Wrapping things up from the pool today in Missouri...

It wasn't a bad meet for 18-year-old Dan Madwed, who swims at North Baltimore Aquatic Club and lives in Towson with his grandparents. At the Grand Prix, Madwed finished fourth in the 200 meter butterfly (1:57.75), seventh in the 200 meter freestyle (1:50.30) and fifth in the 200 IM (2:04.46).

Madwed is originally from Stamford, Conn., but moved to Charm City to work with Paul Yetter, NBAC's head coach. His paternal grandparents, Sid and Miriam, moved with him into an apartment while his parents stayed behind in Connecticut.

"I knew that's where I had to be if I wanted to get better," Madwed said. "Paul got me to the next level. He's so energetic. I love going to practice because he's almost more excited than you are. He's up and down the pool all the time while we're training. It's not like he's sitting there reading a newspaper. He makes you motivated."

Madwed is one of the youngest swimmers on the men's side with an outside shot at making the U.S. Olympic team this year, and next year he'll head to Michigan to swim for Michael Phelps' coach Bob Bowman.

"I'm just trying to swim good times," Madwed said. "This will be my second trials. The first one, I was just a wide-eyed kid, looking around and seeing all my heroes. Now that I've competed a little internationally, I'm a little better."

Madwed's best shot to make the team will be in the 200 fly, where he's currently ranked third among Americans and 23rd in the world.

"I'm crossing my fingers," Madwed said.

--------------------

One of the last major races of the meet, the men's 1,500 meter freestyle, turned out to be one of the most exciting thanks to Erik Vendt, Phelps' training partner at Club Wolverine. The 27-year-old Vendt, who won a silver medal in the 400 IM in Athens, went on a blistering pace, hoping to threaten Larsen Jensen's American record of 14.45.29.

What made it exciting, aside from Vendt's powerful swim, was that nearly every prominent coach and prominent swimmer was on his or her feet, clapping their hands, whistling and cheering, urging Vendt to push himself through the pain and to the finish line. Phelps was standing on the pool deck waving his arms, barking out encouragement, and when Vendt touched the finish line -- falling just short of Jensen's mark at 14:47.58 -- Phelps sprinted over to the blocks to congratulate his friend.

"Erik has dominated our workouts the last few years," Phelps said. "I can't hang with him. He's amazing. I just run out of gas."

Vendt, who is probably Phelps' closest friend on the U.S. Olympic team, actually retired from swimming for nearly two years after the 2004 games and didn't see himself returning, at least not like this. But the time away clearly recharged his batteries. In the last six months, Bowman said Vendt has dropped nearly 10 seconds off his 1,500 meter time, and that his time today was probably "one of the top two or three in the world this year."

"I really missed the sport," Vendt said of his time away. "After 2004, I was just hanging by a thread. I was so burnt out. But after two years off, I feel like a kid again. I'm not swimming to keep my scholarship or swimming for any reason other than I love it. It's a good feeling."

Vendt and Phelps are an interesting yin and yang as training partners. Vendt is a voracious reader, a student of history, an outdoors enthusiast and a political junkie. He and Bowman traded friendly barbs during the build-up to the New Hampshire primary, with Bowman supporting John McCain and Vendt supporting Ron Paul.

"Ron Paul is my guy," said Vendt, who describes himself as a libertarian ideologically. "It's really frustrating the way the mainstream media just ignored him and acted like he was a fringe candidate without doing any research at all. I think he's really what the country needs. ... I'm definitely not a fan of the huge tentacle-like arms of the federal government invading everything in our lives."

Vendt said he's almost been able to convince Phelps to join the Paul Revolution.

"Michael is a big online poker guy, and that's one of Paul's issues, legalizing online gambling," Vendt said.

Vendt says he could see himself possibly getting involved in politics someday.

"People joke around and talk about running for office, and I say 'OK, if you do, I'll run your campaign," Vendt said. "But it's definitely something I'm interested in."

--------------------

Ian Crocker said he didn't really mind losing to Phelps that much in the 100 butterfly (Crocker went 52.00 to Phelps' 51.52), even though it's an event Crocker still holds the world record in (50.40). He really feels good about his training, and he expects to go fast this year in Beijing. He just needs to figure out the right strategy for the race. He's tried several, and he and Phelps' duels have become almost like a chess match in the pool each time they face off.

"It was about the best race I could have put together with where I'm at in my training," Crocker said. "I know that I have to be ahead in the second half because he's so good at crunch time. I have to have that speed in the front."

Crocker will once again be one of the biggest road blocks in Phelps' quest to capture eight gold medals, a challenge that he enjoys, despite the fact that most casual swim fans want to see Phelps achieve greatness. Crocker is one of the most laid-back and genuine athletes in the entire country. Yesterday, when a group of kids were poolside begging for autographs, Crocker happily agreed to sign a few swim caps only to have one kid -- possibly a Phelps fan? -- yank his cap away.

"He was like 'No, I don't want you to sign it!' and I was like, um, ok," Crocker said, cracking a big smile.