Flash! Peirsol Eclipses Own World Record in 200 Back at Pan Pacs
VICTORIA, British Columbia, Aug. 19. WORLD-record holder Aaron Peirsol lowered his own global standard in the 200-meter backstroke with a lightning fast 1:54.44 at the 2006 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships on Saturday night. He cleared his previous record of 1:54.66 set last year in Montreal by .22 seconds.
Peirsol finished well ahead of swimming superstar Michael Phelps, who took silver in 1:56.81. Meanwhile, Japan’s Tomomi Morita rounded out the top-three with a bronze-winning 1:58.53.
After clocking the only sub-27-second opening 50-meter split with a 26.97, Peirsol recorded the following splits the rest of the way: 55.85, 1:24.87, 1:54.44.
Incidentally, the record also surpassed the championship standard of 1:55.87 previously held by Lenny Krayzelburg since 1999.
“That was really special,” Peirsol said. “I’ll tell you, it never gets old. I felt great the whole way. It was just an amazing race. I just don’t know to say.”
His eye-popping time of 1:54.44 also showed vast improvement from the 2006 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships less than a month ago as Peirsol ripped off a 1:56.36 on the way to capturing the U.S. National title in the event.
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