All-American Long Course Championships: More Sterling Swims on Night Three

AUSTIN, Texas, March 8. AFTER witnessing its first world records at the hands of Hayley McGregory last night, the All-American Long Course Championships opened the final night of swimming at the event.

Women's 200 back
The newest world-record holder on the planet, Hayley McGregory of Longhorn Aquatics, completed a strong run in the backstroke events at the meet as she demonstrated some front-end speed to win the 200 in 2:11.25.

McGregory went out in 1:03.51 to hold a two-second lead over Mary DeScenza of Athens Bulldog (1:05.42) at the 100-meter mark, but started to get gassed as DeScenza made her move.

McGregory – the new world record holder in the 50 back from last night, however, had just enough in the tank as she touched out DeScenza, 2:11.25 to 2:11.33, at the wall.

McGregory's teammate, Elizabeth Wycliffe rounded out the top three with a time of 2:13.16.

Men's 200 back
While Aaron Peirsol had a much closer 100 back race against Longhorn teammate David Cromwell, the longer distance was no contest as Peirsol dropped the hammer with a 1:55.96 to claim the title.

Cromwell, meanwhile, took a run at his lifetime best with a time of 1:58.75, but finished a second off the pace as he has a 1:57.43 set at the 2007 U.S. National Championships from last summer.

Adam Mania of Schroeder YMCA completed the podium with a time of 2:07.01 as he took third.

Women's 100 free
Kara Lynn Joyce of Athens Bulldog came within a fingernail of cleared her personal best time of 54.34 set at the Missouri Grand Prix, but finished just short of that effort with a swift time of 54.40. Joyce rocketed from the blocks with a split of 26.49 and came back in 27.91.

Amanda Weir of Swim Atlanta settled for second as she sprinted to a time of 55.98, while Agata Korc finished third in 56.13.

Men's 100 free
After becoming just the 15th member of the 21 club in the 50 free on the first night of competition with a 21.93, Longhorn Garrett Weber-Gale moved into a more crowded 48 club in the 100 free. Weber-Gale's 48.50 to touch out Matt Grevers (48.53) of Tucson Ford, destroyed his lifetime best effort of 49.04 set at last summer's national championships.

Grevers' time, however, was nothing to shake a stick at as he clipped his best effort of 48.59 set at the Missouri Grand Prix last month. That jumped him into the top 15 all-time in the world in the event.

Finally, Lyndon Ferns grabbed third place with a time of 49.09, just off his career-best of 48.99 set in 2003.

Women's 800 free
Next year's collegiate freshman class was on display as Longhorn teammates Jessica Rodriquez and Nikki White went head-to-head in the distance event. Rodriquez, however, had just a little more at the end as she clocked a time of 8:40.45. White, on the other hand, grabbed second with a time of 8:40.98.

Sterling Wine, 16, of Highlander Aquatics ended up taking third in 8:53.12 to comprise the rest of the medal-winners.

Men's 1500 free
Although the race was a lost closer at the halfway mark, Larsen Jensen had way too much stamina coming down the stretch as the Trojan Swim Club member dropped a strong time of 15:14.80 to capture the distance freestyle event.

Meanwhile, Robert Margalis of Athens Bulldog wound up finishing nearly 10 seconds back with a second-place time of 15:23.22, while Alex Arbios completed the top three with a time of 16:13.85.

Women's 200 breast
Tara Kirk of Stanford went out with a vengeance in the 200 breast as she clocked a 1:10.63 at the 100-meter mark and had enough of an advantage in the back half to hold on to the win with a time of 2:28.22.

Elizabeth Tinnon of Lakeside, who stood nearly two seconds behind Kirk at the 100 with a 1:12.35, put on some final speed but couldn't overcome the deficit as she took second in 2:29.90.

Adriana Marmolejo of Sun Devil Aquatics touched just behind Tinnon for third in 2:29.97.

Men's 200 breast
Incredibly, Eric Shanteau is starting to get the better of training partner, and world-record holder, Brendan Hansen at the 200-meter distance as Shanteau did just that this evening with a winning time of 2:10.59 for the victory. On top of beating the top swimmer in the world in the event, Shanteau cut his personal best time down from a 2:10.65 last summer at the national championships.

The performance did not put him ahead of Jim Piper's 2:10.51 as the sixth-fastest swimmer ever in the event, but he's getting closer.

Hansen, who actually seemed upset at the finish of 100 breast last night when he touched in 59.61 (the seventh-best ever), had a difficult time of it in the 200 with a time of 2:11.60. He trailed Shanteau from the 100 after going out in 29.83.

Neil Versfeld placed well behind with a third-place effort of 2:13.20.

Women's 200 fly
Kathleen Hersey enjoyed a lifetime best in the event as she dominated the race from start-to-finish. Hersey hit the wall in 2:07.13 to pip her 2:07.19 set at the 2007 U.S. National Championships.

Her closest competition came in the form of Mary DeScenza of Athens Bulldog, who wound up second with a time of 2:09.34, while Tanya Krisman of North Coast whacked two seconds from her personal best as she shot right past 2:11 with a 2:10.03. Her old top time had been a 2:12.07 set at the same meet as Hersey's previous best effort.

Notably, Hersey's time broke a 24-year-old Texas Swimming Center record of 2:07.88 set by Mary T. Meagher on Jan. 8, 1984. Additionally, Hersey's time is the fastest in the world this year.

Men's 200 fly
Jayme Cramer of Crawfish Aquatics closed out the individual races at the meet with a winning readout of 1:59.39, while Juan Veloz of Tucson Ford picked up second place in 1:59.86. Pat Cary of Trojan Swim Club rounded out the top three with a time of 2:00.25.

Relays
Swim Atlanta's team of Allyson Sweeney, Kathleen Hersey, Kristen Redmond and Amanda Weir won the women's 400 free relay in 3:55.70, while UCD Aquatics' Trent Richardson, Adam Pluemer, Kyle Anderson and Nik Kemp touched out Swim Atlanta's Conor Sweeney, Brian Robbins, Brent Murray and Eric Murray, 3:39.48 to 3:39.72, for the men's 400 free relay title.

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