OMAHA, Neb. — In the first major stunner of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Brendan Hansen failed to make the Olympic team in the 200-meter breaststroke Thursday night.

The world recordholder less than a month ago, Hansen won't even swim the event in Beijing. His only solace: He still has a spot on the Olympic team in the 100 breast and, most likely, the 400 medley relay.

Still, Hansen's fourth-place finish was a huge shock. He led at the final turn, but faded badly over the final lap as winner Scott Spann went on by, as did runner-up Eric Shanteau and third-place finisher Scott Usher.

Hansen labored to the finish in 2 minutes, 11.37 seconds — nearly 3 seconds slower than his American record, which also stood as the world's fastest time until Japanese rival Kosuke Kitajima broke it June 7 with a time of 2:07.51.

Hanging on the lane rope, he stared at the scoreboard in disbelief while Spann and Shanteau celebrated.

"I just, I don't know," said Hansen, the last man to leave the pool deck. "It's been a long week, and it hurt me a little bit."

Spann won in 2:09.97 — far off Kitajima's pace. Shanteau locked up the expected second spot on the team in 2:10.36, while Usher took third in 2:11.00.

"They're going to be a great representation of that team," Hansen said. "They know what it takes to win, and they proved that tonight."

Hansen's flop added to his reputation of struggling in major events. At the Athens Olympics, he was favored to win both breaststroke events but finished second and third. He did sweep the golds at the 2005 world championships and took another gold in the 100 breast at last year's world's in Australia. An illness knocked him out of a chance to defend his 200 title.

Now, he won't be swimming the 200 at all in Beijing.

"I'm really not that upset about it. I gave everything I had," Hansen said. "I did the best that I could."