Chesapeake Elite Pro-Am: Olympians Simon Burnett, Jason Dunford Win on Second Day

By David Rieder

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, December 16. THE Chesapeake Elite Pro-Am kicked off in Oklahoma City on Thursday night with the men's and women's 1000 free and relay events and continued with a full slate of events today. Many foreign Olympians and U.S. National teamers are at the short course yards meet, drawn by prize money of $600 for each race winner.

FAST's Emily Brunemann kicked off the meet with a win in the women's 1000 free in 9:29.00, while Mission Viejo's Ashley Twitchell grabbed second in 9:32.52, and teammate Brooke Lorentzen finished third in 9:52.41. J.P. Arnold, another Mission Viejo Nadadore, earned the win in the men's 1000 in 9:07.66. Auburn's Robert Looney came in second at 9:14.78, ahead of the 9:19.16 that Mission Viejo's Logan Redondo clocked for third.

The Kansas City Blazers won the women's 200 medley relay in 1:45.66, while an Adam Mania-led Schroeder YMCA team won the men's 200 medley relay in 1:31.53. Mission Viejo swept the 800 free relays, with the girls winning in 7:20.35 and the boys in 6:54.93.

Today, two foreign Olympians took home individual victories: Simon Burnett in the 200 free and Jason Dunford in the 100 fly. Tucson Ford's Burnett clocked 1:34.41, well off his U.S. Open record of 1:34.41. Burnett qualified for the 200 free final at the 2004 Olympics. SwimMAC's Eugene Godsoe finished second in 1:36.87, while Daytona Beach's Rex Tullius grabbed third in 1:37.34. Stanford's Dunford, meanwhile, crushed the field in the 100 fly in 46.10, while Godsoe took second in 47.38 and Schroeder Y's Mania third in 47.59.

Trojan's John Criste defeated a strong field to win the men's 100 breast in a time of 52.93. ASK's Matt Lowe hit the wall second in 53.46, and Wildcat's Alex Tyler took third in 53.68. FAST's Ed Moses finished fourth in 54.23. Moses won silver in the 100 breast at the 2000 Olympic Games and is seeking a return to form at age 31. Notably, Minnetonka's David Plummer finished fourth in what serves as a tune-up for Saturday's 100 back, an even in which he has won a National title previously.

Fort Worth's Julia Anderson clocked 1:44.62 for the win in the women's 200 free, while FAST's Whitney Burnett took second in 1:46.10. Burnett was previously known as Whitney Myers before her marriage to Simon Burnett earlier this year. Dallas Mustangs' Claire Brandt finished third in 1:48.71.

Minnesota's Jillian Tyler cruised to the win in the 100 breast in 59.01. Tyler won the NCAA title in this event in 2011 and is aiming to make Canada's Olympic team. Fort Worth's Anna Linkenauger finished second in 1:04.10, more than five seconds behind, while Minnetonka's Annelise Kowalsky took third in 1:05.13.

SwimMAC's Andrea Georoff touched out the field in the women's 100 fly in 53.54, just ahead of SMU's Genevieve Konicke, who clocked 53.63, and MAC's Katie Mills, third in 53.84. Brunemann won her second event of the meet with a 4:13.16 in the women's 400 IM, ahead of the 4:17.73 that Wildcat's Samantha Harding checked in at. Linkenauger ended up third in 4:22.46.

FAST's Robert Margalis closed out the night's individual events with a win in the men's 400 IM in 3:42.79. Margalis finished just three seconds shy of his lifetime best of 3:39.92 from all the way back in 2003. Margalis has twice made the 400 IM final at Olympic Trials, including a third-place finish in 2008. Wildcat's Sean Matthews finished second in 3:47.50, and Nelson Silva touched third in 3:56.47.

Fort Worth won the women's 400 free relay in 3:26.27, while Schroeder Y put a close to the second night with a 3:04.50 victory in the men's 400 free relay.

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