USA Swimming Sectionals, Gainesville: Elizabeth Beisel Continues Strong Meet With Double

By David Rieder

GAINESVILLE, Florida, July 9. THE USA Swimming Sectionals meet in Gainesville continued with more fast long course times posted on the third night. Elizabeth Beisel highlighted the competition with a pair of wins.

Beisel used a strong second lap to earn the win in the women's 100 back, clocking 1:02.94. University of Florida-trained swimmers swept the top three spots, as Gator's Ellese Zalewski took second in 1:03.34, and teammate Gemma Spofforth grabbed third in 1:03.72. Briton Spofforth is the reigning world champion and world record-holder in the event. Beisel returned later to win the 200 IM in 2:14.90, crushing Patriot's Sarah Bateman, who finished second in 2:18.93. Davie Nadadores' Ekaterina Alyabyeva ended up third in 2:19.31.

Daytona Beach's Ryan Lochte went out fast and held on for the win in the men's 200 IM. Lochte, the world champion and world record-holder, checked in at 1:59.13, just off his seventh-ranked 1:58.99 from last month. Lochte did enough to hold off training partner Conor Dwyer, who touched second in 1:59.53 to claim 17th in the world rankings. Gator's Marcin Cieslak touched in 2:04.68 for third.

Dagny Knutson posted an impressive win in the women's 400 free, clocking 4:10.29. Knutson will compete as a member of the 800 free relay team at this month's World Championships, and she earned a commanding three-second victory. Gator teammates Andreina Pinto and Jamie Bohunicky rounded out the top three, clocking 4:13.37 and 4:15.34, respectively.

Peter Vanderkaay cruised to the win in the men's 400 free in 3:53.04, just a shade over his season best of 3:52.51 clocked at the Santa Clara Grand Prix last month. Yoelvis Pedraza came in second in 4:00.98, and Jonathan Jordan grabbed third in 4:02.89. Dwyer had posted a swift 3:56.94 in prelims for the top qualifying mark, but he scratched the final. Meanwhile, Ben Hesen held off Fernando Ernesto Santos for the win in the men's 100 back, 56.69 to 56.91, while Daytona Beach's Rex Tullius took third in 57.50.

T2's Erika Erndl added to her win in the 200 free on Friday with a win in the women's 50 free. Erndl checked in at 25.95 to touch out teammate Anne-Marie Botek and Kelsi Hall; the latter two tied for second at 26.06. Club Seminole's Mark Weber, meanwhile, grabbed the win in the men's 50 free. Weber touched at 23.64, followed closely by Patriot's Bradley Deborde, who clocked 23.79 for second place. Gator's Brett Fraser ended up third in 23.88.

T2's Katharine Anton, Laura Evans, Botek, and Erndl touched first in the women's 400 medley relay in 4:17.38, while Gator's Shaune Fraser, Cieslak, Sebastien Rousseau, and Brett Fraser completed the evening's events with a 3:50.64 win in the men's medley relay.

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