USA Swimming Nationals: Rebecca Soni Matches 200 Breast Title with Win in 100 Breast

By John Lohn and Dana Lawrence Lohn

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, August 3. WHEN she won the 200-meter breaststroke on the first night of competition, Rebecca Soni claimed a no-doubt-about-it triumph. In the 100 breast, she waited until the last possible moment to collect the gold medal – not a common race strategy for a swimmer who "likes to train with the milers, and still needs to work on [her] underwaters," as she described herself tonight. Becoming the fourth-fastest American in the history of the event, Soni touched the wall in 1:07.06.

Best known for her ability over the 200 breaststroke – "I would say it's been a pretty good meet for me, especially breaststroke!" she said – Soni (Trojan) was not among the leaders at the turn, but she used her endurance to close the gap over the final lap, eventually slipping in a fingernail ahead of Megan Jendrick, the 2000 Olympic champion. Jendrick (King) turned in a strong performance of 1:07.19 for the silver medal and will certainly make noise for a berth to the Beijing Olympics. Jendrick has had an impressive year, including silver in the 200 breast at the World Championships.

The leader at the 50-meter mark, behind a split of 31.51, Tara Kirk (Stanford) picked up the bronze medal in 1:07.35. Kirk, who won silver at the World Champs, was slightly more than a second off her personal-best mark of 1:06.34. The fourth and fifth positions went to Trojan's Keri Hehn in 1:08.42 and Michelle McKeehan (Center Grove) in 1:08.49.

Click here to view event results PDF file.

Rebecca Soni wins 100 Breaststroke at 2007 US Nationals.

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