American Short Course Championships: Garrett Weber-Gale Blazes 200 Free; Kathleen Hersey, Andrejs Duda Double

By David Rieder

AUSTIN, Texas, March 4. THE 2011 American Short Course Championships continued with another fast night of short course yards racing. Two swimmers earned double wins, while Olympian Garrett Weber-Gale provided the fireworks with a strong swim in the men's 200 free.

Longhorn's Weber-Gale defeated teammate Dave Walters for the 200 free win. Weber-Gale posted a personal best time of 1:33.29, beating his prior mark of 1:33.53 from one year ago. Walters swam in the lead for the first 150 yards, and his 100 split of 44.33 fell just shy of his American record-pace (44.11). However, Walters felt the pain on the final 50, posting a 26.75 split, compared to Weber-Gale's 24.17. Walters settled for second in 1:35.41, and Trinity Prep's Jay Comier came in third at 1:37.69.

Olympian Kathleen Hersey won the 200 free in a strong 1:45.26, while Amber McDermott took second (1:46.98), and Swim Atlanta's Taylor Schick took third (1:47.51). Hersey also won the 100 back, coming from behind to defeat Swim Atlanta's Amanda Weir. Hersey clocked 52.91, while Weir, traditionally a sprint freestyler, earned second in 53.26. Schick grabbed third in 54.42.

SwimAtlanta's Andrejs Duda won both the 100 fly and 100 back. In the 100 fly, Duda edged Longhorn's Andrew Wang for the win, 47.20 to 47.36. Texas' Andrew Tran finished third in 49.28. Duda dominated the 100 back, posting a winning time of 48.23. No one else broke 50 seconds, as Heat's Austin Ringquis finished second in 50.03 and Texas' Brian Bolton third in 50.27.

Longhorn's Matt Lowe put sparks in the men's 100 breast, winning in 53.08. SwimAtlanta's Ricky Lehner finished second in 55.96, and Texas' Ian Carbone wound up third in 56.46. Brea's Gretchen Jaques had no peer in the women's 100 breast, winning in 1:02.12, while Swim Atlanta teammates Olivia Boggs (1:03.62) and Madison Horton (1:03.65) completed the top three.

SwimAtlanta's Lydia Jones took the women's 100 fly in 55.49, edging Trinity Prep's Catherine Galle (55.66) and teammate Miriam Soufi (55.82). McDermott cruised in the women's 400 IM, winning in 4:10.81, while SwimAtlanta teammates Meghan Faulkner (4:17.23) and Sommers Creed (4:23.09) rounded out the podium finishers. Bolder City Henderson's Robert Hommel finished first in the men's 400 IM, where he clocked 3:47.42, defeating Texas' Conor Swanson (3:52.71) and Ringquis (3:59.67).

Miami's Breanna Selts, Annie Valls, Alexa Kalandiak, and Daniela Johnson cruised in the 200 medley relay, winning in 1:47.54, while Heat's Connor McDonald, Scott Merzsch, Ringquis, and Anton Loncar took the men's relay in 1:37.65.

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