OMAHA, NE.--Ryan Murphy will swim in the 200 meter backstroke tonight in Omaha, Nebraska. His chances of making the team improved because
Matt Grevers, the favorite, has scratched a race at the U.S. Olympic trials. Just not the one he originally expected.
Grevers, a backstroke specialist, had thought he would skip Friday night's final of the 100-meter freestyle, even though he was the third-fastest qualifier in the semifinals. That led to a bit of confusion, with USA Swimming initially saying he had scratched, then putting out a statement saying it relied on "bad information."
Grevers returned for the 200 backstroke and put up the third-fastest time in morning preliminaries. But he didn't like his chances of beating either Ryan Lochte or Tyler Clary, and worried that swimming the evening semifinals would hurt him when he came back a short time later for the final of the 100 free.
So, he's out of the back.
