Masters World Records Rewritten at Southern Pacific Regional Meet

PHOENIX, Arizona, July 27. MICHAEL Mann, Erik Hochstein, Jamie Fowler and Tamas Kerekjarto were responsible for 11 of the 12 individual Masters world records set at the Long Course Regional and Zone Championships in Thousand Oaks, Calif., last weekend.

Representing Colorado Masters, Mann set five world marks in the 55-59 age group. His first came as an 800 split in the 1500 free race on Friday. Swiming a 9:00.09, Mann erased Jim McConica's 9:06.86 from the books. In the 400 free on Saturday, Mann swam a 4:22.49 to wipe out McConica's world record of 4:25.34. His 100 free time of 57.08 later in the day beat Paul Trevisan's national record of 58.07 but was slower than Jack Groselle's listed world record of 56.20 and the new record Groselle set last week with a 56.08. Mann closed out the day with a 2:21.93 in the 200 IM for a new world record, erasing Rick Colella's time of 2:24.12.

On Sunday, Mann set a new world mark in the 400 IM with a 5:04.07, shattering another McConica record of 5:17.10. His fourth record came in the 200 free, where he set a new mark with a 2:04.01 to erase Jack Groselle's week-old world record of 2:05.39.

Kerekjarto's first of two world records was a stunning 2:06.76 in the 200 IM, breaking Nicholas Granger's world record of 2:08.89 in the 200 IM for the 30-34 age group. The time also removed David Lundberg's national record of 2:09.69 that had lasted since 1991. Kerekjarto, 30 years old and representing Fullerton Masters, also set a world record in the 100 fly with a remarkable 55.01, taking down the 55.90 set just last week by Oswaldo Quevedo.

Kerekjarto almost set a world record in the 200 free, just missing Australia's Daniel Kowalski's two-month-old record of 1:53.15 with a 1:53.46.

Representing Southern California Aquatics, Hochstein swam a 4:06.74 as a split at the 400-meter mark in the 1500 free on Friday for a new 400 free world record in the 40-44 age group. Dennis Baker held the record with a 4:12.26 since 2005.

Hochstein returned the following day to reset his own world record in the 100 free with a 52.10. The old record was 52.48, which he swam in August 2008. Hochstein returned later in the day to set a national record in the 200 IM with a 2:14.13, erasing Lorenzo Benucci's mark of 2:14.39. He still has a way to go to break Peter Bermel's record of 2:12.41.

Jamie Fowler set a world record in the 50-54 age group with a 2:18.05, taking down Michael Mann's world record of 2:20.02. His second world record came in the 50 back with a 29.43, edging out Tom Wolf's 29.81 from 2004. Fowler made a run at Lorezno Marugo's world record of 5:03.27 in the 400 IM for the 50-54 age group, but settled for a national record with a 5:04.32. The old national record was 5:05.82 by Rick Colella.

The final individual world record of the meet came in the women's 200 breast. Lo Knapp swam a 3:05.56 for a new mark in the 55-59 age group. She shattered Great Britain's Jennifer Merritt's world mark of 3:09.28 and Deb Walker's national record of 3:13.35.

The only relay world record came from Southern California Aquatics' team of Matthew Cornue, Hochstein, Tolmachoff and Beach, who set a new mark in the men's 200 free relay for the 120-159 age group with a 1:34.82. A Masters team from Finland had the record of 1:36.34 since 2001.

Kara Denby, 23, set a new national record in the women's 18-24 age group in the 100 free with a 58.47 to take Jessica Foschi's 2003 record of 58.94 off the books. Denby also took down Foschi's national mark of 27.24 in the 50 free with a 26.22. Denby, an NCAA All-American for Auburn, could be a regular name in the world record books soon, as FINA plans to make the 20-24 age group officially recognized internationally.

A slew of national relay records fell during the weekend. The Southern California Aquatics team of Dan Wegner, Peter Egan, Christopher Beach and Hochstein swam a 3:41.49 in the men's 160-199 400 free relay to erase Arizona Masters' 3:47.67 from the books.

Mixed 400 free relay national records came from Conejo Simi Aquatics (Wade Federer, Lauren Hancock, Christopher Ramos and Kara Denby) in the 72-99 age group with a 3:56.54 and by Southern California Aquatics (Nathan Janos, Jacqueline Corcoran, Ann Yearwood and Erik Tolmachoff) in the 100-119 age group. Hancock, Denby and Federer teamed with Nick Glaze for a national record in the mixed 400 medley relay in the 72-99 age group with a 4:35.26.

The Conejo Simi foursome of Hancock, Ramos, Denby and Federer teamed up again for two more national records in the mixed 800 free relay and mixed 200 free relay in the 72-99 age group. Their time of 8:55.39 in the 800 free relay shattered the 15-year-old record of 9:13.51 held by Davis Aquatic Club, and their 1:47.94 just nipped the 17-year-old record of 1:48.50 held by the University of San Francisco Masters. Southern California Aquatics' Tolmachoff, Janos, Corcoran and Yearwood set a new national record in the 100-119 age group's mixed 800 free relay with an 8:39.99.

The Southern California Aquatics team of David Schlesinger, Dan Wegner, Matthew Harrigan and Hochstein blasted the men's 800 free relay national record in the 120-159 age group with an 8:03.21, anchored by Hochstein's split of 1:56.08. The former record was held by San Francisco Tsunami since 2002 with an 8:13.69.

With the recent announcement that the 400 free, 400 medley and 800 free relays will soon be recognized as world records, it is likely that the members of the national record-setting relays from this meet could produce times to beat when the start date for recognition becomes official.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use