By John Lohn<\/p>\n
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, August 4. ON a team with Michael Phelps, who seemingly produces an awe-inspiring performance each time he enters the water, it's easy to go overshadowed. But, to overlook what Peter Vanderkaay has accomplished this week would be downright foolish. The 23-year-old has been nothing short of tremendous.<\/p>\n
A member of the United States' gold-medal winning 800 freestyle relay at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Vanderkaay also helped the Americans to a world record in the event earlier this year at the World Championships in Melbourne. This week, however, was an individual breakthrough of sorts for the Club Wolverine standout.<\/p>\n
Vanderkaay kicked off his week by registering a personal-best time of 49.20 in the 100 freestyle, an exceptional effort for a guy best known for his middle-distance exploits. He followed by grabbing the gold medal in the 400 freestyle, clocking 3:45.55. In a race that included Phelps and Larsen Jensen, Vanderkaay threw down the hammer in the eight-lap event, dictating the race on his terms.<\/p>\n
Then, on Friday night, Vanderkaay mined silver in the 200 freestyle, finishing behind Phelps' U.S. Open-record time of 1:44.98. On the way to second, Vanderkaay popped a swim of 1:45.45, making him the fourth-fastest performer in history, one slot ahead of Aussie Grant Hackett. The showing immediately made Vanderkaay a top contender for an Olympic medal in Beijing. Of course, successfully negotiating the Olympic Trials in Omaha next year is the first priority.<\/p>\n
Already an international force before this week in Indianapolis began, Vanderkaay elevated his status to another level, producing a trio of personal-best times only four months after the World Championships. Oh, and the 800 freestyle is still to come tonight. Simply, consider the upward movement just a start for the talented Michigan native.<\/p>\n
**Will tonight be the night where Wu Yanyan's drug-tainted world record in the 200 individual medley is wiped from the books. At the Chinese National Games in 1997, Wu turned in a time of 2:09.72, the only sub-2:10 effort in history. But, in 2000, Wu was banned for four years after testing positive for steroid use. That doping violation obviously dropped her from the Chinese Olympic squad.<\/p>\n
The American-record holder in the 200 I.M. at 2:10.05, Katie Hoff figures to take dead aim that the dirty record in this evening's final. Hoff navigated her preliminary swim in 2:12.56 and has a chance to complement her world mark in the 400 I.M. Hoff has had a high-quality week, claiming titles in the 200 backstroke and 200 freestyle, in addition to setting personal-best marks in the 400 and 800 freestyles.<\/p>\n
**True to the word of Bob Bowman on Friday night, Michael Phelps was absent from the morning prelims of the 200 individual medley. After the 100 backstroke, where Phelps' effort of 53.01 was the second-fastest swim in history, Bowman said Phelps deserved to have the final morning off. So, in the 12th morning heat, Lane Four was vacant.<\/p>\n
Winning seven gold medals and setting five world records at the World Championships obviously wasn't enough for Phelps one year out from the Beijing Olympics. This week, he set a U.S. Open record in the 200 free (1:44.98) and supported his 100 back showing with the third-fastest mark in history in the 200 backstroke, a time of 1:54.65.<\/p>\n
**There's just something about the preliminaries of the 50 freestyle that is truly enjoyable. With 29 heats between the women and men, there was a constant flow of action to end the final morning session at the Indiana University Natatorium. Qualifying on the female side was led by Dara Torres (24.91) while Ben Wildman-Tobriner, the world champ, headlined male qualifying with a mark of 21.94. Torres, the 40-year-old wonder, could make a run at her American record of 24.63 in the final.<\/p>\n
**One week from tomorrow, the swimming portion of the World University Games will get started in Bangkok, Thailand. The United States will feature a strong squad at the competition, which runs from August 12-18. Headliners for the U.S. are Kaitlin Sandeno, Alicia Aemisegger, Matt Grevers and Michael Klueh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By John Lohn INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, August 4. ON a team with Michael Phelps, who seemingly produces an awe-inspiring performance each time he enters the water, it's easy to go overshadowed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"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":[7,4],"tags":[53785],"class_list":["post-15367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-usa","category-zzzzzzzzz","tag-2007-us-long-course-nationals"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n