USA Swimming Grand Prix, Columbus: Michael Phelps Blasts 200 Fly

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 10. MICHAEL Phelps popped a scorcher in the men's 200 fly during the second evening of racing at the USA Swimming Grand Prix held in Columbus, Ohio.

Hungary's Zsuzsanna Jakabos dominated the women's 200 fly with a meet-record 2:08.09. That performance shot her to sixth in the world rankings this year. New York's Kim Vandenberg, back from her usual European training, took second in 2:10.17. She moved up to 18th in the world rankings in the event, while Stanford's Elaine Breeden raced to third in 2:10.88.

With Joseph Roebuck's top-ranked time of 1:55.94 from British Trials as an early pacesetter, NBAC's Michael Phelps cut more than half-a-second from that performance with a scorching 1:55.32. That swim smashed the 1:57.40 meet record set by Kaio Almeida back in 2008. Peak's Tom Kremer finished well back in second with a 1:58.34, while Nashville's Dakota Hodgson placed third in 1:59.31. Kremer jumped to 17th in the world so far this year.

Tucson Ford's Christine Magnuson earned the women's 50 free crown in 25.06. That swim pushed her to eighth in the world rankings. Kate Dwelley raced to second in the splash-and-dash with a 25.66, while Michelle Williams claimed third in 26.00. Masayuki Kishida raced to victory in the men's 50 free with a time of 22.62, while Graeme Moore touched second in 22.75. Krisztian Takacs rounded out the top three with a time of 22.78.

California's Natalie Coughlin triumphed in the women's 100 back with a 1:00.81, jumping to 10th in the early world rankings. Maria Gonzalez Ramirez, who qualified first in prelims with a 1:01.00, took second tonight in 1:00.96 for 12th in the rankings.

David Plummer hit the wall in 53.73 to capture the men's 100 back crown, edging Matt Grevers, who settled for second in 53.79 at the touch. Plummer improved to fifth in the world rankings with the swim, while Grevers took sixth overall. Guilherme Guido completed the podium with a time of 56.20.

Allison Schmitt stopped the clock in 4:08.88 to capture the women's 400 free title. She's been faster this year with a fourth-ranked 4:05.90 from the Austin Grand Prix in January. Gillian Ryan raced to second with a 4:09.70, while Leah Smith placed third in 4:09.89. Matt Patton followed in the men's 400 free with a 3:51.83 for the win, jumping into the top 25 in the world. David Verraszto touched second in 3:53.55, while Reed Malone wound up third in 3:56.26.

Andrea Kropp posted a 2:26.85 to surface victorious from the women's 200 breast. That effort shot her to ninth in the world rankings. Annie Zhu finished second in 2:30.16, while Mhyria Miller rounded out the top three in 2:30.82. Kosuke Kitajima closed down the night for individual swims with a 2:10.35 for the men's 200 breast title. He wound up fourth in the world this year with the swim, behind Andrew Willis (2:09.33), Laurent Carnol (2:09.78) and Michael Jamieson (2:09.84). Akos Molnar (2:12.42) and Clark Burckle (2:13.67) finished second and third.

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