Grevers Sets Olympic Mark, Peirsol Advances

Up-and-coming Matt Grevers, a 23-year-old from Illinois, set an Olympic record in preliminary heats of the 100-meter backstroke tonight with a time of 53.41 seconds, breaking the mark set by fellow American Aaron Peirsol four years ago in Athens (53.45).

Peirsol, the Californian who trains in Texas and has been conspicuous because of his lack of attention here, took the first step toward what could be three gold medals here. He was third-fastest behind Grevers (53.65), with Russian Arkady Vyatchanin one hundredth of a second faster.

"This race has gotten a lot faster in the last four years," Peirsol said.

Peirsol will also be a favorite in the 200 backstroke as well as the likely swimmer of the backstroke leg of the 4x100 medley relay.