INDIANAPOLIS - The weekend crowd was bigger than any morning so far; filled mostly with young swim fans cheering for their American heroes. Despite the absence of Michael Phelps, swimmers Ian Crocker, Aaron Peirsol and Amanda Beard provided the crowd with plenty of excitement.

Men's 50 Back
Thomas Rupprath (GER) is the favourite in this event. He led out last night's 100 back final under world record pace before fading to third spot, and is clearly the leader in this shorter event. He is the fastest qualifier with a 23.93 over Aaron Peirsol (USA) with a 24.19. Matt Welsh (AUS) won the first seeded heat in 24.45 over Matt Rose (CAN) in 24.63.

Women's 200 Back
Without Natalie Coughlin (USA) the women's back events both in Athens and here have been quite soft; whoever swims their best could come away with a win tonight. This morning it was Melissa Ingram (NZL) who finished in top spot with a 2:09.91. New Zealand has a history of top female backstrokers, and Ingram looked strong in winning her heat. Masaki Oikawa (JPN) won her heat in 2:10.13 while 2003 World Champ silver medallist in this event, Margaret Hoelzer (USA), finished her heat in 2:11.33, just behind Xiujun Chen (CHN) who finished in 2:11.29. Hoelzer responded to questions that the pool is slow, "I think a pool is as fast as the swimmers go. People say one pool is faster than another, but you'd be surprised at some of the things people have done in the past in the worst conditions. I think it depends on the swimmers." Canadians Elizabeth Wycliffe and Liz Warden made it into tonight's final in 7th and 8th spot.

Men's 50 Fly
The biggest morning crowd yet wasn't disappointed with Ian Crocker (USA). He dominated his heat, breaking out of the turn half a body length ahead and touching in 23.07. Kaio Almeida (BRA) was second in 23.50 followed by Matt Welsh (AUS) in 23.51. Welsh had less than 20 minutes between this event and the 50 back where he also qualified for tonight's semi. "I enjoy short course," said Welsh. "It's different you know? I don't prefer one or the other, but they've done a great job here, I must say. Putting this together in six days, it's really great, very enjoyable."

Women's 100 Breast
Brooke Hansen (AUS) just keeps getting better. Her efforts this morning earned her a top spot in tonight's semi with a 1:06.99. But it was the final seeded heat of Americans Amanda Beard and Tara Kirk that whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Kirk led until the 95 metre mark when Beard finally pulled even before lunging to the wall for the win. Beard touched in 1:07.08 to Kirk's 1:07.09. "The meet with the fans has been awesome," said Beard. "So I just want to say thanks to the fans and keep supporting us and going crazy." Canadians Lisa Blackburn and Lauren van Oosten qualified for the semis.

Men's 400 Free
Takeshi Matsuda (JPN) heads into lane 4 tonight with his 3:46.84 just ahead of Yuri Prilukov (RUS) who came back in the last 100 to touch in 3:46.86. Chad Carvin (USA) won his heat in 3:47.42 while Nicholas Sprenger (AUS) won his heat in 3:47.16. Sprenger won a silver medal this summer in Athens as part of the Aussie 4x200 free relay, but had to hold on tight this morning when a fast finishing Justin Mortimer (USA) finished in 3:47.46. Mortimer was last night's star in the 4x200 as he anchored the gold medal winning US team.

Men's 200 IM
Olympic silver medallist Ryan Lochte (USA) will be tonight's favourite, but he waited until the last 50 to get into the final. Turning 5th at the 150, Lochte had a stellar free, but just missed catching Robin Francis (GBR) who won his heat in 1:59.39. Lucky for Lochte's 1:59.52, it was the 8th spot heading into tonight. Top seed is Adam Lucas (AUS) in 1:58.78. Oussama Mellouli (TUN) qualified with a 1:59.15, less than 20 minutes after finishing the 400 free where he just missed the final, tying for 9th spot. Mellouli won the 400 IM last night and should be stronger this evening considering he won't have such a tough double.

Women's 400 Free
Kaitlin Sandeno (USA) and Sarah McLarty (USA) both won their heats in 4:07.04 and 4:07.55. The Chinese women distance swimmers continue to swim erratically. Jiaying Pang was seeded with a 4:02.12, but swam a 4:12.26, while last night Chen Hua swam an 8:42.85 in the 800 free despite being seeded with an 8:23.93. Meanwhile, the gap between the top Americans in this event and the rest of the field is wide, although Tanya Hunks (CAN) had a good swim of 4:09.91 to qualify in 3rd for tonight. 800 free winner Sachiko Yamada (JPN) sits in 8th spot with a 4:12.39

Men's 200 Breast
Brendan Hansen swam a beautiful race, accelerating all the way through the last 50 to touch in 2:07.52. Two swimmers tied for second spot: Brenton Rickard (AUS) and Martin Gustavsson (SWE) with 2:09.53, followed closely by Mike Brown (CAN) in 2:09.69. Brown was sixth in this event in Athens and was one of only two Canadians to swim a best time at the Olympics.