USA Swimming Sectionals, Fort Lauderdale: Elizabeth Beisel Wins 11 Golds

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, March 24. SOME of the top stars in swimming came out to compete in the long course meter format at the USA Swimming Sectionals held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., over the weekend. The star that burned brightest proved to be Olympian Elizabeth Beisel of Bluefish who walked away with an astounding 11 gold medals when all was said and done.

On the first night, Mexico's Miyami Castaneda won the women's 1500 free in 17:03.60, while Brandon Sports' Jack Deedrick topped the men's 800 free in 8:20.60.

In relay action, Bluefish's Beisel, Kaia Simmons, Alex Forrester and Alex Fraiser won the women's 200 medley relay in 2:01.13, while Davie Nadadores' Yousef Alaskari, Renato Prono, Ismael Ortiz and Daniele Tirabassi won the men's 200 medley relay in 1:47.28.

Bluefish returned to win the women's 200 free relay as Frasier, Forrester, Katie Morin and Beisel posted a 1:48.24. Davie's Ortiz, Tirabassi, Gianluca Alberani and Gabriel Pereira took the men's 200 free relay in 1:35.35.

During the second evening, Beisel pocketed her third gold with a 2:01.89 in the women's 200 free, while Daytona Beach's Ryan Lochte provided his first stellar swim with a 1:48.17 to win the men's 200 free. Coral Springs' Lindsey McKnight, 14, clinched the women's 100 breast title in 1:11.49, while Coral Springs' Vlad Polyakov downed Lochte, 1:02.66 to 1:03.24, in the men's 100 breast.

Forrester cruised in the women's 100 fly with a winning time of 1:00.98, while Fred Castro grabbed the men's 100 fly in 54.61. The first sectional record of the meet fell to Beisel as she won her fourth gold with a 4:42.65 in the women's 400 IM. The mark downed the 4:48.93 set by Sara McLarty in 2003. Kyrillo Fesenko then won the men's 400 IM in 4:27.59.

Beisel snagged her fifth gold in just two nights as Bluefish's Frasier, Forrester, Kaia Simmons and Beisel clocked an 8:32.36 to win the women's 800 free relay. Brandon Sports' Joseph Arnold, Deedrick, Vincent Donnelly and Jason Taylor won the men's 800 free relay in 7:48.72.

The third night gave Beisel her sixth gold with a close finish over Fort Lauderdale's Lauren Driscoll, 1:03.04 to 1:03.60, in the women's 100 back, while Lochte won his second gold with a sectional-record time of 53.95 in the men's 100 back. That swim erased the 55.53 set by David Russell in 2003.

Beisel went back-to-back with her seventh gold when she posted a sectional-record time of 2:15.72 in the women's 200 IM. McKnight (2:16.27) joined her under the 26-year-old record of 2:16.55 set by Tracy Caulkins back in 1983. Lochte continued the record-breaking with a 1:59.96 in the men's 200 IM for his third gold medal. The readout lowered his record of 2:00.05 set last year.

Coral Springs' Arlene Semeco claimed the women's 50 free in 25.55, while Auburn's Fred Bousquet ripped off a 22.42 to win the men's 50 free in a sectional-record time. The swim clipped the 22.49 set by Gideon Louw last year. Gator's Jamie Bohunicky won the women's 400 free in 4:17.29, while Athens Bulldog Sebastien Rouault claimed the men's 400 free in 3:55.85.

Beisel completed the evening with her eighth gold medal when Bluefish's Beisel, Simmons, Forrester and Frasier posted a 4:21.84 in the women's 400 medley relay. Davie's Alaskari, Leo Martins, Tirabassi and Ortiz won the men's 400 medley relay in 3:59.00.

The fourth night featured more of the same as Beisel began the evening with her incredible ninth gold medal of the meet. This time, she joined teammate Forrester under the women's 200 fly sectional record with times of 2:12.74 and 2:13.04 to erase another 26-year-old Caulkins' record of 2:13.46 set back in 1983. Castro then won the men's 200 fly the next event in 2:01.18.

McKnight raced to a win in the women's 100 free with a 56.62, while Bousquet broke the sectional record in the men's 100 free with a 48.55. The swim beat Lochte's 2008 record of 49.04.

Castaneda earned her second victory of the meet with an 8:54.58 in the women's 800 free, while Brandon Sports' Arnold snatched the men's 1500 free title in 15:30.45.

Davie's Martins claimed the men's 200 breast in 2:21.76, while Fort Lauderdale's Kate Alyabyeva won the women's 200 breast in 2:37.54.

Lochte won his fourth gold medal of the meet with a 1:57.99 in the men's 200 back, while Beisel grabbed an amazing 10th gold medal with a sectional-record time of 2:10.22 in the women's 200 back. The effort eclipsed the 2:13.20 set by Margaret Hoelzer back in 2006.

Beisel then capped the meet with her 11th gold when Bluefish's Forrester, Frasier, Beisel and Anna Senko won the women's 400 free relay in 3:53.87. Pine Crest's Andrew Novaoff, Herol Marjak, Robert Dowd and Gotti Eisenberger took the men's 400 free relay in 3:34.57.

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