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Saturday July 5, 3:22 AM Jones storms into 50m free semis, Phelps gears up for double Photo: AFP Click to enlarge OMAHA (AFP) - Cullen Jones clocked a sizzling 21.59 Friday to top the qualifying times in the men's 50m freestyle at the US Olympic swimming trials. Jones posted the seventh-fastest time in history, and broke the eight-year-old American record of 21.76, set by Gary Hall at the US trials in Indianapolis in 2000. "I'll take an American record," said Jones, who had already booked a spot as a relay swimmer on the team for Beijing with a third-place finish in the 100m free on Thursday night. He said he was looking forward to improving in the semi-finals. "I'm really excited for tonight," he said. "Don't get me wrong, I definitely put my head down going into the wall. But I think there's a lot more in the tank for tonight." Jones said he enjoyed the unique demands of the one-lap sprint, in which the tiniest mistake is deadly. "The thing about the 50 - you've got to try to be perfect," he said. "You never swim that perfect race, but you keep trying." World champion Ben Wildman-Tobriner was third-fastest in 21.68 and Hall third-quickest in 21.89. "Well, the time that I had to aim at was advancing to the semi-finals," said Hall, who won Olympic gold in the event in 2000 and 2004. "That was my goal. Now I've got to get in the finals." Hall, 33, said he wasn't concerned that his national record had fallen. "Everybody anticipated that record was going down," he said. "I've never really focused on records, I'll be satisfied with making the Olympic team." Michael Phelps launched his bid to add another individual event to his Beijing schedule, posting the second-fastest time in the heats of the 100m butterfly behind world record-holder Ian Crocker. Crocker, who was disqualified for a false start in the heats of his only previous event, the 100m free, clocked 51.52, while Phelps won his heat in 52.21. Crocker admitted that putting his focus on one event, which starts so late in the eight day meet, made for a nerve wracking few days on the sidelines as six world records fell in the first three days of competition. "I've been waiting all week - I think I flew in too early," he said. "I've been sitting around the hotel watching people do amazing things." Phelps, meanwhile has been at the forefront, with a world record in winning the 400m medley, and victories in the 200m butterfly and 200m freestyle. He was slated for double-duty on Friday night, with the semis of the 100m fly about half an hour after the final of the 200m medley, in which Phelps will be seeking to secure his fourth individual berth at Beijing. Finals in the men's 200m backstroke and women's 100m free and 200m breaststroke were also slated for Friday night. In other preliminaries, Kate Ziegler led the way into Saturday's 800m free final with a time of 8:29.39. Katie Hoff, already qualified with victories in the 200m and 400m free as well as the 200m and 400m medleys, was second-fastest in 8:29.91. Elizabeth Beisel, 15, was quickest in the women's 200m backstroke heats in 2:07.44, followed by Hayley McGregory (2:08.76) and world champion Margaret Hoelzer (2:10.19).