Charlotte UltraSwim: Athens Bulldogs Strong

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, June 7. THE Athens Bulldogs acquired the bulk of the gold medals at the Charlotte UltraSwim during the third night of swimming.

Mary DeScenza of Athens Bulldog smashed her meet record in the women's 200 fly with a time of 2:08.10. That performance knocked two seconds from her time of 2:10.61 set in 2003. Emily Kukors, meanwhile, placed second in 2:11.49, while Elizabeth Beisel, 15, of Bluefish took third in 2:12.80.

Athens Bulldog collected another title, this time when Gil Stovall posted a winning time of 2:00.20 in the men's 200 fly. SwimMAC's Jeremy Knowles finished second in 2:01.79, while Mark Dylla of Athens Bulldog placed third in 2:02.15.

Athens Bulldog made it three in a row when Kara Lynn Joyce added the 50 free title to her 200 free. She stopped the clock in 24.71, crushing the meet record of 25.58 set by Amy Van Dyken in 1996. Michele King of Tennessee also surpassed the previous record with a second-place 25.53. Athens Bulldog Anne-Marie Botek picked up third in 25.78.

Cullen Jones broke the Athens Bulldog mastery of the meet when he nipped his 50 free meet record with a time of 22.33. That cleared his old record of 22.39 set in 2006. Toronto's Terrence Haynes finished second in 22.76, while Kaan Tayla pocketed third in 22.78.

Gemma Spofforth then dropped the meet record in the women's 100 back with a time of 1:01.09. That beat the previous record of 1:01.52 set by Natalie Coughlin in 2002. Beisel finished in the top three again with a second-place 1:01.63, while DeScenza took third in 1:02.25.

Great Britain's Matthew Clay followed in the men's 100 back with a winning time of 56.00. Kurt Bassett finished second in 57.21, while Patrick Schirk took third in 57.23. Ryan Lochte led prelims with a time of 54.00, but scratched at night.

Kaitlin O'Brien snared the women's 200 breast with a time of 2:33.51, while Beisel took her third medal of the night with a second-place 2:34.71. Jessica Botzum finished third in 2:35.48.

In the men's 200 breast, Luca DeMatteis just missed Mike Barrowman's 1992 meet record of 2:15.41 with a winning time of 2:15.63. Eric Friedland of RM Swim Club finished second in 2:17.39, while Ryan Hurley of Curl-Burke placed third in 2:19.02.

The sprint fly came up next, with Margo McCawley claiming the women's time in 27.48. Botek finished second in 27.71, while Duke Aquatics' Karen Guilkey placed third in 27.97.

Peter Verhoef of Athens Bulldog outsprinted the rest of the field with a time of 24.54 in the men's race. Knowles placed second for his second medal of the night with a 24.76. Tayla rounded out the top three in 24.80.

In the middle distance events, Whitney Sprague of NC Aquatics posted a convincing win with a time of 4:13.63 in the women's 400 free. Aleksa Akerfelds of UT Aquatics took second in 4:17.06, while Chelsea Haser placed third in 4:18.83.

Lochte, swimming for Daytona Beach, picked off the meet record in the men's 400 free with a time of 3:49.25. The previous record had been a 3:50.12 from Peter Vanderkaay in 2006. Sebastian Rouault of Athens Bulldog finished second in 3:54.08, while teammate Troy Prinsloo placed third in 3:55.22.

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