INDIANAPOLIS - With Michael Phelps out with an injury, the morning was otherwise uneventful. There are whispers that the pool is slow, but the swimmers still seem excited and inspired by the venue. With many sprint finals tonight, time will tell.

Women's 100 Free
Marleen Veldhuis (NED) took advantage of her teammate Inge de Bruijn's absence to qualify first for tonight's semi with a 54.74 followed closely by Libby Lenton (AUS) who also took advantage of her teammate Jodie Henry's absence to qualify in 2nd spot with a 54.75. Shane Reese (AUS) had the 3rd best swim with her 54.81 and 2003 long course World Champ, Hanna-Maria Seppala (FIN) sits in 4th with a 54.90. "It was fine," said Seppala about her heat swim. "I felt there were a lot of waves and I couldn't breathe." In between heats the pool water doesn't ever quite settle down, and there hasn't been a world record set yet. The temporary pool promoters will certainly be hoping for one soon to prove their wares.

Men's 400 IM
Michael Phelps (USA) scratched this morning from this event citing tightness in his back. He is still set to swim the 4x200 free relay tonight, however for the Ironman of swimming to pull out of his best event, the rest of Phelps' Championships are unclear.

With the gold finally up for grabs, it was Adam Lucas (AUS) and Wu Peng (CHN) who stepped up to the plate, qualifying for the top two spots in tonight's final in 4:11.66 and 4:11.74. "Not bad," said Lucas about his time. "I feel pretty comfortable. I mean, I feel traveling, so it's been pretty good. I am pretty happy with it." Third spot went to Robin Francis (GBR), but look out for Oussama Mellouli (TUN) tonight; he is the top swimmer in the field.

Women's 50 Fly
Jenny Thompson (USA) was clearly the top swimmer this morning. She finished in 26.40, but it was the way she raced, taking fewer breathes and accelerating into the wall that showed her superiority. This is Thompson's last meet of her career, she returns to medical school at Columbia University on Tuesday. "It was great," said Jenny about her swim. "It was good to get into the meet. I've just been relaxing and watching yesterday, so it's good to get in there and be a competitor. It's great to see all the fans and the kids cheering." Heading into tonight's semi in 2nd spot is the world record holder in this event, Anna-Karin Kammerling (SWE) in 26.72.

Men's 50 Free
Four men got under 22 this morning, the fastest being Jose Meolans (ARG) with a 21.82, followed by Jason Lezak (USA) in 21.89 and Nicholas Santos (BRA) 21.90. Olympic silver medallist, Duje Draganja (CRO), still sporting his Cal swim cap, sits in 4th spot with a 21.97.

Women's 100 IM
Sprint ability is more important than command of all 4 strokes in this short event. Breaststroke specialist Brooke Hansen (AUS) came in with the top swim of 1:01.06 followed by freestyler Hanna-Maria Seppala in 1:01.55 and sprinter Martina Morovcova (SVK) in 1:01.66. The only straight up IMer, Katie Hoff sits in 4th spot with a 1:01.74.