"For the past two years, each summer I've swam in an Olympic pool," he said, hinting at where he'd like to swim next summer.

Like Lundberg, Raikula qualified for the meet at the NAAU championships where he finished first in the consolation round of the 200-meter backstroke, a race in which he went undefeated in Ivy League competition last year.

In Mexico Raikula had his work cut out for him since "the best competition was in the backstroke," Walsh said.

And at the end of the race only 0.51 seconds separated first and third place and Raikula, who was swimming in the outside lane, had to settle for the bronze, while Kyle Miller of the University of Florida won the gold and Djan Madruga of Brazil took the silver.

"I think I would have had the extra impetus to go faster if I had seen the guy in second place who beat me by 0.1 seconds," Raikula said.

Bernal was impressed with Raikula's performance especially since the sophomore from Kansas "had limited training after the college season."

"Ron should realize the tremendous potential he has," Bernal said. "With a little luck, hard work and a lot of confidence, Ron has an even money shot at making the Olympic team, as does David," he said.

"The United States is so deep in swimmers. Thank goodness they both got a chance to show their ability this summer," he added.