World awaits

Now, things are almost back to Olympic-level intensity for Usher. He'll try for his (and UW's) first collegiate individual title on Friday and Saturday at the NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in Minneapolis. On April 1, he'll kick off his post-collegiate career at the USA Swimming World Championships Trials. If those meets aren't motivation enough, the 200-yard breaststroke at the NCAA meet promises to be one of the fastest races ever, and his entire swimming future might rest on his performance at the World Championships trials.

No pressure.

"We want to end his college career on a high note," Johnson said. "And then, he'll probably go pro after that, and it'll be an opportunity for him to swim professionally. I've never said that before, among my kids, so it's kind of a nice thing to be able to say."

First, Usher will tangle with the country's best collegiate swimmers at the NCAA meet. The 100 and 200 breaststroke races will be competitive but will also be without Brendan Hansen. The former Texas star, who graduated after last season, never lost a collegiate race in the 100 or 200 breaststroke, and last year he set an NCAA record in the 200 to beat out Usher for the title.

But the two swimmers are friends. Hansen will attend this year's NCAA meet as a spectator, and the two likely will train together for the World Championships this summer. Hansen won the silver medal in the 100 and bronze in the 200 at the Athens games.

Even with Hansen out of the NCAA picture, Usher will still compete with another big foe: the pool. Usher's strength is his ability to powerfully cut through the water, which is why he's slightly better at the 200 than the 100 and slightly better when swimming a long course (200 meters) as opposed to a short course (200 yards, which converts to about 183 meters). The NCAA race at the University of Minnesota will take place in a short-course pool.

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