placed first in the consolation finals of the men's 100-yard freestyle Thursday night with a time of 43.93.

"I haven't been feeling too well lately," Lezak said. "I haven't slept well in a week and I was hoping to make it to the finals."

Lezak entered the preliminaries with the best time of 42.22, but placed 13th in the round with a time of 47.08, relegating him to the consolation heat.

His friend and Olympic teammate, Jason Tucker, finished right where he left the preliminaries -- on top.

Tucker, 27, posted a time of 43.90 in the final round for first place after taking first in the preliminaries with a time of 45.87.

"I'm pretty happy with the time, but this is just a training meet before going to the nationals," Tucker said.

The Olympic-sized Desert Breeze pool is home to the Clark County Sandpipers swim team.