By John Lohn<\/p>\n
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, July 31. HE's been the United States' No. 2 guy in the 200-meter butterfly for several years, but tonight Davis Tarwater ascended to the top of the medal podium. Pushing the pace from the start, Tarwater built a sizable lead over the remainder of the field and held on down to the wire to prevail in a personal-best time of 1:56.03. His previous top mark was 1:56.58.<\/p>\n
"Sometimes in your career you hit a plateau. I've struggled for a couple of years now, so to have a lifetime best – it's a great night for me."<\/p>\n
An NCAA champion during his collegiate days at Michigan, Tarwater (Club Wolverine) touched at the midway point in 54.08 and continued to pour it on through to the 150-meter mark, where he was timed in 1:24.02. Down the stretch, Gil Stovall made a move at Tarwater, but it wasn't enough to corral a first-place finish. Stovall took second in a best of 1:57.13.<\/p>\n
Typically, the 200 butterfly has been the domain of Tarwater's Club Wolverine teammate, Michael Phelps. But, Phelps has decided to go with a few wrinkles in his agenda this week and was absent from the event in which he is the world-record holder. Phelps started his meet with the 200 breaststroke and will also race the 200 and 400 freestyles, the 100 and 200 backstrokes, the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley.<\/p>\n
When asked what he's done differently in training toward this meet, Tarwater replied that "I went back to the basics this year and looked at extensive film with Coach Bowman." He compared tonight's win to his 2006 NCAA title in the similar event: "It feels really good to come back and take this … now, to be second at [Olympic] Trials – that's the goal."<\/p>\n
Eddie Erazo, who recently collected a silver medal at the Pan American Games in the 200 fly, was the third-place finisher in 1:58.17. A pair of foreign swimmers were fourth and fifth. Juan Veloz (Mexico) earned fourth place in 1:59.18, touching just ahead of Jeremy Knowles, the Bahamian who took fifth in 1:59.22.<\/p>\n