US Wins 3 at WUG: Hunt, Mahaney, Clements Come Up Golden

BEIJING, Aug. 28. US men won three of the four finals contested tonight at the Yingdong Natatorium in Beijing at the World University Games, and added a silver and bronze.

The American women swam well too, picking up two silvers and bronze medal in the three women's finals.

The US notched its fourth one-two sweep of the Games when Andrew Mahaney and Jeff Somensatto took the top two spots in the 200 fly. Mahaney clocked 1:58.25, exactly three-fourths of a second faster than Somnsatto. Somensatto had the lead at the 100, touching in 56.11 to Mahaney's 56.90, but Mahaney had the stronger back half.

"Andrew and I had talked from the moment we made the team about going first and second in this event, no matter who won the gold," said Somensatto. "Obviously we're really happy that happened and glad to give the team a boost."

In the 200 back, interest centered on Peter Marshall, who had already won the 50 and 100 and was looking for a dorsal sweep. Marshall was unable to complete his hat trick, finishing fourth, but Bryce Hunt stepped into the breach, winning a tight race in 2:00.20. France's Simon Dufour was second in 2:00.38, followed by China's Yu Rui at 2:00.55.

Marshall had the lead at the 100, turning in 58.20, with Hunt in the hunt at 58.99, but Hunt turned it on in the final two laps to take his first medal here.
"I've had a real good time here in Beijing," said Hunt. "It's been a long meet waiting for my swim, but I was glad to get in the water and swim so well."

In the 400 IM the USA almost scored another sweep but had to settle for a one-three finish. Kevin Clements led the way with a PB and Games record of 4:17.82, four seconds ahead of Canada's Carlos Sayao. The USA's Tim Siciliano touched a second behind his northern rival.

Clements split 59.60, 2:06.53, 3:18.80 and 4:17.82 to become the seventh fastest American in the event.
Siciliano posted splits of 1:00.06, 2:07.71, 3:22.62 and 4:22.80 to win the bronze.

"After my 200 [IM], I was pretty disappointed and wanted to make sure that I didn't put myself in that situation again," said Clements. "I know that in my first 200 I just have to hang in there because my breaststroke is so strong that I can get the lead, and once I did, I just had to keep it up. I'm so happy with my swim tonight, and even though I wasn't aware about being the seventh-fastest American, I'm thrilled to be up there."

"I have been focused on my training, and am pleased to have won a medal," said Siciliano. "It was great for the U.S. for us both to medal."

Only in the 100 breast were the US men shut out of the medals. Ukraine's Oleg Lisogor, who won the 50 breast erlier, attached the 100 to his resume, winning in 1:02.00. Japan's Ryosuke Imai, a student at USC, was second in 1:02.25 as the first six finishers swam 1:02.7 or better. The USA's Dave Denniston was a disappointing seventh in 1:03.14.

Rachel Komisarz picked up her fifth medal of the Games, tying a record for most WUG medals by an American woman, when she finished second in the 1500 meters in 16:31.18. Japan's Sachiko Yamada was the winner in 16:19.44. The USA's Jessica Foschi was sixth.

Romanian Olympian Camelia Potec took the 200 free in 1:59.45, edging Eastern European rival Nadezhda Chemezova, 1:59.45 to 1:59.79. NCAA champ Sarah Tolar picked up the bronze in 2:01.00, while teammate Kim Black was fourth in 2:01.79.

In the 4 x 100m medley relay, China upset the US to take the gold in 4:07.41 with the US second in 4:08.22, as both broke the former Games record.

China clinched the gold with a 54.90 anchor leg by Han Xue. The USA team of Susan Woessner (1:03.29), Tara Kirk (1:08.63), Bethany Goodwin (59.89) and Jennifer Crisman (56.41) won a silver for their efforts.

"I just tried my hardest, but I took it out too fast and couldn't hold on," said Crisman who was overcome by Han despite nearly a second lead. "You have to give credit to the Chinese freestyler for her great swim. I was hoping to help us win a gold and get it for our country."

Semifinals
In semifinal action, Dan Ketchum scored the fastest time in the men's 200 free at 1:50.33 with Bill Kirkland fourth in 1:50.97.

Germany's Anne Poleska, a student at the University of Alabama, possted the fastest semi time in the women's 200 breast, 2:31.85. The USA's Tara Kirk, who won the 50 in a Games record 32.16 yesterday, was fifth at w2:33.66. Katie McClelland was 13th in 2:37.22.

In the 200 fly, Britain's Margaretha Pedder went 2:11.70, the fastest time by nearly a second. The USA's Becky Harper tied for fifth ar 2:13.62, while Jana Krohn just missed making the final, finishing ninth in 2:14.54.

Diving: China Continues to Roll
Team USA divers were at a definite disadvantage when it came time to compete in Tuesday evening’s events at Tsinghua University’s diving pool: women’s synchro platform and men’s synchro three-meter springboard.

Not only had Nicci Fusaro (University of Southern California/ Los Angeles, California) never previously partnered on the platform with Danielle Stramandi (Princeton, University/Lawrenceville, N.J.), they had almost no practice time before competing.

The same scenario also applied to Tom Davidson (Indiana University/Ambler, Pa.) and Justin Dumais (University of Texas/Venture, Calif.) for the three-meter event. However, this pair fared better than their female counterparts. Among the 11 teams diving in the men’s three-meter synchro, Davidson and Dumais finished ninth with 272.79 points.

Once again it was China taking the gold, this time with Peng Bo and Wang Kenan scoring 338.31. The silver medal was captured by Mexico’s Joel Rodriguez and Fernando Platas (324.72) and the bronze went to Stefan Ahrens and Tobias Schellenberg of Germany (304.05).

For the women’s platform event, Fusaro and Stramandi weren’t able to get together competition-wise and ended up in eighth place in the eight-team event. "We tried," Stramandi commented. "We just need more time to practice."

The duo who finished first in the event, China’s Guo Jingjing and Cai Yuyan, appeared to have had plenty of practice and accumulated 315.45 in just five dives, rather than the six rounds used to score the men’s event. A distant second were silver medalists Lola Saez and Leire Santos of Spain (280.56) while Japan’s Takiri Miyazuki and Emi Otsuki took home the bronze (270.00).

The World University Games diving competitions conclude on Wednesday with the women’s synchro three-meter springboard and the men’s synchro platform. Rachel Kunkel (Brigham Young University/West Valley City, Utah) will pair with Stramandi for the former event, while Dumais will team up with Kyle Prandi (University of Miami/Strongsville, Ohio) for the later.

WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES
Beijing, China
August 28, 2001

50 meter pool

RESULTS

WOMEN'S EVENTS

200 METER FREESTYLE FINAL
1 CAMELIA POTEC ROM 1:59.45
2 NADEZHDA CHEMEZOVA RUS 1:59.79
3 SARAH TOLAR USA 2:01.00
4 KIM BLACK USA 2:01.89
5 KAREN NISBET GBR 2:02.48
6 LUO YUN CHN 2:03.92
7 MEIKE FREITAG GER 2:05.18
8 KRISTYNA KYNEROVA CZE 2:06.05

1500 METER FREESTYLE TIMED FINALS
1 SACHIKO YAMADA JPN 16:19.44 CR
2 RACHEL KOMISARZ USA 16:31.18
3 JANA PECHANOVA CZE 16:34.00
4 IRINA KOROVINA RUS 16:41.39
5 HE QIAN CHN 16:48.30
6 JESSICA FOSCHI USA 16:51.21
7 HANA NETREFOVA CZE 16:54.41
8 SARAH COLLINGS GBR 16:55.30

4 x 100 METER MEDLEY RELAY FINAL
1 CHINA 4:07.41 CR
2 USA 4:08.22
3 RUSSIA 4:10.20

200 METER BREASTSTROKE SEMIFINALS
1 ANNE POLESKA GER 2:31.85
2 KATERINA UVAROVA UKR 2:33.06
3 ZHANG YI CHN 2:33.39
4 JUNKO ISODA JPN 2:34.39
5 SARA FARINA ITA 2:37.17
6 KATIE McCLELLAND USA 2:37.22
7 LIAO YA-HAN TPE 2:46.21
– MARIA SANCHEZ M. PUR NP

1 YUKO SAKAGUCHI JPN 2:32.06
2 TARA KIRK USA 2:33.66
3 ANNE AMARDEILH FRA 2:33.75
4 ELENA KORMATCHEVA RUS 2:33.79
5 BEATA KAMINSKA POL 2:34.82
6 ELVIRA FISCHER AUT 2:35.24
7 INNA NIKITINA UKR 2:37.06
8 KATHRIN KIDGER RSA 2:45.79

200 METERS BUTTERFLY SEMIFINALS
1 PAOLA CAVALLINO ITA 2:13.56
2 BECKY HARPER USA 2:13.62
3 JANA KROHN USA 2:14.54
4 HU NING CHN 2:14.79
5 HITOMI KASHIMA JPN 2:15.16
6 ZHU CAIXIA CHN 2:16.25
7 KATE GODFREY AUS 2:19.30
8 ANDREA SIMAKOVA CZE 2:21.67

1 MARGARETHA PEDDER GBR 2:11.70
2 YUKO NAKANISHI JPN 2:12.65
3 ELENA VINOGRADOVA RUS 2:13.46
4 MARIA PELAEZ ESP 2:13.62
5 IRINA BESPALOVA RUS 2:13.85
6 MARCELA KUBALCIKOVA CZE 2:14.29
7 HSIEN SHU-TZU TPE 2:18.93
8 LEE KELLEHER IRL 2:20.28

MEN'S RESULTS

200 METER BACKSTROKE FINAL
1 BRYCE HUNT USA 2:00.20
2 SIMON DUFOUR FRA 2:00.38
3 YU RUI CHN 2:00.55
4 PETER MARSHALL USA 2:01.03
5 HARUKI TAKEUCHI JPN 2:02.58
6 BLAZ MEDVESEK SLO 2:02.59
7 NICOLO DELL'ANDREA ITA 2:04.36
8 JOSE SANCHEZ ESP 2:05.58

100 METER BREASTSTROKE FINAL
1 OLEG LISOGOR UKR 1:02.00
2 RYOSUKE IMAI JPN 1:02.25
3 RICHARD BODOR HUN 1:02.44
4 PATRICK SCHMOLLINGER AUT 1:02.59
5 CHRISTOPHER COOK GBR 1:02.60
6 TONY DE PELLEGRINI FRA 1:02.71
7 DAVE DENNISTON USA 1:03.14
0 A. MALIAROV-ABANINE RUS DQ

200 METER BUTTERFLY FINAL
1 ANDREW MAHANEY USA 1:58.25
2 JEFF SOMENSATTO USA 1:59.00
3 HISAYOSHI TANAKA JPN 1:59.22
4 JUAN VELOZ MEX 1:59.36
5 CHRISTIAN GALENDA ITA 1:59.81
6 SERGEI FESENKO UKR 2:01.42
7 WANG HONGWEI CHN 2:02.42
8 DAVID ABRARD FRA 2:02.87

400 METER INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY FINAL
1 KEVIN CLEMENTS USA 4:17.82 CR
2 CARLOS SAYAO CAN 4:21.75
3 TIM SICILIANO USA 4:22.80
4 TAMAS KEREKJARTO HUN 4:25.04
5 TAKAHIRO MORI JPN 4:26.00
6 LORENZO SIRIGU ITA 4:26.20
7 SUSUMU TABUCHI JPN 4:27.79
0 DIMITRI NAZARENKO UKR DQ

200 METER FREESTYLE SEMIFINALS
1 DMITRI CHERNYCHEV RUS 1:50.95
2 W.C. KIRKLAND USA 1:50.97
3 TAMAS SZUCS HUN 1:51.55
4 DRAGOS COMAN ROM 1:51.84
5 NICOLAS KINTZ FRA 1:52.08
6 YOSUKE ICHIKAWA JPN 1:53.39
7 KEITA KONDO JPN 1:53.49
8 DAVID RICHARD SUI 1:53.65

1 DAN KETCHUM USA 1:50.33
2 MATTEO PELLICIARI ITA 1:50.94
3 JACINT SIMON HUN 1:51.13
4 PAUL BELK GBR 1:51.15
5 HUGO VIART FRA 1:51.38
6 JENS KUHLMANN GER 1:51.58
7 THOMAS LOHFINK GER 1:52.14
8 DENG QINGSONG CHN 1:53.13

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