Records Galore During Second Morning of Swimming at the Pan American Games

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, July 18. PAN American Games records continued to fall with surprising frequency during the second day of morning finals at the international meet held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Overall, seven more records went in the Pan American Games record books throughout a quick morning of action.

Men's 400 freestyle Finals
The United States swept the top-two spots in the men's middle distance event. Matt Patton posted a Games-record time of 3:49.77 to surpass the 3:50.01 set by Ricardo Mansterio on Aug. 14, 2003.

Meanwhile, Tobias Work placed second in 3:50.62 for silver, while Brazil's Armando Negreiros took bronze in 3:51.18.

Women's 50 freestyle Finals
Two events up, two Games records down. Brazil's Rebeca Gusmao clocked a 25.05 to edge the 25.14 set by Arlene Semeco during earlier action at Pan Ams. The 25.05 also tied with Sophie Edington's effort in Barcelona this June as 10th-fastest in the world this year.

Semeco, meanwhile, garnered a silver medal for Venezuela in 25.22, while Puerto Rico's Vanessa Garcia Vega rounded out the podium in 25.46.

Maritza Correia (25.63) and Samantha Woodward (25.79) wound up in fifth and sixth, respectively, for the United States.

Women's 100 butterfly Finals
The United States went 1-2 again, this time with Kathleen Hersey leading the way with a Games-record time of 59.21. That performance nipped the 59.35 standard set by Dana Vollmer on Aug. 14, 2003.

Additionally, Samantha Woodward gave the United States a silver medal with a time of 59.98, while Brazil's Gabriella Silva grabbed bronze in 1:00.50.

Men's 100 butterfly Finals
The Games records kept falling like flurries in a snowstorm as Brazil's Kaio Almeida dropped a 52.05 in the 100 fly to win the event. That time not only eclipsed the 52.54 record set by Octavio Alesi in prelims, it also came up just short of Almeida's best time of a 51.99 clocked in May.

Almeida's teammate, Gabriel Mangabeira, took home silver in 52.43, while Venezuela's Albert Subirats finished with bronze in 52.78.

Ricky Berens (52.98) and Pat O'Neil (53.49) touched fifth and eighth, respectively, for the United States.

Men's 100 freestyle Finals
While Brazil's Cesar Cielo could not match his 48.51 set at the World Championships in March, he definitely picked up a Games record with a time of 48.79 to easily win the men's 100 free. The effort surpassed the 49.19 set by Fernando Scherer on Aug. 4, 1999.

Meanwhile, Argentina's Jose Meolans took silver in 49.42, while the United States' Gabriel Woodward pocketed bronze in 49.59.

Dale Rogers, also of the United States, placed sixth in 50.11.

Men's 100 breaststroke Finals
After the United States' Mark Gangloff blazed a 1:00.24 during earlier action in the 100 breast, Canada's Scott Dickens kept enough in the tank to win when it mattered most. In an incredibly close race, Dickens touched out Gangloff, 1:01.20 to 1:01.24, for the gold medal.

"I was just trying to get on the podium, I wasn't even thinking of winning," said Dickens. "I was just trying to stay with Gangloff. With 75 meters to go I had caught him and I was feeling a lot of pain. But I just kept going. It's a big surprise."

"I think my semifinal swim yesterday solidified that I can swim at World Championships and the Olympics," Gangloff said. "It was the third fastest time of the year. If I would have swam that at Worlds I would have won a bronze medal."

Meanwhile, Dickens' compatriot Mathieu Bois had his own battle for bronze as he held off Brazil's Henrique Barbosa, 1:01.83 to 1:01.93, for the final medal spot.

Christian Schurr also placed sixth for the United States in 1:03.12.

Women's 800 freestyle relay Finals
The United States quartet of Jessica Rodriguez (1:59.97), Emily Kukors (1:59.57), Ava Ohlgren (2:00.19) and Katie Carroll (2:02.30) chopped three seconds off its Games record set during prelims when it claimed gold in 8:02.03. Previously, the U.S. touched in 8:05.28 to easily outdistance the pack during prelims.

"This is a great meet to get an out of country experience," Carroll said. "It's a great way to see how the rest of the world is preparing for Beijing."

Canada's contingent of Chanelle Charron-Watson, Elizabeth Collins, Hilary Bell and Stephanie Horner also surpassed the previous standard with a silver-winning time of 8:04.56, while Brazil's squad of Tatiana Barbosa, Monique Ferreira, Manuella Lyrio and Paula Baracho claimed bronze in 8:13.15.

Men's 200 backstroke Semifinals
The United States' Scott Clary chimed in with another Games record in the men's 200 back semis. He clocked a time of 1:58.78 to erase the 1:59.33 set by Leonardo Costa on Aug. 4, 1999.

Globally, Clary's time moved him into 10th in the world this year, just ahead of Tomomi Morita's 1:58.79 set in April.

Meanwhile, Canada's Matt Hawes placed second in 1:59.29, while Brazil's Lucas Salatta (2:00.04) took third and the United States' Ian Clark (2:00.61) placed fourth.

Other top eight finishers included Canada's Charles Francis (2:00.84), Brazil's Thiago Pereira (2:02.60), Barbados' Bradley Ally (2:02.71) and Colombia's Omar Pinzon (2:03.25).

Women's 100 backstroke Semifinals
In the first event of the morning not to feature a Games record, Brazil's Fabiola Molina qualified with the fastest time of 1:02.26. Canada's Liz Wycliffe placed second in 1:02.49, while the United States took third and fourth from semis.

Julia Smit touched the wall in 1:02.67, while Brielle White stopped the clock in 1:03.10 for the U.S.

Colombia's Carolina Colorado Henao (1:03.33), Canada's Caitlin Meredith (1:04.00), Mexico's Maria Fernanda Gonzalez Ramirez (1:04.29) and the Bahamas' Alana Dillette (1:04.39) completed the rest of the championship finalists.

Women's 100 breaststroke Semifinals
Coming off a world class swim of 1:07.78 Games-record time set during prelims, Canada's Annamay Pierse slowed up a bit during semis but still qualified first with a time of 1:08.27.

The United States claimed the next two qualifying spots as Elizabeth Tinnon (1:09.99) and Michelle McKeehan (1:10.34) finished second and third, respectively.

Pierse's teammate Jillian Tyler finished fourth in 1:11.14, while Argentina's Javiera Salcedo (1:11.57) and Brazil's Tatiane Sakemi (1:11.74) wound up fifth and sixth.

Jamaica's Alia Atkinson (1:13.01) and Mexico's Adriana Marmolejo Vargas (1:13.50) picked up the final transfer slots into finals with seventh and eighth place.

Special thanks to Swimming Canada and USA Swimming for contributing to this report.

Click here to view full session results PDF file.

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