Natalie Coughlin will participate in two events at next month's trials. Donald Miralle/Getty Images

If Natalie Coughlin becomes the female swim star of the Olympic Games, she will do so with a scaled back pre-Athens schedule. Coughlin said last weekend that she plans to swim in just two individual events -- the 100-meter backstroke and the 100-meter freestyle -- at next month's U.S. trials in Long Beach, Calif. Although there are no relays at the trials, Coughlin said she will pass on the 200 free, 200 back and 100 fly because of scheduling conflicts with other races at the Olympics.

Though Coughlin publicly finalized her decision this weekend, she told teammate Jenny Thompson about it at a photo shoot in New York last month. That eases the road for Thompson, one of the medal favorites in the 100 fly at the trials. "I was like, 'Wow, thanks,'" said Thompson, who has taken a leave from Columbia Medical School in New York to train fulltime. "I was surprised, really, but she does have other choices to make."

SLOW GOINGS?

Don't expect tons of world records at the U.S. trials, which will be held in a temporary pool in Long Beach from July 7-14. The facility, which seats 10,000 spectators, received rave reviews for atmosphere from swimmers and officials, last weekend during the Janet Evans Invitational, but many swimmers also complained about shortcomings that often befall temporary structures. First, many said that the lane lines became somewhat misaligned after a day's worth of events. Second, others felt that the waves bouncing off the walls at the turn and finish were more severe than they are in most permanent structures that have better filtering systems.

GYM DANDIES

How deep is the U.S. women's gymnastics team? Consider that at the recent U.S. Nationals in Nashville, two former world medalists, Katie Heenan and Ashley Postell, failed to make the 12-woman cut-off for the Olympic trials later this month in Anaheim.

OVERCOMING HURDLES

Three hurdlers who were high school standouts in New Jersey will compete in the Athens Olympics, even though none will represent the United States. Dudley Dorival, a finalist at the 2000 Sydney Games, will represent Haiti, Todd Jouda-Matthews will compete for Sudan and Sultan Tucker will be there for Liberia. In their prep days, Dorival competed for Ewing High, Jouda-Matthews for Notre Dame of Lawrence Township and Tucker for Delsea.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Prospective Olympians need to work on their timing. Earlier this month, Ronda Rousey qualified for the U.S. Olympic judo team. Rousey, 17, expected to reach the Olympics, but not nearly so soon. Last winter, she named her new cat Beijing, after the site of the 2008 Games. Triathlete Susan Williams qualified for the Athens team this weekend with a third-place finish at the final qualifier in Bellingham, Wash. Williams had placed sixth at the 2000 trials in Dallas, where she was unaware that she was already pregnant with her daughter, Sydney, named after the site of the 2000 Games.

CONSOLATION PRIZE

At least the news wasn't all bad for triathlete Julie Swail, who placed seventh at the race in Bellingham. Swail, the captain of the U.S. water polo team that won a silver medal at the Sydney Games, will now join NBC Sports in Athens as a commentator in her former sport.

MUST SEE TV

NBC recently announced it will increase its total Olympics coverage to a staggering 1210 hours. The Games will be shown on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Bravo, Telemundo and NBC High Definition TV. That's an average of 71 hours per day over the course of 17 days.

Sports Illustrated staff writer Brian Cazeneuve covers Olympic sports for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.