Uster International: Rebecca Soni, Martina van Berkel, Kimberly Buys Set Meet Records; Soni Rattles American Record

USTER, Switzerland, January 30. THE first day of the two-day short course meter Uster International held in Switzerland featured three meet records.

Rebecca Soni twice lowered the meet record in the women's 100 breast. First, she clocked a 1:06.78 in prelims to erase the 1:07.55 set by Amy Balcerzak in 2001. Soni then crushed her newly-minted standard with a 1:04.58 to win the finale. She beat Trojan Swim Club teammate Jessica Hardy, who finished second in 1:05.81. Belgium's Kim Janssens took third in 1:09.34.

Soni's winning time of 1:04.58 just missed Jessica Hardy's American record of 1:04.22 set in 2008. Yet, the result sheet lists Rebecca Soni as the world record holder with a 1:02.70 from the Duel in the Pool in December. Once USA Swimming implemented the techsuit ban on Oct. 1, 2009, it also decided that American records could not be set in techsuits. That ruling wasn't made all that public until U.S. citizens began breaking world records at the Duel in the Pool, and the corresponding American records remained on the books.

Hungary's Akos Molnar won the men's 100 breast title in 1:00.91, while Canada's Warren Barnes placed second in 1:01.74. Switzerland's Christian Schneiter touched third in 1:03.72.

Switzerland's Martina van Berkel dropped the meet record in the women's 200 fly with a 2:09.25. She beat Hungary's Agnes Mutina (2:09.34) as both women cleared the standard of 2:10.65 set by Caterina Giacchetti back in 2006. Germany's Theresa Michalak turned in a third-place time of 2:14.06. Canada's Zack Chetrat grabbed the men's 200 fly crown in 1:57.90. Portugal's Nuno Goncalo Quintanilha placed second in 1:59.63, while Germany's Toni Embacher completed the top three in 1:59.67.

Belgium's Kimberly Buys provided the third meet record of the night with a 2:06.29 in the women's 200 back. She beat Evelyn Verraszto's record time of 2:08.49 set a year ago. Zsuzsanna Jakabos of Hungary finished second in 2:10.78, while Switzerland's Danielle Villars took third in 2:14.37. Italy's Mattia Aversa pocketed the men's 200 back title in 1:57.90. Hungary's David Verraszto took second in 2:00.21, while Canada's Cam Cummings picked up third in 2:00.54.

Hardy turned her 100 breast silver into 100 free gold with a swift time of 53.96 for the win. Evelyn Verraszto touched second in 55.12, while Germany's Daniela Schreiber earned third in 55.30. Hardy's household enjoyed an event sweep as boyfriend Dominik Meichtry of Switzerland won the men's 100 free with a 48.89. Italy's Lorenzo Benatti (50.26) and Alessandro Sacco (50.38) rounded out the top three.

Buys doubled up by winning the women's 200 IM in 2:11.37 with Hungary's Evelyn Verraszto taking second in 2:13.59. Soni finished third in 2:13.76 almost completely due to a 36.23 breaststroke split. Poland's Lukasz Wojt claimed the men's 200 IM in 1:59.66, bettering his winning time from a year ago of 2:00.17. Italy's Alessio Boggiatto took second in 2:00.29, while Canada's Andrew Ford placed third in 2:03.31.

Agnes Mutina captured the women's 400 free in 4:13.01, while Italy's Laura Borghetti took second in 4:15.64. Jakabos wound up third in 4:18.14. Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry doubled up with a 3:49.97 to win the men's 400 free. Hungary's David Verraszto touched second in 3:51.91, while Italy's Nicola Cassio placed third in 3:54.08.

Full Results

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