Olympic gold medalist Anthony Ervin nearly became the onlysub-50 swimmer this morning as he surged to the top seed in 50.39.  Scotland's Robbie Renwick posted a 50.56 forsecond, while Bitterfleder's Kevin Leithold turned in a third-place 50.73.

Tim Squires continued his sterling meet with a fourth-place51.15, that nearly beat his personal best of 50.97 from the 2012 IndianapolisGrand Prix last March.  Bolles' SantoCondorelli finished fifth in 51.75, while Redlands' Joey Hale and Australia'sBobby Hurley tied for sixth with 51.78s. Conor Dwyer grabbed the final transfer spot into the finale with aneighth-place 51.80.

Shortly after qualifying first in the 200 back, ColoradoStars' Missy Franklin returned to lead qualifying in the 100 free.  She posted a time of 55.77, and might make arun at her top time of 53.52 this evening. Franklin has a pair of 53.52s on record, one at the Olympics in 2012 andone in March of 2012 in the run-up to the Olympics.

California's Dana Vollmer cruised into second in 56.07 inher first meet back after a post-Olympic break during the fall and winter.  Tucson Ford's Christine Magnuson qualifiedthird this morning with a 56.10 as the top three are definitely made up of sometop names in the sport.

Canada's Sandrine Mainville (56.83), Canada's SamanthaCheverton (56.91), SwimMAC's Madison Kennedy (56.98), Dynamo's Nicole Stafford(57.26) and SwimAtlanta's Amanda Weir (57.62) also earned their way into thefinale. 

After knocking down big names like Ryan Lochte and TylerClary last night in the 100 back, Bolles' star Ryan Murphy is on path to do it againin the longer distance event after topping prelims with a 2:02.53. Murphy coulddefinitely turn up the heat in the finale if he approaches his personal recordof 1:57.39 from the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Germany's Yannick Lebherz, meanwhile, earned the second seedwith a time of 2:02.61, while Lochte (2:02.84) and Clary (2:02.85) rounded outthe top four and should provide some extra fireworks during this evening'sfinale.

Germany's Felix Wolf (2:03.11), Arkady Vyatchanin (2:04.17),Bryce Bohman (2:04.34) and Australia's Bobby Hurley (2:04.58) also put up timesfast enough to make the championship finale, while 14-year-old Ethan Youngfinished ninth with a 2:05.72.  Youngcould make a run at Aaron Peirsol's vaunted 13-14 U.S. National Age Grouprecord of 2:02.78 from 1998.

When you are the world record holder and reigning Olympicchampion in an event, it's sometimes a bit difficult to stay motivatedin-season. The always enthusiastic Missy Franklin did not seem to have thatproblem this morning with a scorching 2:10.92 to lead the way in prelims of thedistance dorsal.  Odds are she won't beapproaching her world record of 2:04.06 tonight, but she definitely has a shotat her best in-season time of 2:07.31 that she clocked at the Austin stop of theArena Grand Prix last month.

Canadian Hilary Caldwell finished more than three secondsback of Franklin with a 2:14.15 and will likely be battling for second thisevening.  Germany's Eileen Diener tookthird in 2:15.35, while Dynamo's Kylie Stewart picked up fourth in 2:15.49.

Germany's Selina Hocke (2:16.04), Canada's Barbara Jardin(2:16.66), Tasija Karosas (2:17.55) and GTAC's Olivia Smoliga (2:17.91) roundedout the championship finale field that will be chasing Franklin.

Canadian Olympian Alec Page approached his seed time of2:05.35 with a top-seeded swim of 2:05.62 to lead the way in what will prove tobe a loaded Olympian-filled finale. Bolles' Joseph Schooling, 17, qualified second in 2:05.76. Schoolingqualified for the 2012 London Olympics for Singapore.

U.S. Olympians Conor Dwyer (2:06.07) and Tyler Clary(2:06.31) qualified third and fourth, while Bulgarian Olympian Mike Alexandrov,who is now representing the U.S., earned fifth in 2:06.41.  Olympic superstar Ryan Lochte also made thefield with a 2:06.95, while Canadian Olympian Andrew Ford surged to seventh in2:07.49.  Kenek Gil is the onlynon-Olympian in the bunch with an eighth-place 2:07.80 representing Venezuela.

Clearwater's Becca Mann, who already has a pair of victoriesin the 400s this weekend, came to play this morning with a lifetime best in the200 IM.  She dropped a stunning time of2:16.73 in the event, clipping her previous best of 2:16.93 set at theClearwater Escape The Heat meet in June of last year.  Not only is she proving to be a strongdistance swimmer, she's also starting to cut some time in her shorter-distanceevents. 

She will have Island's Alexa Komarnycky as a challengertonight as the Olympian cruised into second with a 2:20.67.  She's got the most potential for a blazingswim tonight with a 2:13.88 as her seeded time.   Bahamas' McKayla Lightbourn checked in witha third-place 2:21.81, while Fox Chapel's Heidi Miller earned fourth in2:21.95.

York Y's Meghan Small, just 14, qualified fifth in 2:22.37, whileKING's Carolyn McCann touched sixth in 2:22.62. New York's Kim Vandenberg, a 29-year-old veteran of the sport, earnedseventh in 2:23.11, while Small's teammate Nicole Price gave York two spots inthe finale with an eighth-place 2:23.90.