David Russell, Julie Stupp Double During Final Night of Swimming at Fort Lauderdale Sectional

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, July 15. SWIMMERS at the Fort Lauderdale Sectional fought off some hot weather as the meet concluded its third day of long course meter competition.

Julie Stupp of Coral Springs Swim Club and David Russell of Bluefish had similar days as they each pulled off doubles including the 200 fly.

Stupp touched out Russell's teammate Laura Sogar, 16, in the 200 breast, 2:33.25 to 2:33.32, while hold off Alex Forrester, 15, in the 200 fly, 2:14.86 to 2:15.03.

Russell, meanwhile, took the 200 fly over Trinity Prep's Tim Hughes, 2:02.99 to 2:03.06, while destroying the field in the 200 back with a time of 2:01.92 to win by nearly five seconds.

Dara Torres, coming off an incredible 24.81 in the 50 free last night, picked up the 100 free win in 55.28. The time stood just a bit off the 54.61 she already clocked in Rome earlier this summer. Her win came over Aqua Crest's Rhi Jeffrey, who finished second in 56.66, and teammate Leila Vaziri, who took third in 56.91.

In the men's 100 free, Daniel Penniman, of the Greater Pensacola Area, nipped Area Tallahassee's Ed Denton, 51.85 to 51.96.

Gator Swim Club's Gemma Spofforth, after coming up short against Vaziri in the 100 back yesterday, won a close battle with Bluefish's Elizabeth Beisel, 14, 2:16.25 to 2:16.33, in the 200 back.

In the men's 200 breaststroke, Coral Springs' Vlad Polyakov smoked the competition with a time of 2:13.09. His closest competition came from Wildcat Aquatics' Mike Alexandrov, who placed second in 2:18.33.

The final distance events also occurred on the last day of swimming. Beisel, usually a backstroke specialist, won a two-second battle with Gulf Coast's Chelsea Franklin, 16, 8:50.26 to 8:52.33, in the 800 free.

Meanwhile, Area Tallahassee's Kyle Young dominated the men's 1500 free with a time of 15:33.87.

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