Seven World Records Fall on Day 3 of US Masters Nationals

By Phil Whitten

CLEVELAND, August 17. SEVEN Masters world records — including two by Honza Vitazka — and 11 US Masters national records bit the dust on Day 3 of the USMS Long Course National Championships at Cleveland State University.

100m Butterfly
Honza Vitazka, 26, a Czech Republic national who was an All-American at the University of Cincinnati blasted the 100m fly world Masters mark for men 25-29, one of the oldest records in the books. Vitazka clocked 55.35 seconds, erasing the mark of 56.34 set by Mike Bottom back in 1984.

200m Individual Medley
Vitazka came roaring back with a second world mark in the very next event. His 2:06.33 for the 200m Individual Medley smashed the USMS record of 2:09.21, set by Cam Reid in 1987 and the world mark of 2:07.00 by France's Nicolas Granger eight years ago.

Carolyn Boak set a national record for women 55-59 in the same event. Her time of 3:04.29 erased Jayne Bruner's 3:06.11 set in 1992, but fell well short of the world record of 2:56.31 by Germany's Brigitte Merten last year.

50m Freestyle
Elizabeth Emery, Greater Ohio Swim Team, became the first woman over 40 to crack 27 seconds for 50m free. Emery, 41, clocked 26.97 seconds, breaking Sandy Neilson-Bell's world and US mark of 27.39 from 1996.

In the men's 55-59 age group, Rocky Mountain Masters' Richard Abrahams smashed Steve Clark's 1998 standard of 26.33 with a brilliant 25.53. Abrahams already had a 25.87 performance pending.

Margery Martin, The Olympic Club, clocked 42.29 seconds, cracking the USMS record of 43.89 set last year by Betty Christian. The world record stands at 40.89 by Australia's J. Drake-Brockman in 2000.

200m Backstroke
Two men set world marks in the 200m backstroke. Wieslaw Musial, TYMS, clocked 2:20.37, breaking the 45-49 national mark of 2:21.66 by Tom Wolf three years ago, and the pending world record of of 2:21.19.

In the 75-79 age group, Roger Franks zipped to a 3:10.25 clocking, destroying the USMS standard of 3:15.00 by Ray Taft in 1994, and just dipping under the global standard of 3:10.64 by Keijiro Nakamura in 1998.

50m Breaststroke
Two men in the 85-89 age group smashed the USMS mark in the 50m breaststroke. Paul Krup, O*H*I*O Masters, clocked 50.74, and Brud Cleaveland, FMM, touched in 54.29, becoming the first Americans in their age group to crack a minute. Russ Witte held the old mark at 1:00.27, set last year. Krup just missed the world record of 49.46 set two years ago by Japan's Hiromu Yoshimoto.

400m Freestyle
Margery Meyer, The Olympic Club, came back to complete an unusual sprint/distance double, taking the 400m freestyle to go along with her 50m win. The 80 year-old standout clocked 7:38.37 to slice precisely 15 seconds off the women's 80-84 US and world mark set by Rita Simonton in 1999.

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