Reaction Time: Interactive Commentary from USA Swimming National Championships

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, August 3. SwimmingWorldMagazine.com is bringing its readers wall-to-wall coverage of USA Swimming’s National Championships held at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis this week. As part of the already deep, rich and up-to-the-minute coverage of the actual racing, our team of reporters are also available via this new interactive web site element, Reaction Time.

Feel free to react to anything you see or observe throughout the meet in this location, and we will do our best to keep you updated on our observations of some interesting tidbits emerging from the meet that may not make our standard meet coverage. Also, look here first for Breaking News items that we discover during our time talking with the best of the best on deck and in the stands.

Additionally, we are available for special requests throughout the meet. So, if there is something you are dying to know, click below to React through Reaction Time and we will do our best to fulfill that request.

Jason Marsteller
August 3, 8:57 a.m. We’re about to kick off the fourth day of swimming here at the IU Nat. It’s been an exciting few days thus far. Let’s see what happens this morning.

In other news, Aaron Peirsol dropped a 1:57 during prelims at the Paris Open in the 200 back and looks to go after Ryan Lochte’s 1:54.32 WR in just a few hours from now.

Also, I spoke with a high-ranking official at the University of California over the past few days and it sounds like an official joint-statement from Nort Thornton and the University should be coming out soon. Although, I had heard it was within a few hours yesterday just before finals here in Indy. So, I’m not holding my breath.

What I can say is that Nort will probably remain on as a volunteer head coach while a nationwide search goes on for his eventual replacement. Nort’s continued role at that point will be up to the incoming head coach.

Dana Lawrence Lohn
August 3, 9:33 a.m. The air quality is greatly improved today – it feels fresh and breezy at the top of the stands. And prelims today seem to be as heavily attended as the Tuesday night finals session. Momentum is building into the weekend.

Dana Lawrence Lohn
August 3, 10:01 a.m. A quick note that on-site coverage of the Paris Open results will begin later today. What a phenomenal day to be a fan of this sport, with Peirsol’s 200 backstroke final @ the Paris Open, plus tonight’s action from Indianapolis: Hansen and Shanteau in the 100 breaststroke, Phelps’ run at the records in the 100 backstroke, and Kate Ziegler taking on Katie Hoff in the 200 freestyle.

Midway through Heat 12 of the men’s 200 freestyle, I count seven Club Wolverine swimmers on deck; those caps might become one of the iconic symbols of this meet!

Jason Marsteller
August 3, 10:49 a.m. Just a quick shout-out to Texas’ media relations contact for swimming and diving Travis Feldhaus. He’s been sending me some little smart remarks throughout the meet just to keep everything light. He also said that the Austin American-Statesman has been giving David Walters some serious love.

Howdy, and hello, my friend!

Dana Lawrence Lohn
August 3, 11:22 a.m. A huge roar from the crowd as hometown girl Jenny Connolly, representing Boilermaker Aquatics, wins Heat 12 of the women’s 100 breaststroke in 1:01.80. She has qualified first for tonight’s A final. Connolly must love this pool: at just 17, she has won three Indiana High School State Championships here, including two in this event. In the stands, Team Connolly is displaying one of the more impressive poster collections we’ve seen at this meet. Many thanks to WLFI-TV, the CBS affiliate in Lafayette, Indiana, for the info.

Dana Lawrence Lohn
August 3, 5:30 p.m. When Brendan Hansen put down a 59.98 in this morning’s 100 breaststroke, just the 10th time he’s been under one minute, it made us wonder: could we see 59.4, 59.3 tonight? Might he dip even lower than that?

This has also been a banner day for Indiana-based athletes. We count at least 10 appearing in tonight’s finals, including Jayme Cramer, who posted a stellar 200 freestyle qualifying swim this morning (1:47.72) and is clearly hungry to break out pre-Olympic Trials.

Dana Lawrence Lohn
August 3, 8:04 p.m. So it might be among the best news that Eric Shanteau has gotten since his arrival in Indianapolis: it appears that Michael Phelps will not swim tomorrow’s 200 I.M., and Ryan Lochte, seeded second, is not rested for this meet. Could this be Shanteau’s chance to lock down a 2007 US National title?

Dana Lawrence Lohn
August 3, 8:12 p.m. As tight as some of these races have been – gold separating bronze by just 0.24 in tonight’s women’s 100 breaststroke – the stands are tightening up too, with this morning’s preliminaries accommodating 2,371 spectators. That was the highest attendance at any session since the start of the meet.

Per Matt Reiswerg, the marketing manager for the IU Natatorium, we’re at 12,500 spectator visits and counting as of this afternoon; to give a sense of perspective, that’s almost exactly the same size as Natatorium host Indiana University’s staff, which instructs more than 97,000 students each year. Take a cue from that and pass it forward by teaching someone in your household a fun fact about swimming, for example: Michael Phelps is the fastest man in the history of the 200 I.M. by more than a second – an eon in pool time – but he’s going to pass on it tomorrow. Oh, to enjoy that kind of unprecedented dominance.

In a sport where it’s always been good to be big, perhaps we’re shifting even further toward the basketball model: the average height of an A finalist in tonight’s men’s 200 freestyle was 6’3″!

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use