Santa Clara International: Peter Vanderkaay Downs 400 Free American Record

SANTA CLARA, California, May 17. THE third night of swimming at the Santa Clara International Invitational witnessed its second American record.

Peter Vanderkaay provided the sensational swim, after Natalie Coughlin shot down her women's 100 free national standard, when the Club Wolverine beat former teammate Klete Keller's 2004 standard of 3:44.11 with a stellar time of 3:43.82.

Vanderkaay, who also cleared Keller's U.S. Open mark of 3:44.19, became the fifth-fastest swimmer in the event all time. Ian Thorpe (3:40.08), Grant Hackett (3:42.51), Massi Rosolino (3:43.40) and Tae Hwan Park (3:43.59) are the only other swimmers ahead of him.

Erik Vendt, still focusing on the pool regardless of the TYR lawsuit obviously stealing some of his concentration, placed second with a 3:46.56 as both Club Wolverines beat fellow teammate Phelps' meet-record of 3:47.34 from 2007.

Michael Klueh rounded out the top three in 3:48.79.

In the women's 200 free, Australia's Bronte Barratt broke both the meet records of Natalie Coughlin with a time of 1:57.18. Coughlin's meet record had been a 1:58.17 had been set during prelims. Coughlin scratched the event this evening.

Barratt had already posted a swift time of 1:56.60 in March for her top time this year, the second-best in the world behind Katie Hoff's 1:56.08.

Allison Schmitt of Club Wolverine also beat the former 2006 meet record with a second-place 1:58.23, while Dana Vollmer took third in 1:59.26. The championship final featured a deep field with Kim Vandenberg (1:59.54), Kara Lynn Joyce (1:59.96), Kate Dwelley (2:00.00), Kate Ziegler (2:00.51), Haruka Ueda (2:00.73) and Emily Silver (2:00.91) comprising the rest of the top finishers.

Elisabeth Beisel, 15, of Bluefish demolished the meet record with a commanding win in 4:36.75. Katie Hoff had held the previous meet record with a 4:39.82 back in 2004.

Ava Ohlgren also cleared the former meet record with a second-place 4:39.69, while Julia Smit finished third in 4:39.76, also under the meet standard.

Michael Phelps followed with a blazing fast time in the men's 100 fly. The superstar trounced the field with a time of 51.61 to eclipse his previous meet record time of 52.20 set back in 2006.

Club Wolverine teammate Davis Tarwater placed second in 53.04, while Australia's Garth Kates claimed third with a time of 53.43. In the consolation heat, Alexei Puninski posted a time of 53.18, which would have given him third.

Tara Kirk picked up the win in the women's 100 breast when she stopped the clock in 1:08.36. She held off Kasey Carlson, who wound up with a second-place finish in 1:09.09. Genevieve Patterson touched third in 1:09.67, while Olympians Megan Jendrick (1:09.78) and Amanda Beard (1:10.12) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

In a heavyweight matchup, Aaron Peirsol touched out Phelps in the men's 200 back, 1:55.81 to 1:55.84 as he barely held off the hard-charging Club Wolverine swimmer.

Here are the splits of the amazing race:
Peirsol: 27.90, 57.25 (29.35), 1:26.66 (29.41), 1:55.81 (29.15)
Phelps: 28.27, 57.58 (29.31), 1:27.20 (29.62), 1:55.84 (28.64)

Peirsol's consistency was the key to him coming out on top as Phelps spent most of his energy trying to track him down.

Both swimmers downed Peirsol's previous meet record of 1:56.95 set back in 2004, while Chris DeJong comprised the rest of the top three with a 1:57.61 – the last sub-2:00 mark of the race.

Peirsol and Phelps also posted the fastest times in the world this year, clipping Peirsol's previous season-best of 1:55.85, shared with Markus Rogan.

Coughlin nearly tracked down her world record with a meet record time of 59.44 in the women's 100 back. The time is among the top five of all time, and is the fourth time Coughlin has touched quicker than 54.50 in her career. It is actually the third recorded time of 59.44 for Coughlin, which had been her world record prior to the Missouri Grand Prix. Coughlin had owned the previous meet record with a 1:00.18 from 2006.

In what might wind up looking like the U.S. Olympic Trials finish, Margaret Hoelzer claimed second in 1:01.13, while Lauren Rogers took third in 1:01.87.

South Africa went 1-3 in the men's splash-and-dash 50 free as Roland Schoeman pipped Eamon Sullivan's meet record of 22.30 from last year with a winning effort of 22.29. Teammate Ryk Neethling took third in 22.68, while Matt Grevers split the difference with a second-place 22.58.

The championship final was laden with talent as Ben Wildman-Tobriner (22.75), Bryan Lundquist (22.79), Lyndon Ferns (22.85), William Copeland (22.96), Martyn Forde (23.15) and Rolandas Gimbutis (23.16) made up the rest of the final heat.

Once again, Puninski probably wished he had a better morning as he clocked a quick time of 22.76 to win the consolation heat.

Australia's team of Barratt, Kylie Palmer, Lorren Sellwood and Ellen Fullerton crushed the meet record in the women's 800 free relay with a time of 8:05.08 to clear Australia's own 2007 record of 8:07.88. Japan's team of Maki Mita, Haruka Ueda, Emi Takanabe and Misaki Yamaguchi also cleared the former record with an 8:06.61.

In the men's 800 free relay, Japan's team of Yoshihro Okumura, Sho Uchida, Yasunori Mononobe and Hisato Matsumoto broke Australia's meet record of 7:21.79 from 2006 with a 7:20.57.

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