Getty Images

Natalie Coughlin swim quickly on Friday.

06/18/10

SANTA CLARA, California -  Natalie Coughlin ’s trip to the Santa Clara Grand Prix was short, sweet and, ultimately, productive.

A two-time Olympian, Coughlin made her lone appearance at the George Haines International Swim Center on Friday. Her mission was clear: make the qualifying time in the 50m freestyle so she can possibly swim the event at the upcoming U.S. National Championships.

Or, as Cal Aquatics coach Teri McKeever put it, “Get down there and get out.”

Coughlin needed to swim 26.59 seconds or faster in the first leg of the 100 freestyle preliminary race to qualify, and she did just that. She flew out of the gates, hit the wall in 25.63 and immediately cut the engine, coasting to the finish. Her time of 1:09.73 was last in a field of 189 swimmers, but it hardly mattered. Her job was done.

“I was kind of bragging about it,” Coughlin said, smiling. “I looked at (this meet) more like training than anything. ... It was slow, but good enough. I should be faster than that, but I don’t have a ton of speed right now.”

Coughlin, an 11-time Olympic medalist, returned for the blustery evening session, where she joined fellow Cal Aquatics swimmers Madison Kennedy, Hannah Wilson and Dana Vollmer in the 400 freestyle relay finals. The group dominated the field in a meet record time of 3:42.84.

Having just competed at the Mare Nostrum, a prestigious three-stop series in Europe, Coughlin and Vollmer ventured to Santa Clara with rather modest intentions. Indeed, in the days leading up to the meet, the two received a helpful directive from McKeever.

“Pick one day, and tell me what you want to get out of that one,” McKeever said. “I didn’t want them to stay all three days.”

Clearly, both made the most of their selections. Vollmer continued her recent tear by winning the 100 freestyle in 54.47 to defend her title in the event. She then set a meet record in the 100 butterfly (57.73), breaking Coughlin’s mark from 2006.

“I’m really confident where I am right now,” said Vollmer, who accounted for the first meet record in an individual event. “Once I rest, I’m going to get even faster. I’m just thinking about nationals right now. I need to make the team before I can think about what I’m going to do (there).”

According to McKeever, Coughlin will likely swim the 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle at the Nationals in August. Should she add the 50 freestyle to her plate, it would be a relatively new endeavor for Coughlin, who said she hasn’t swum the event since 2007.

“The 50 is a free day (at Nationals),” Coughlin said. “I might just do it to touch the water that day.”