Peirsol, Dent make their marks

Former Newport Harbor High swimming standout Aaron Peirsol set an

Olympic record in the 200-meter backstroke and former Corona del Mar

High tennis sensation Taylor Dent advanced to the quarterfinals of

the Athens Olympics tennis tournament Wednesday.

Peirsol won his semifinal heat Wednesday in 1:57.33, beating the

old mark of 1:56.76 set by Lenny Krazelburg at the 2000 Olympics in

Sydney, Australia. Peirsol also owns the world-record time of

1:54.74, which he swam at the Olympic trials in Long Beach in July.

James Goddard of Great Britain (1:57.25) and Austria’s Markus

Rogan (1:57.50) finished second and third. Peirsol beat Rogan earlier

in the games when the former Sailor grabbed gold in the 100 back,

edging out Rogan by 0.29 seconds.

The 200 back finals are today at 9:45 a.m. (local time). The

preliminaries for the 400 medley relay, which Peirsol is competing

in, will be Friday at 2 a.m.

Dent, ranked No. 59 on the Association of Tennis Professionals

Tour, has advanced farther in the Olympic tennis tournament than

top-ranked Roger Federer, and the world’s No. 2 player, Andy Roddick,

who were eliminated in the second and third rounds, respectively.

Dent beat Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4, 6-4, Wednesday and will

face Tomas Berdych today at 7 a.m. Berdych, ranked No. 115 in the

world, is the one who upset Federer, 4-6,7-5, 7-5, in the second

round. The right-handed Berdych beat Spain’s Tommy Robredo, 7-6 (2),

4-6, 8-6, to advance to the quarterfinals.

In other Olympic action:

UC Irvine product Lanee Butler-Beashel is currently in 15th place

in the women’s windsurfing after finishing 18th in Wednesday’s race.

Butler-Beashel, who is the first female sailor to represent the

United States in four Olympics, has 56 points after four races.

Alessandra Sensini of Italy and Hong Kong’s Shan Lee Lai are tied for

first with 17 points.

Pater Wells, another UCI alum, is currently in 25th place with 65

points after three races. Wells, who quit his job in at an Irvine

public relations firm to train full-time, finished the Wednesday’s

two men’s races in 22nd and 23rd place, respectively. A battle for

first is shaping up among Poland’s Premyslaw Miarczynski (eight

points), Nikolaos Kaklamankis of Greece (nine points), and Brazil’s

Ricardo Santos (12 points).

The sailing competitions have had weather problems, first with too

much wind and then with not enough, which has set the windsurfing

schedule back a day, but conditions are expected to improve and both

the men’s and women’s divisions should finish two races today at 3

a.m.

Misty May, a Newport Harbor High alum and cousin Dent, and Kerri

Walsh will face the Czech Republic team of Eva Celbova and Sona

Novakova today at 11 a.m.

The U.S. men’s water polo team that has five former UCI players

will face Hungary(2-0), the reigning gold-medal winners, early

Thursday morning. Jeff Powers has two goals for Team USA, while Dan

Klatt and Ryan Bailey each have one. Omar Amr has won all three

sprints he has participated in for the undefeated Americans (2-0),

and goaltender Genai Kerr has yet to see action.

Orange Coast College student and Newport Beach resident Jennifer

Parilla will begin her quest for gold in women’s trampoline

gymnastics Friday.