Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Christine Magnuson swims to a first-place finish Monday night in the women’s 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Neb. The former Tennessee Lady Vol fell just short of the finals in the 200 freestyle Tuesday.

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OMAHA, Neb. - The Olympic swimming trials features more than 1,200 athletes and at least as many different personal dreams.

Veteran superstars like Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin looked to win several events, and set a few world records along the way. Emerging stars like former Tennessee Lady Vol Christine Magnuson hoped to qualify for their first Olympic team. But the vast majority, like Lauren Hancock and Megan Tomes, were just thrilled to be here.

Hancock finished her competitive swimming career Tuesday morning with a 66th-place finish in the 200-meter individual medley in a time of 2:19.84.

She didn't advance to the semifinals. In fact, she didn't come close. But that didn't matter. What mattered to Hancock was, "Making the trials and turning a dream into a reality. In 2004 I didn't quite make trials. I graduated from Duke and my final ACC meet wasn't good. This was a goal to get here."

Hancock had competed in the 100-meter butterfly on June 29, finishing 119th.

"Being on day one I was able to get rid of my nerves, so I knew what to expect walking out in front of 12,000 people (for the 200 IM)," said Hancock, 26. "That experience will help me be a better coach."

Tomes didn't advance beyond the preliminaries of the 200 IM, either. She finished 53rd with a time of 2:19.21. But advancing wasn't her goal.

"It could have been better," said Tomes, 22. "But I proved I can still do it. I finished. I didn't get disqualified.

Since competing in the 2004 Olympic trials, Tomes had surgeries on both shoulders to repair torn labrums.

"After two shoulder surgeries, I couldn't wait to do it one more time," she said.

And the experience at these Olympic trials validated all the hours of rehab and miles in the pool.

"I loved Long Beach (site of the 2004 trials)," she said. "I loved swimming outdoors, and I never thought anything could top it. But then I came here. I felt like I was a professional basketball player. There's nothing like it. You look up from the starting blocks and see the huge crowd.

"I would never trade this moment in my life for anything."

For Magnuson, Tuesday brought another personal best time, but it wasn't enough to give her a shot to swim another race in Beijing. A day after winning the 100-meter butterfly, Magnuson swam the 200 freestyle in 2:00.31. She finished 18th, and only the top 16 advanced to the semifinals.

All 16 swimmers that made it to the semifinals in the 200 free dipped below two minutes. In the finals at the 2004 trials, only five swimmers were under two minutes.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.