Staley Wins 200m Back At U.S. Nationals
August 06, 2004 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Aug. 6, 2004
Recently graduated senior All-American Trent Staley won his first career U.S. national title when he won the 200m back at the 2004 U.S. Summer Nationals on Aug. 3 at Stanford University's Avery Aquatics Center. Staley, who particpated at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials and barely missed qualifying for the finals in the 200m back, won the same event at Nationals this week with a time of 2:02.02, just slightly off his Trials time. Staley had planned to retire after Trials last month but decided to give it one more try this week at Nationals. That decision paid off for Staley, among eight first-time winners on the day. "I actually retired at Trials and made a come-back in the last three weeks," Staley said. "I was hoping this would be the result." So why the come-back? "I realized I had a chance at winning," said Staley, acknowledging the fact that many top swimmers were either training for the Olympics or decided to skip nationals after Trials. "I wish I had a more noble reason, but that's it for now."
