Karnaugh, Trevisan Each Set Two Masters World Marks at Colonies Zone Meet

PISCATAWAY, N.J., December 9. RON Karnaugh and Paul Trevisan each set two Masters world marks, while Greg Oxley set one, as seven global standards and five additional national marks tumbled in all at the Colonies Zone Short Course Championships, held at Rutgers University, December 6-7.

Only about 80 swimmers showed up for the first day of competition due to a heavy snowstorm that snarled traffic throughout the East, from Maryland to Maine. About 400 showed up on the second day.

Karnaugh, 37, blasted the world record in the 400m individual medley for men 35-39. His 4:24.36 was almost 10 full seconds faster than the old mark of 4:34.06 set by the USA's Jerome Frentsos in 2000. Karnaugh's time is also the fastest Masters swim in any age group — faster than the records in both the 25-29 division.

Karnaugh's splits: 1:03.66 (fly), 1:07.45 (back), 1:13.98 (breast), 59.27 (free)

Dr. Ron, a 1992 Olympian, came back later to reduce his own WR in the 100 meter IM. His 56.94 eclipsed the 57.76 he swam in this meet last year.

Karnaugh also won eight other events, all of them in near-record time: 100m free (51.01); 400 free (4:01.78), 50 back (27.54), 100 back (57.85), 200 back (2:03.44), 200 breast 92:20.85), 100 fly (57.15) and 200 IM (2:04.18).

Sprinter Paul Trevisan was equally merciless with the record book. First he blazed a 24.26 for the 50 meter freestyle leading off the Colonial 1776 relay, which also set a record, and destroying his own standard of 24.63 for men 50-54 set last year.

Then Tall Paul erased Larry Krauser's nine month-old 100 meter free mark of 55.10 with a sparkling 54.61, again leading off a relay on Sunday.

Greg Oxley, of Colonials 1776, accounted for a world record and two additional national records in the men's 45-49 division. Greg blazed the 100m IM in 1:02.20 lowering his own global mark set earlier this year. He then came back to retire the national standards in the 50 and 100 meter breaststroke events with performances of 30.83 seconds and 1:07.77, respectively.

Erika Hansen, a member of the 1988 US Olympic team who is making a comeback for Athens next year, notched a world Masters record in the women's 30-34 division. Hansen, 33, clocked 9:06.49 for the 800m freestyle, almost three seconds faster than the old standard of 9:08.34 set by Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen in 1996.

The final global records was set by the Colonial 1776 200 meter freestyle relay in the men's 200+ division. The team of Paul T. Trevisan (52), Thomas D Meade (46), Michael Slenker (57) and Gregory L Oxley (45) touched home in 1:40.71, laying waste to the old mark of 1:46.11 set by a Canadian team earlier this year.

The 160+ men's 200 meter free relay saw a national record by the Garden State Masters team of Paul Buren (23), Ed Tsuzuki (45), Oscar Gonzalez(43) and Tom Geiman(54). The quartet clocked a time of 1:39.07, just under the listed WR of 1:39.45 by the Judaica Academy, a Brazilian team. However, because one member of the GSM team is under 25, the minimum Masters age recognized by FINA, the time will not count as a world record.

Interestingly enough, the Garden State team broke the national record set in 1996 by another Colonials 1776 team, composed of Greg Oxley, Tom Meade, Mike Slenker and Charlie Norelli. That group lost one record, but three of the four gained another national record at the same distance but the next older age group as seen below.

That record came in the 400 meter free relay for men 200+. The Colonial 1776 squad of Trevisan (52), Meade (46), Michael Slenker (57) and Greg Oxley (45) touched in 3:47.59.

The final national record came in the youngest relay age group, the 76-99 division. A Terrapin Masters team comprised of James Crowder, Kelly Bowman, Jeff "Muppet" Strahota and Meredith Stakem hacked 12 seconds off the mixed 800 meter freestyle relay with a time of 8:51.55.

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