Sun-blasted Day Produces Strong Outings in Day Four Prelims

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 4. DURING a day that featured intensely hot sunrays bearing down on the competitors, swimmers stepped up to the challenge and came through with some incredible efforts during the fourth preliminary session at the 2006 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships. Overall, athletes added 107 more Olympic Trial cuts throughout the day.

Men’s 100-meter Freestyle
Last night’s 50-meter freestyle champion Cullen Jones, coached by Brooks Teal, ripped off the top time from the morning with a solid 49.17. That effort cleared his previous personal best of 50.26 set in July. Meanwhile, Jones split a 23.64 to sit in fourth among top-eight qualifiers at the halfway point. The World University Games 50 free winner, however, used that elite-level sprinting ability to turn in the best back half of the day in 25.53.

Irvine Novaquatics’ Jason Lezak, coached by Dave Salo, parlayed the fastest 50-meter split of prelims (23.30) into the second-best time of the morning with a 49.52 in front of a partisan crowd. The Olympic gold medalist split a 26.22 during the last 50 meters.

Meanwhile, Stanford Swimming’s Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner (49.61), Longhorn Aquatics’ Neil Walker (49.72), Longhorn Aquatics’ Garrett Weber-Gale (49.77), Tucson Ford’s Adam Ritter (49.79), Sun Devil Aquatics’ Nick Brunelli (49.84) and Club Wolverine’s Klete Keller (49.88) will comprise the rest of the championship heat.

Northwestern University’s Matt Grevers (No. 7 seed) and Bakersfield Swim Club’s Gabriel Woodward (No. 8 seed) fell out of contention for the title as Grevers went 50.39 for 13th and Woodward turned in a 50.45 for 14th.

Overall, 36 swimmers cleared the Olympic Trial cut threshold.

Women’s 200-meter Butterfly
UCLA and Orinda Aquatics’ Kimberly Vandenberg used the second-fastest first half (1:01.97) of the morning and dropped the hammer with a 1:07.74 over the final 100 meters to post the fastest time of prelims in 2:09.71. Meanwhile, North Baltimore Aquatic Club’s Courtney Kalisz put together a consistent race for second in 2:10.88. The 2005 National Junior Team member went out in 1:02.76 and came back in 1:08.12.

Swim Atlanta’s Kathleen Hersey (2:12.11), Athens Bulldog Mary Descenza (2:11.86), Sierra Marlin Stephanie Cota (2:12.20), Wildcat Aquatics’ Elaine Breeden (2:12.52), Club Wolverine’s Kaitlin Sandeno (2:12.68) and Tucson Ford’s Whitney Myers (2:12.84) will make up the rest of the big finals.

Cota made the biggest move up the board to come from a No. 12 seed into contention for the crown. Additionally, Descenza clocked the fastest first half with a 1:01.95 to beat Vandenberg’s first 100-meter by a scant .02 seconds. Notably, 21 swimmers garnered Olympic Trial cuts.

Men’s 200-meter IM
Michael Phelps is well on his way to his fifth title with an impressive 1:59.43 to grab the top-qualifying spot in the event. The world record holder posted the second-fastest butterfly leg of the morning with a 25.80. Indiana University’s Todd Patrick, coached by Ray Looze, rocketed to the best butterfly time in 25.70.

Phelps pushed ahead with the best backstroke split of the day in 29.74, before holding steady throughout the breaststroke leg with the second-fastest split in the stroke with a 34.69. Meanwhile, Swim Atlanta’s Eric Shanteau blazed the breaststroke leg with the fastest effort of the morning in 33.50.

Phelps conserved some energy as he shut it down during the freestyle leg with a 29.20, the fourth-best final leg of the day. IU’s Patrick book ended his swim with his second top-split of the day by coming home in 28.54 on the freestyle leg to finish 12th in 2:04.60.

Meanwhile, Daytona Beach’s Ryan Lochte (2:00.83), Shanteau (2:01.23), Saint Petersburg’s Robert Margalis (2:02.99), Auburn University’s Doug Van Wie (2:03.00), Wisconsin Aquatics’ Tim Liebhold (2:03.95) and Harvard’s Geoffrey Rathgeber (2:04.09) made the championship final. Jewish Community’s Pat Mellors made a gigantic move up the board from his No. 26 seed to place sixth in the morning with a 2:03.89.

Overall, 32 swimmers turned in Olympic Trial cuts.

Women’s 200-meter Backstroke
New blood emerged during a surprising day of 200 back prelim competition. Bluefish Swim Club’s Elizabeth Beisel looked to be the newest superstar to burst onto the scene as the 13-year-old posted the fastest qualifying time of the day with a 2:12.48.

Beisel turned in a 32.15 split at the 50-meter mark, while several other swimmers posted faster times in the initial stages of the race. Atlantis Aquatic Club’s Kristen Shickora, however, put away the quickest first 50 meters in a sterling 31.36 split, before finishing the race in 23rd with a 2:18.72.

Beisel remained steady in the second 50 meters with a 33.98 split, while third-best qualifier Julia Smit (2:14.18) of Three Village Swim Club clocked the fastest second 50 split with a 33.45.

Beisel’s ability to maintain a consistent pace throughout her race helped her jump into the lead with a 33.33 split for the fastest third 50 meters of the field that put her total time at 1:39.46.

Beisel then brought it home with a strong final 50 meters in 33.02 to touch in 2:12.48. The final split far surpassed the second-best final kick by eighth-place Kathryn Thompson of Tucson Ford, who split a 33.83 in the last 50 meters to stop the clock at 2:15.92.

Meanwhile, the 2005 summer national titlist in the event, Auburn Aquatics’ Margaret Hoelzer lodged the second-best time of the morning with a 2:14.14. Additionally, Cougar Aquatic Team’s Lauren English (2:14.18), Rutgers Swimming’s Kelly Harrigan (2:14.53), Germantown Academy’s Teresa Crippen (2:14.79) and Long Island Aquatic Club’s Daphne Skelos (2:15.65) will also compete in the championship heat.

Skelos made a humongous move up the seeding board, coming from a No. 31 seed to be in contention for a national title in Friday’s finals. Overall, 18 swimmers captured Olympic Trial cuts from prelims.

Women’s 800-meter Freestyle
Swimming World Magazine’s Female National High School Swimmer of the Year Kate Ziegler put together the best 800-meter freestyle swim during a marathon session of action on day four.

After being the third-fastest person in the opening 50-meters with a 29.43 split (behind 28th-place Rory Schmidt’s 28.56 and Kirsten Groome’s 29.27), Ziegler never trailed the pace of any other competitor through the rest of the race. By the end of the heats, her solid time of 8:32.72 guaranteed her the top spot during Saturday’s finals.

Meanwhile, Santa Barbara Swim Club’s Adrienne Binder (8:35.50), Club Wolverine’s Hayley Peirsol (8:35.64), WSY Swimming’s Leah Gingrich (8:38.19), Longhorn’s Kelsey Ditto (8:38.53), North Baltimore’s Groome (8:41.32), Swim Macon’s Laura Conway (8:44.21) and Lakeside Swim Team’s Caroline Burckle (8:46.40) will join Ziegler in the championship heat on Saturday.

Men’s 1500-meter Freestyle
Club Wolverine’s Erik Vendt and Trojan Aquatics’ Larsen Jensen claimed the top-two qualifying spots during the men’s 1500-meter freestyle during day four preliminary heats. The two swam similar races through the initial 550 meters, at which point Vendt pushed the pace to take nearly a six-second lead over Jensen’s pace at the 1,100-meter mark with Vendt posting an 11:07.48 and Jensen clocking an 11:14.03. Jensen, however, had strong last portion of the race as he began tracking down Vendt’s pace.

Unfortunately for Jensen, Vendt had built too much of a lead and Jensen could only cut the gap down to Vendt’s 15:13.46 against Jensen’s 15:15.52 at the final touch.

In other action, Sea Devil Aquatics’ Thomas Koucheravy (15:17.09), Saint Petersburg’s Robert Margalis (15:18.24), Longhorn’s Michael Klueh (15:19.05), Club Wolverine’s Peter Vanderkaay (15:22.13), Charles Peterson’s (15:22.14) and Mission Viejo’s Chad La Tourette (15:22.86) also qualified for the championship heat.

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