All-American Long Course Championships: All-Star Cast Opens First Night of Swimming

AUSTIN, Texas, March 6. A world-class field takes to the pool in Austin, Texas at the All-American Long Course Championships. Previously known for its short course extravaganza, organizers changed to long course after USA Swimming revived the National SCY Championships this last year.

Women's 200 free relay
Swim Atlanta's A and B squads took the first spots in the initial event of the evening as the A team of Amanda Weir, Kathleen Hersey, Allyson Sweeney and Jessie Mason hit the wall in 1:46.44. Meanwhile, the B team of Caroline Kenney, Abby Wilhelm, Julia Treible and Meghan Faulkner finished second in 1:52.86.

Men's 200 free relay
Swim Atlanta picked up its second title in a row as the quartet of Stephen Swan, Kyle Douglas, Jeff Cox and Andrejs Duda stopped the clock in 1:37.69. UCD's team of Adam Pluemer, Nik Kemp, Jim Fong and Trent Richardson picked up second-place with a time of 1:38.73.

Women's 400 free
Longhorn started taking aim at its visitors in the women's 400 free. First, newly-minted world record holder Kirsty Coventry ripped off a 4:09.14 to win the race. Meanwhile, Jessica Rodriquez notched a swift time of 4:11.82, while Nikki White rounded out the top three in 4:12.53.

Women's 100 fly
Athens Bulldog Mary DeScenza won a Peach State showdown with Kathleen Hersey of Swim Atlanta in the event. DeScenza scared her personal record of 58.76 with a victorious time of 59.10. Meanwhile, Hersey touched a fingernail behind with a 59.18 – just off her lifetime best of 59.14 from U.S. Nationals last year.

Men's 100 fly
Ian Crocker, the world record holder with a 50.40 from the 2005 World Championships, posted a time that ranks among the top 20 ever when he dropped a 51.32 on his hometown crowd. He'd already gone a lights out 51.67 during prelims. Crocker took the swim out in 24.04 before coming home in 27.28.

Matt Grevers, representing Tucson Ford, dropped a huge amount of time from his personal best in the event when he finished second in 52.10. Previously, he clocked his best effort with a 53.34 at the Missouri Grand Prix this year. The man obviously wants to find his way into an Olympic roster spot with how he is progressing as of late. The 52.10 moved him into a tie with Ryan Pini of Papua New Guinea for 15th all time after being outside the top 50 before that swim.

Lyndon Ferns, who has a 51.90 to his credit as the ninth fastest in the event all time, rounded out the podium in 52.66.

Men's 400 free
Klete Keller, who has had some much-documented trials and tribulations this year with his sister, Kalyn, being forced into retirement and his relocation to the Trojan Swim Club, is beginning to round into form. That inherent ability once led him to a bronze-winning 3:44.11 in this event at the 2004 Olympic Games. Tonight, Keller clocked a splendid time of 3:47.60 to walk away with gold.

Meanwhile, distance swimming teammate Larsen Jensen, who has a 3:45.04 personal best in the event, grabbed second with a quick time of 3:50.05.

That held off Texas Longhorn Michael Klueh, who fresh off a strong Big 12 Championships, finished third in 3:50.91.

Women's 200 IM
Kathleen Hersey, after suffering an earlier close defeat to Mary DeScenza in the fly, turned the tables in an exciting finish in the shorter medley. Hersey, just barely off her career best time of 2:14.91, won the event in 2:15.03 after initially holding a big lead at the 100 with a 1:02.92.

Tucson Ford's Whitney Myers, though, nearly tracked her down with a second-place effort of 2:15.05.

DeScenza, meanwhile, crushed her personal best of 2:15.95 from last year's U.S. Nationals with a third-place time of 2:15.06 to complete one of the closest races you can have.

Men's 200 IM
Michael Phelps, a last-minute add to the event, notched what is a pedestrian time for him when he won in 1:57.39. That is pretty scary to think about as only Ryan Lochte and Laszlo Cseh have joined him in that range. Phelps already owns seven out of the top 10 times ever, including his incredible world record of 1:54.98.

Longhorn Eric Shanteau dipped under 2:00 with a solid second-place time of 1:59.27, while Adam Ritter of Tucson Ford cut his lifetime best effort set in prelims with a 2:03.27 when he placed third in 2:02.65. Previously, his best time had been a 2:04.52 from 2006.

Women's 50 free
After nearly breaking 25 during prelims with a stellar 25.05, Kara Lynn Joyce dominated the women's splash-and-dash with a time of 25.17.

Meanwhile, Amanda Weir of Swim Atlanta secured second-place honors with a time of 25.73, while Agata Korc claimed third in 25.85.

Men's 50 free
Breakthrough! That's the type of swim Garrett Weber-Gale experienced in front of a partisan crowd as the Longhorn became the 15th member of the 21 club with a jaw-dropping 21.93. That performance tied him with Stefan Nystrand of Sweden for 11th all time in the event. Not bad for someone who had a previous best time of 22.44 from the 2005 World Championships before cutting it to 22.24 in prelims.

Matt Grevers whacked a significant amount of time from his lifetime best effort of 22.28 set at the Missouri Grand Prix as he nearly joined Weber-Gale as a new member of the 21 club. Grevers wound up picking up second with a swift 22.01 that tied him with Nick Brunelli for 16th all time. The recent focus on sprint freestyle events, after being a backstroke specialist in college, certainly might pay dividend with an Olympic roster berth for Grevers.

Brunelli, meanwhile, ripped off a 22.30 to complete the top three in the race.

Women's 400 medley relay
Swim Atlanta snagged a third relay title as Jana Mangimelli, Julia Treible, Kathleen Hersey and Amanda Weir touched in 4:15.75.

Men's 400 medley relay
Swim Atlanta completed a relay-title sweep when Andrejs Duda, Dawii Zarins, Miller Douglas and Stephen Swan finished in 3:56.40.

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