By John Lohn
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, August 1. DURING the morning prelims, en route to the top seed, Ryan Lochte uncorked a sterling split in the breaststroke leg. During the evening session, Lochte again turned to a scintillating breaststroke leg that enabled him to win the 400 I.M. in 4:13.55. Lochte is the reigning World Champs silver medalist in the event.
In fifth after the butterfly leg, Lochte moved to fourth following the backstroke leg. But, it was his effort during the breaststroke portion of the race that proved to be the difference. Lochte turned in a split of 1:08.60 to not only capture the lead, but to open up a commanding margin on the field. The second-place finisher was Erik Vendt, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the event who was timed in 4:15.89.
The winner of the 1500 freestyle on Tuesday night, in a meet-record time, Vendt obviously had a difficult turnaround. Still, the Club Wolverine athlete packaged a strong performance that handed him the silver medal ahead of Eric Shanteau. Second in the 200 breast on the opening night of action, Shanteau was timed in 4:16.29.
Tyler Clary, a surging star on the American scene who recently earned a silver medal in the 200 backstroke at the Pan American Games, was fourth in 4:19.72. Clary had the lead at the midpoint of the race, but was caught during the breaststroke leg. Of note, world-record holder and Olympic champ Michael Phelps opted to not contest the event this week.
Click here to view event results PDF file.
