ANN ARBOR, Michigan, May 19. THE Eric Namesnik Memorial Grand Prix got off to a sizzling start Friday night at Canham Natatorium, on the campus of the University of Michigan. The individual responsible for the major fireworks, not surprisingly, was Katie Hoff.<\/p>\n
The teenage sensation from the North Baltimore Aquatic Club delivered a sterling performance in the 200 individual medley, as she clocked an impressive time of 2:11.22 for a five-second triumph over Natalie Coughlin, the five-time Olympic medalist. The reigning world champ in the event, Hoff trailed Coughlin after the opening leg, but took over in impressive fashion to roll to a dominating decision.<\/p>\n
Targeting this summer\u2019s United States Nationals and the Pan Pacific Championships, Hoff is expected to make a push at the world record in the 200 I.M. in a few short months. The standard of 2:09.72 was set by China\u2019s Wu Yanyan in 1997, but is a drug-tainted mark.<\/p>\n
In addition to her performance in the 200 I.M., Hoff placed second in the 50 freestyle. Kara Lynn Joyce prevailed in the one-lap sprint, as she clocked a time of 25.73 to hold off Hoff (25.85). Coughlin touched the wall for third place with a swim of 26.12. <\/p>\n
Joyce also helped the Athens Bulldogs to a win in the 400 freestyle relay as she teamed with Maritza Correia, Mary DeScenza and Jessica Cole for an effort of 3:49.61. Hoff\u2019s leadoff of 56.10 was the best 100-meter mark of the day and guided North Baltimore to fourth place. As for the 400 freestyle, Kristem Groome took top honors as her swim of 4:15.20 held off the 4:15.55 of Hayley Peirsol.<\/p>\n
On the men\u2019s side, the men from Club Wolverine put on a show, led by Michael Phelps and Peter Vanderkaay. Phelps, who won eight medals at the Athens Olympics, won the 200 individual medley in 2:02.60, easily quicker than the 2:05.97 of Keith Beavers. Phelps also took second in the 400 free when his 3:53.61 outing was topped by Vanderkaay\u2019s 3:51.64. Klete Keller gave Club Wolverine a sweep of the top-three slots with a mark of 3:54.53.<\/p>\n
Making his return to competition after coming out of retirement, Erik Vendt advanced to a pair of championship finals. A two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 400 I.M., Vendt placed fifth in the 200 I.M. (2:08.25) and was fifth in the 400 free (3:56.85). Vendt\u2019s goal is to be in position for a trip to Pan Pacs and next year\u2019s World Champs in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
In the 400 free relay, Club Wolverine used the foursome of Vanderkaay, Davis Tarwater, Keller and Phelps to win in a time of 3:28.71. Club Wolverine also took second place in 3:36.59 behind the unit of Bobby Savulich, Evan Ryser, Curtis Dauw and Alex Vanderkaay. Joe Bartoch of London Aquatics won the 50 free in 23.91<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ANN ARBOR, Michigan, May 19. THE Eric Namesnik Memorial Grand Prix got off to a sizzling start Friday night at Canham Natatorium, on the campus of the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,10,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","category-world","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n