In Breaststroke Preliminaries, Two Notable Comebacks OMAHA - The breaststroker's comeback got off to a promising start on Monday. Not the two-time Olympian Brendan Hansen, although he posted the second-fastest time in the preliminaries of 1 minute 00.30 seconds. The 61st best time of the morning was a 1:03.90 posted by a 40-year-old, Steve West. According to Swimming World magazine,West is the oldest man to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials, supplanting Wally Dicks, who was 37 when he qualified for the 2000 trials in the 100 meter breaststroke. West participated in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic trials. In 1996, he finished third in the 200 breaststroke, missing an Olympic berth by .51-second. His goal going into Monday's race, he said, was to improve on the 1:04.01 that he clocked in his first trials, when he was 19, en route to winning the consolation final. "I died a little at the end but I'm happy," said West, who is married with two children, ages 9 and 7. Hansen, 30, is a former world-record holder who retired in 2008 after winning an Olympic gold medal in Beijing as a member of the 400 medley relay. He aspires to make another Olympic team and likes his chances after winning both breaststroke events at last summer's national championships. Hansen's comeback hit a bump in the road a few weeks ago when he sustained a knee injury. His older brother, Sean, a swim coach in Philadelphia, believes it may prove to be a blessing as it forced Hansen, known for pushing himself relentlessly, to scale back his workload and rest. The 100 breast conjures bittersweet memories for Hansen. He twice broke the world record, which was nice. In 2008, he finished fourth in Beijing, which was devastating. Sean Hansen recalled catching up with his brother, a usually sunny person, after the race and seeing him dissolve into tears. "It was the worst moment, seeing him break down like that," Hansen's brother said. "He was saying "Why? I work harder than anybody else."" He added, "I don't want to ever see that from him again." He had a flashback to that moment when Hansen told him he was returning to competition. Sean Hansen initially tried to talk him out of it because he didn't want to see his little brother set himself up for another major disappointment. "I told him, "I don't want to see you bummed like that again,"" Hansen's brother said. He added, "I've kept telling him, "If you don't accomplish what you want to accomplish this time around, remember there's a much bigger picture."" Over a dinner of pasta and chicken on Sunday night, Hansen started talking about his race strategy for the 100 and then stopped himself. According to his brother, he said, "I'm not even going to jinx it." Sean Hansen, laughing, added, "All I could think of is "Here we go again.""