By John Lohn
LONG BEACH, Calif., July 12. SO much for the life of Leisel Jones' freshly-minted world record in the 200-meter breaststroke.
Amanda Beard, headed for her third Olympic Games, used a sensational finish to erase the three-day old global standard in her pet event, as Beard touched the wall in 2:22.44, well under the 2:22.96, set by Jones on July 9. Beard heads to the Athens Games as a four-time medalist in Olympic competition.
Beard went out slower than her semifinal swim, but had plenty in the tank as she prevailed by more than five seconds. Caroline Bruce slipped into second place and grabbed her first Olympic berth with a time of 2:27.22, just ahead of Kristy Kowal, the 2000 Olympic silver medalist, who was timed in 2:27.99.
Kristen Caverly (2:28.33) collected a fourth-place finish while Tara Kirk, who qualified for the Olympics in the 100 breast, placed fifth in 2:28.42. Megan Quann, the 2000 Olympic champ in the 100 breast, was sixth in 2:30.02. Erin Sieper (2:30.19) and Staciana Stitts (2:30.33) rounded out the field.