USA Swimming Sectionals, Gainesville: Ryan Lochte Posts Strong 400 IM

By David Rieder

GAINESVILLE, Florida, July 9. THE second night of long course meters action at the Sectionals meet in Florida featured a strong swim by world champion Ryan Lochte in the men's 400 IM.

Daytona Beach's Lochte, swimming the race competitively for the first time since the World Championships in Rome, won by more than ten seconds, posting a 4:16.91. The time moved him to 15th in the world, just behind Australia's Thomas Fraser-Holmes. Gator's Conor Dwyer ended up second in 4:27.09, while Metro Miami's Carlos Omana, Thursday's winner in the 800 free, rounded out the sub-4:30s with a third-place time of 4:28.20.

Lochte paced the 200 free prelims with a time of 1:50.15, about a second slower than his season-best 1:49.05 from the Charlotte UltraSwim in May. He ended up scratching finals, in which Fernando Ernesto Santos touched out Gator's Brett Fraser for the win, 1:52.67 to 1:52.85. Sarasota YMCA's Patrick Ceddia ended up third in 1:54.09.

Brazilian Felipe Lima touched out Fast Lane's Roman Sludnov for the men's 100 breast win. Lima clocked 1:02.79, while the Russian who became the first man under 1:00 in 2001 finished in 1:02.94. Dwyer ended up third at 1:05.72.

Lindsay McKnight came out on top in a tight field in the women's 200 free. She won in 2:02.04, just ahead of Gator's Jamie Bohunicky, who posted a 2:02.20, while Swim Florida's Stephanie Peacock finished third in 2:02.77. Gator's Sarra Lajnef took first in the 100 breast in a time of 1:13.94, beating West Hartford's Syndey Gollic, 15, who posted a 1:14.57. Club Seminole's Jamie Barrett took third in 1:15.39.

Patriot's Sarah Bateman got the better of British Olympian Jemma Lowe in the women's 100 fly. Bateman clocked 1:01.42, while Gator's Lowe checked in at 1:01.58, while Ana Anaya took third in 1:02.48. Gator's Sebastien Rousseau, won the men's equivalent. The South African World Championships finalist in the 200 fly, Rousseau won in 55.63, ahead of Area Tallahassee's Hunter Hinson (56.28) and Matthew Ellis (56.54).

Gator went 1-2 in the women's 400 IM, led by Stephanie Proud's victory. The British swimmer won in 4:52.21, while teammate Angelina Ballatore beat Bolles' Lauren Neidigh for second, 4:54.74 to 4:54.94.

Fort Lauderdale's team of Rebecca Aiello, Lauren Driscoll, Damaris Iriondo, and Stephanie Eisenring took the women's 800 free relay in 8:29.28, while Sarasota YMCA won the men's 800 free relay in 7:56.87, with Nicholas Caldwell, Patrick Ceddia, John Silvers, and Kirtley Davis.

Swimming World high school intern David "The Swim Geek" Rieder is a high school swimmer in Charleston, S.C. He swims for the Southern Marlins Racing Team and often negative splits his races. He can be found on the web at swimdr549.blogspot.com and twitter.com/david2swim.

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