USA Swimming Grand Prix, Austin: Missy Franklin Posts Sizzling 100 Back Time in Day Two

AUSTIN, Texas, January 15. THE second night of long course competition featured more fast swims, including lifetime best times from some talented teenagers.

Women's 200 butterfly
Elaine Breeden and Kathleen Hersey, both 2008 Olympic finalists in this event, separated themselves from the pack and finished 1-2 in the event. Breeden swept the butterfly events with a win tonight in 2:10.89 as Hersey finished exactly two seconds back in 2:12.89. Tanya Hunks from the UBC Dolphins in Vancouver finished third in 2:15.30. Margaret D'Innocenzo of Crimson Aquatic, the younger sister of Texas sophomore Nick D'Innocenzo, couldn't hold on to Hunks' pace in the final 50 meters and touched fourth in 2:15.74.

Men's 200 butterfly
With world record holder Michael Phelps sitting out this event, Tyler Clary had little trouble taking his second win of the meet in 1:59.37. Todd Patrick of North Baltimore gave Clary all he could handle in the race, placing second in 2:00.98. Jordan Hartney of UBC Dolphins got to the wall in third with a 2:03.10.

Notably, Brian Johns of UBC Dolphins, a three-time Olympian for Canada and an Olympic finalist in the 400 IM, won the B final in 2:03.01, which would have been good for third in the A final. Johns' swim tonight redeemed his subpar performance yesterday in the 400 IM, where he placed 22nd.

Women's 50 freestyle
Missy Franklin of Colorado Stars, the current points leader in this Grand Prix series, picked up her first win in Austin with a 25.50. She held off Stanford's Julia Smit, who placed second in 25.69. Touching third was Simone Manuel of First Colony with a 26.27.

Men's 50 freestyle
Jason Lezak of Rose Bowl Aquatics took the men's splash-and-dash tonight in 22.57. About a month after collecting a bronze medal in the short course version of this event, Josh Schneider of SwimMAC-Carolina settled for silver with a 22.59. Brent Hayden of UBC Dolphins, the Commonwealth Games champ in this event, made it three swimmers under 23 seconds with a third-place time of 22.78.

Women's 100 backstroke
Showing no fatigue after capturing the 50 freestyle just 15 minutes earlier, Missy Franklin used a powerful final 25 meters to take the 100 back in a very swift in-season time of 59.75. It marks Franklin's first swim under the magical one-minute barrier, with her previous best of 1:00.16 coming at last summer's Pan Pacific championships, where she placed fourth in the championship final. It's also a national age group record for the 15-16 age group, just nipping Rachel Bootsma's 59.77 from 2009.

Elizabeth Pelton of North Baltimore fought hard for the win, settling for silver with a 1:00.06. Bootsma placed third with a 1:01.50. All three swimmers competed in this event at last summer's Pan Pacific championships.

Men's 100 backstroke
Michael Phelps hasn't had many victories in the 100 backstroke in his career, but he added one to his resume tonight with a 54.14 He took out the race hard and hit the wall at 50 meters in first place – an unusual spot for Phelps in a 100-meter race. Nick Thoman of SwimMAC-Carolina turned nearly even with Phelps at the halfway mark but couldn't match Phelps' closing speed, finishing second in 54.73. Ryan Lochte of Daytona Beach Swimming had a strong back half, but a slower first half meant he could only fight his way up to third place with a 54.95.

Jacob Pebley of Corvallis Aquatic Club, the bronze medalist at last year's junior Pan Pacific championships, placed fourth in tonight's star-studded final with a lifetime best of 55.40. The previous best time for the 17-year-old came at the junior Pan Pacs with a 55.61. Just to note, he's about a second off Aaron Peirsol's national age group record of 54.47 in the 17-18 age group.

Women's 400 freestyle
Kate Ziegler waited patiently for the final 100 meters to overtake FAST teammate Katie Hoff, who had led the race from the start. Ziegler, who will swim the event at this summer's world championships for the United States, won the race in 4:08.28, with Hoff second in 4:09.51. Well back in third was Camryne Morris in 4:13.29.

Men's 400 freestyle
Chip Peterson used the same strategy as his FAST teammate Kate Ziegler did in the women's race, staying at Michael Klueh's feet for 250 meters before making his move at 300 meters to win in 3:53.64. Klueh of Longhorn Aquatics did his best to regain the lead but touched the wall second in 3:53.73. Andrew Gemmell of Delaware Swim Team, who had competed in the 200 butterfly earlier, finished third in 3:57.30.

Ediz Yildirimer of The Woodlands Swim Team will have a great memory of the meet, as he chased down Ryan Lochte in the final 150 meters to take the B final in 3:59.37. Not only did Yildirimer get the win, but he improved on his lifetime best of 3:59.59 from last summer's junior nationals. Lochte had a five-second lead over Yildirimer at 200 meters, but was unable to match Yidirimer's closing speed – and final 50 split of 28.37. Lochte's time in the B final was 4:00.24.

Women's 200 breaststroke
Haylee Johnson of UBC Dolphins swept the breaststroke races with a dominating win in the 200 tonight in 2:31.40, with Raminta Dvariskyte of Southern Methodist University making a move in the final 50 meters to place second in 2:33.03. Romy Landeck took third in 2:35.56.

Men's 200 breaststroke
Eric Shanteau, an Olympian in this event in 2008 and the reigning world championship silver medalist, took control at 100 meters and won the race in 2:12.12. Clark Burckle of Tucson Ford, the reigning NCAA champion, was second in 2:14.55. Seventeen-year-old Zachary Gunn, the top qualifier from the preliminary session, held off Canadian Olympian Scott Dickens to get third in 2:16.13.

Women's 800 freestyle relay
Washington State and Alamo Area Aquatics made the race for the top time in the relay interesting, changing the lead a few times. But the foursome from Washington State were able to win the race in 8:27.86. Alamo Area was second in 8:30.78, with Delaware Swim Team picking up third in 8:38.76.

Men's 800 freestyle relay
Santa Clara Swim Club won the event handily in 7:45.54. Alamo Area Aquatics picked up another silver in the relay with a 7:54.41 and in third was Crimson Aquatics with a 7:57.92.

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