What is Ultra-Short Race-Pace training?
Andrew has taken an unorthodox path to the Olympic team, learning in his backyard pool and embracing short bursts of speed. Two Olympic rookies locked up their spots for Tokyo: teenager Torri Huske captured the womens 100 butterfly, while Michael Andrew held on to win the men's 100 breaststroke. Huske was under world-record pace at the turn but faded just a bit on the return leg. Still, she touched first in 55.66 seconds, breaking the national mark of 55.78 that she set the previous night in the semifinals. The 18-year-old from Arlington, Virginia, came up short of the world record (55.48) set five years ago by Swedens Sarah Sjostrom at the Rio Games. I don't even know what to do, Huske said. Ive been thinking about this a lot. I feel like it hasnt really sunk in. Its really crazy.  An even younger swimmer, 16-year-old Claire Curzan of Cary, North Carolina, took the expected second spot on the Olympic team at 56.43. Andrew has taken an unorthodox path to the Olympic team. He turned pro at age 14 and was trained by his father in a backyard pool, using methods that stressed short bursts of sprint swimming over the grueling routine of endless laps -- a method called Ultra-Short Race-Pace Training. It paid off in Omaha. The 22-year-old Andrew pulled ahead on the outward lap and desperately held on at the end, touching in 58.73  a bit slower than he went while setting two American records the day before. Andrew Wilson was second, just one-hundredth of a second behind. He is also expected to make the Olympic team. Missing out was Nic Fink, who settled for third in 58.80.