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Records at National Championships
By Karen Linhart // USA Swimming // December 4, 2007
ATLANTA – Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) continued his dominant performance on the final night of the 2007 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming Short Course National Championships, setting an American record in the 200y back and shattering the previous mark by 87-hundreths of a second with a time of 1:36.81. Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.) also set an American record with her win in the 100y free in 46.85, becoming the first woman to swim this event in under 47 seconds.
In addition to winning his fourth event of the meet Saturday, Lochte also received the ConocoPhillips Performance Award for this swim in the 200y back and took home the Kiphuth Award as the men’s high-point scorer of the meet. Athens Bulldog Swim Club’s Mary DeScenza (Naperville, Ill.) earned the Kiphuth Award as the women’s high-point scorer for the meet.
Lochte jumped out to an immediate lead in the men’s 200y back and gradually built a three-body-length lead on the pack. He pulled ahead of record pace at the 150-yard mark and hammered his way home to break the record. Randall Bal (Fair Oaks, Calif.) took home the silver medal in 1:41.75 and Hongzhe Sun (Honolulu, Hawaii) won the bronze in 1:41.82.
“That’s what I’ve been training for, so I’m just glad I had a chance to race,” Lochte said.
In the women’s 100y free, Coughlin led the field throughout the race, finishing nearly a second ahead of the rest of the field. Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor, Mich.) was second in 47.74 and Ava Ohlgren (Northville, Mich.) was third in 48.59.
“I had no expectations coming into this meet,” Coughlin said. “I’ve been on the road for two and a half weeks now, and I’m extremely happy with the way this meet turned out. It was a nice surprise and gives me a lot of confidence heading into next year.”
Club Wolverine’s Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) was the only other swimmer besides Coughlin and Lochte to win multiple events this week. He and National Teamer Jason Lezak (Irvine, Calif.) went down to the wire in the men’s 100y free. With Phelps gaining the edge in the final few strokes and winning in 42.14 to Lezak’s 42.46. Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.) was third in 42.85.
" I just try to make sure I’m close at the 50,” Phelps said. “All these guys have better turns and speed than me in a short course pool, so I just try to stay close and bring it home.”
“After going through what I went through six weeks ago, I can’t ask for anything more,” said Phelps, referring to a broken wrist he sustained recently. “It was my best time in the 100, and I was just off my best in other events.”
Other winners Saturday night included Sierra Marlins’ Alyssa Anderson (Peoria, Ariz. ) in the women’s 1650y freestyle (15:58.73); Club Wolverine’s Erik Vendt (North Easton, Mass.) in the men’s 1650y free (14:34.85); Mecklenburg Aquatic ‘s Margaret Hoelzer (Huntsville, Ala.) in the women’s 200y backstroke (1:51.68); El Dorado Aquatic Club’s Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.) in the women’s 200y breaststroke (2:08.22); Longhorn Aquatics’ Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) in the men’s 200y breast (1:54.94); Team Bruin’s Kim Vandenberg (Moraga, Calif.) in the women’s 200y butterfly (1:53.18) and Club Wolverine’s Davis Tarwater (Knoxville, Tenn.) in the men’s 200y fly (1:41.94).
In the team scoring, Club Wolverine took the top spot in the combined standings with 555 points, followed by Mecklenburg Aquatic Club with 333.5 points and Athens Bulldog Swim Club with 231 points, rounding out the top three.
About USA Swimming
As the National Governing Body for competitive swimming in the United States, USA Swimming formulates the rules, implements policies and procedures, conducts national championships, disseminates safety and sports medicine information and selects athletes to represent the United States in international competition. USA Swimming has more than 300,000 members nationwide and sanctions more than 7,000 events each year. For more information, visit usaswimming.org.
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