USMS Short Course Nationals: 17 More Records Bite the Dust, as Dunbar and Marr Nail Two Apiece

By Phillip Whitten

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, April 23. SAN Diego Swim Masters teammates Barbara Dunbar, 55, and Jackie Marr, 60, knocked off two USMS national records each to highlight Day Two action at the USMS Short Course National Championships at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis. In all some 17 records were shattered today.

100 yard butterfly
Three records fell in the 100 fly, with Saint Petersburg's Bill Specht playing a part in two of them.

At 44, Paul Smith is at the top of the 40-44 age group, but that didn't prevent him from putting a whupping on his youngers. The Rocky Mountain Masters speedster clocked 50.26 for the race, slicing 3-tenths off Bill Specht's record set in 2000. Bobby Patten was second today in 51.10.

In the 45-49 age group, Specht lowered the mark of 51.91 he set last year with an even faster 51.54.

In 2003, Greg Shaw swam to a national record 54.31 for men 50-54. Today he shattered that time with a 53.60, but it wasn't fast enough. Trip Hedrick, making a comeback after a heart attack and several shoulder surgeries, clocked an amazing 52.38.

50 yard breaststroke
Alissa Davies broke the 30 second barrier in the 19-24 age group, as her 29.69 broke the USMS standard of 30.06 set last year by Petra Adamkova.

In the women's 80-84 division, Betty Christian lowered her own year-old mark of 53.05 to 52.78.

Former Indiana University star Peter Andersen clocked 30.08 to win the men's 60-64 race, 9-hundredths under the old mark set by Drury Gallagher in 1999.

100 yard backstroke
Three men broke records in the 100 back today.

In the 60-64 age group, a clean-shaven Rich Burns destroyed Ed Cazalet's year-old mark of 1:04.61 and Robert Smith's pending 1:03.61. The Tamalpais ace touched in 1:01.40, ahead of Smith at 1:02.53.

1952 Olympic champion Yoshi Oyakawa took Bumpy Jones' 2003 record for men 70-74 down from 1:07.88 to 1:06.83.

In the 90-94 division, James Triolo of Los Altos Masters touched in 2:10.08, shaving 12-hundredths off Jim Penfield's 2:0.20 from 1998.

200 yard freestyle
Dunbar and Marr began their twin assaults on the record book in the 200 yard freestyle.

In the 55-59 age group, Dunbar lit up the scoreboard in 2:11.19, well under Betty Ann Bennett's 2:14.32 from 2002 and her own pending 2:11.94 from last month.

One age group up, Marr, 60, clocked 2:25.05, nine-tenths faster than Lavelle Stoinoff swam in 1995.

In the 85-89 division, Rita Simonton continued her sweep, clocking 3:39.73 and shattering Marjorie Sharpe's 3:43.14 and her own pending 3:40.94.

Woody Bowersock notched another men's 90-94 record when he destroyed Gus Langner's 3:52.04 that had lasted 11 years. Woody clocked 3:40.64.

400 yards individual medley
The Barbara and Jackie Show continued with Dunbar swimming 5:27.14, more than seven seconds faster than Carolyn Boak's 55-59 record swim of 5:34.68 from 2003.

Marr was even more merciless with Betsy Jordan's 6:12.27, which had lasted seven years as the women's 60-64 standard, when she broke through the six-minute barrier with a sparkling 5:55.59.

200 yard freestyle relay
Two men's freestyle relays set new records to conclude the day's activities. The 35+ Rocky Mountain Masters team touched in 1:24.05, while the 45+ team from Illinois Masters swam 1:30.12.

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