With the Olympic trials only days away, rising floodwaters forced world gymnastics champion Shawn Johnson from her gym. There was 8 inches of water inside Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute on Friday, with fish swimming in the parking lot. The gym is in an industrial park a few blocks from the Raccoon River, which is rising after heavy rain this week. About 100 volunteers helped evacuate the gym Thursday night, moving equipment to a balcony and putting sandbags around the building.

Johnson, a favorite to win the gold medal in Beijing, leaves Monday for the trials in Philadelphia. But she must train elsewhere in the meantime, and that's not as easy as walking into another gym.

At Chow's, Johnson trains on Janssen-Fritsen equipment, which will be used in Beijing. But Janssen-Fritsen is a European manufacturer, and few gyms in the United States have its equipment.

The women's competition at the trials begins June 20. The top two - expected to be Johnson and Nastia Liukin - automatically qualify for the Beijing squad, with the remaining four members named after a July 20 selection camp.

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