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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, July 9. REBECCA Soni of Trojan Swim Club knocked down both the American and U.S. Open record in the women's 100 breast to open up the evening.
Soni checked in with a sterling time of 1:05.34. The effort smashed Jessica Hardy's American record of 1:06.20 set in 2005, and cleared world-record holder Leisel Jones' U.S. Open mark of 1:06.21 also set in 2005. Soni's performance is the fastest in the year this year, beating Yuliya Efimova's time of 1:05.80. She also moved up to second all time behind only Jones' global standard of 1:05.09 set in 2006.
"I just kept my eyes on my own lane the whole time," Soni said. "That was beneficial to me. I was just expecting not to be out front, and I just put my head down and pushed for the best. I think the suit made a bit of a difference, but it's hard to tell."
Terrapins' Kasey Carlson claimed second-place honors in 1:06.54, clipping her personal-best effort of 1:06.66 set during prelims. She also jumped right behind Penny Heyns (1:06.52) into seventh all time.
Soni's teammate from Trojan Swim Club, Keri Hehn, beat her lifetime best but wound up third in 1:06.76. Her previous best came with a 1:06.80 set during prelims as well.
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July 9, 2009 Very impressive swim from Soni, rumors were she was going to be off at this meet, ugh I don't think so! Submitted by: squiggles255
July 9, 2009 Penny Heyns lifetime best was a 1:06.52.
I missed the first two awesome finals. Submitted by: mario2007
July 9, 2009 yeahhh!!! GO KASEY!!!! Submitted by: h2Ocandy43
July 9, 2009 If Soni and Jendrick are both signed by Speedo, you have to wonder what will happen to Rebecca. In any case it sucks to be Jendrick (only Speedo wearer in A final). Guess loyalty can kill. Submitted by: jeffyfit
July 9, 2009 Last I heard, Speedo was considering letting them wear other suits, though didn't hear the final decision. Phelps talked as if he had a choice, so maybe they all had a choice. Jendrick was almost a second off so might not have made it anyway. But I do think breaking her leg less than 4 months ago didn't help. I'm amazed she did as well as she did. Submitted by: liquidassets
July 9, 2009
Well Hehn had some amazing drops in a Jaked. If Jendrick had the same drops as either of them, or even as Soni, she would have been on. Can't help but shake the feeling that if all things were equal, our breaststrokers in Rome would have been the same as Beijing, even with a broken leg. Submitted by: jeffyfit
July 9, 2009 For some reason there is always a race around this time in the quadrenium that gets me kind melancholy. This race for some reason did it for me.
Just suddenly the realization that for some very big names that we have grown used to over years and years and who have put up big swims and fireworks, this might be closer to the curtain call or in fact it.
Usually this is about the time that people decide if they are really going to push another 3 years and see if they can go through.
I got the feeling tonight that maybe (if she doesn't make the 200--hope she does!) this could be near retirement for Megan Quann/Jendrick. Then you think of a few other big names who are now gone. Hansen, Crocker (and Lezak for sure). Crocker and Hansen are taking a "break" but one day they are going to wake up in the morning and realize they don't miss the pool at all. "Break" means just keeping the door ajar for drug testing so just in case, they don't have to sit for 2 years. Coughlin says she is definitely coming back, but getting married and then realizing that she now has a life may change how much she is interested in staring at that little black line for a few hours each day.
But let's face it, some really familiar names from the last 9-10 years are starting to fall away. The Athens and Sydney teams (not the Beijing 8--Phelps was the team there--the gold medal count was poor when taking the team contribution into account) were probably as good as Olympic swimming teams come. And now they are pretty much all gone.
Seems like only yesterday that Hoff and Vollmer were the 16 year old 'youngsters' on the Olympic team and now will be looked to as the national team 'veterans'.
But good luck to Jendrick in the 200 and she goes to Rome. Hope she doesn't have to see if she is going to consider that thought just yet.
Think it will be very interesting to see all the new faces and who is left in about 12 months. Of course, new faces mean new fun races too.
All right....all the rest of you can start slamming me now for being sappy.
:) Submitted by: rcoach
July 11, 2009 Crocker has officially retired, hasn't he?
Coughlin will be back when she's ready. She is a woman who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. I think she still has some unfinished business...getting her 100 back record back, for starters... Submitted by: liquidassets
July 11, 2009 Lezak's not gone, he's said so much. Don't know about Crocker. I'm hoping Hansen makes another good run, say right around next year.
But, hey, there are some new names coming up to take their place, so American swimming is not looking bad at all.
BTW, Soni has one of the poorer starts/turns in the sport. She would have broken the WR had she had a better start and turn (notice how she starts off already behind a foot or more at the start). Submitted by: mario2007
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