Hansen cruises into breaststroke final, but Norway's Dale Oen closes in on WR

Brendan Hansen said following his preliminary heat in the men's 100-meter breaststroke that the three-race gauntlet was like a poker game and he didn't want to show all his cards too soon.

"I know I've got a good hand, I'm just waiting to see what comes up on the river," Hansen told NBC's Andrea Kremer in an on-deck interview following his Beijing debut.

For the second consecutive race, Hansen played his hand conservatively, while Norway's Alexander Dale Oen went "all-in" and again came up aces.

After lowering Hansen's Olympic record of 1:00.01 from Athens in 2004 to 59.41 in the prelims, Dale Oen pulled even closer to Hansen's world-record of 59.13 set in August 2006 at the ConocoPhillips Summer Nationals in Irvine with a 59.16 in the semifinals Sunday at the National Aquatics Center, aka "The Water Cube."

Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, won his heat to qualify second in 59.55. Australia's Brenton Rickard recorded the third-fastest time entering the finals at 59.65 and France's Hugues Duboscq -- the bronze medalist in Athens -- clocked 59.83 and Hansen, the silver medalist in 2004, was fifth in 59.94.

Even with Dale Oen's performance, Hansen still boasts four of the five fastest times in event history, with the Norwegian now ranking No. 2.

American Mark Gangloff, who qualified 16th after the prelims, improved to seventh entering the final after posting a 1:00.44.

Kitajima 59.55
Brenton Rickard 59.65
Mark Gangloff 1:00.44

Alexander Dale Oen 59.16 was 59.41 for OR in prelims