IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 1 SWIMMERS fought off a balmy day at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, Calif., on Tuesday as the 2006 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships got underway. Overall, a pair of meet records fell in qualifying races as Katie Hoff clocked a meet standard in the 200 IM and Brendan Hansen eclipsed Ed Moses\u2019 record in the 100 breaststroke.<\/p>\n
The initial session of competition proved to be incredibly fast as swimmers posted 202 Olympic Trial cuts throughout the day.<\/p>\n
The biggest shocker of the day came in the form of 19-year-old Stephanie Cota of the Sierra Marlins as she made the biggest seed jump into a championship heat. Coming from a 26th seed, Cota grabbed eighth-place in the morning prelims of the 400-meter freestyle with a 4:13.51.<\/p>\n
Here is event-by-event coverage of the first day of preliminary action:<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 100-meter Butterfly<\/b>
\nOlympian Natalie Coughlin made a statement in prelims out of heat 12 with a 58.28 as the top qualifier, while Rachel Komisarz picked up the second-best time of 58.34. Meanwhile, Dana Vollmer (59.49), Margaret Hoelzer (59.59) and Mary Descenza (59.83) all cleared a minute in qualifying. Additionally, Elaine Breeden (1:00.11), Kathleen Hersey (1:00.25) and Kimberly Vandenberg (1:00.37) made it into this evening\u2019s finals. <\/p>\n
Notably, No. 6 seed Felicia Lee dropped into the consolation final with an 11th-place 1:00.70. Also, a total of 35 swimmers clocked times under the Olympic Trial cut of 1:02.39.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 400-meter Freestyle<\/b>
\nClub Wolverine\u2019s Peter Vanderkaay cruised into the top-qualifying time with a 3:48.88, while Mission Viejo\u2019s Francis Crippen jumped from a 15th seed into second with a 3:51.22. Meanwhile, No. 1 seed Klete Keller posted the third fastest time of 3:51.36. Additionally, No. 5 seed Michael Klueh (3:51.52), No. 14 seed Shaun Phillips (3:51.77), No. 3 seed Larsen Jensen (3:51.80) and No. 17 seed Matthew Patton (3:53.75 will join them in the championship final tonight. Amazingly, Tobias Work jumped up from a 20th seed into the seventh-fastest time of 3:52.39.<\/p>\n
Notables that missed the cut are No. 4 seed Justin Mortimer in ninth with a 3:53.77 and No. 6 seed Charles Houchin with a 14th-place 3:55.64. Overall, 31 swimmers cleared the Olympic Trial cut.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 200-meter IM<\/b>
\nKatie Hoff proclaimed that she is ready to erase the drug-tainted world record of Wu Yanyan set in 1997 as Hoff ripped off a USA Nationals record time of 2:12.34 in prelims. Meanwhile, the rest of the top eight remained fairly close to the psych sheet. No. 3 Ariana Kukors (2:15.01), No. 2 seed Whitney Myers (2:15.28), No. 8 seed Alicia Aemisegger (2:15.39), No. 5 seed Caitlin Leverenz (2:15.90), No. 4 seed Kaitlin Sandeno (2:15.95), No. 9 seed Emily Kukors (2:16.10) and No. 7 seed Julia Smit (2:16.72) all made finals.<\/p>\n
Notably, No. 6 seed Courtney Kalisz did not make it to the championship final. Additionally, 43 swimmers in sum eclipsed the Olympic Trial cut in the event.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 100-meter Breaststroke<\/b>
\nNo. 1 seed Brendan Hansen went out strong in 28.19 en route to a USA Nationals record time of 59.87. The time surpassed Ed Moses\u2019 1:00.21 set in 2003. Meanwhile, No. 2 Mark Gang off (1:00.95), No. 6 Scott Usher (1:01.11), No. 3 Matthew Lowe (1:01.61), No. 9 Giordano Pogioli (1:02.48), No. 7 Tyler O\u2019Halloran (1:02.50), No. 5 Ivan Barnes (1:02.51) and No. 10 seed Christian Schurr (1:02.52).<\/p>\n
Notably, No. 4 seed Kevin Swander dropped to 17th with a 1:03.37. The Olympic Trial cut went down to the 35th-best swimmer of the morning.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 400-meter Freestyle<\/b>
\nThe Swimming World Magazine<\/i> National High School Female of the Year Kate Ziegler rocketed to a first-place 4:07.63 out of prelims. Meanwhile, No. 1 seed Katie Hoff (4:09.82), No. 10 seed Adrienne Binder (4:10.89), No. 3 seed Hayley Peirsol (4:11.24), No. 5 seed Kelsey Ditto (4:11.98), No. 6 seed Kirsten Groome (4:13.26) also advanced to the championship final. Amazingly, No. 17 seed Claire Maust (4:12.86) and No. 26 seed Stephanie Cota (4:13.51) snuck into the big final.<\/p>\n
Notably, No. 4 seed Carly Piper fell to 16th, while No. 7 seed Leah Gingrich dropped to 22nd. Furthermore, 29 swimmers in total went under the Olympic Trial cut.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 400-meter IM<\/b>
\nMichael Phelps did not disappoint in the men\u2019s 400 IM as he recorded a 4:12.38, just a second-and-a-half off his meet-record time of 4:11.09 set in 2002. Meanwhile, No. 2 seed Ryan Lochte (4:15.60), No. 5 seed Erik Vendt (4:15.72), No. 3 seed Robert Margalis (4:19.01), No. 4 seed Eric Shanteau (4:19.02), No. 15 seed Alex Vanderkaay (4:22.05), No. 18 seed Andrew Callahan (4:22.73) and No. 7 seed Patrick Mellors (4:22.77) earned their way into this evening\u2019s championship heat.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, No. 6 seed Timothy Liebhold fell just outside of the big final with a ninth-place 4:23.65. Overall, 29 swimmers pocketed Olympic Trial cuts during the event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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