LONG BEACH, California, January 19. THE second night of finals featured some quick times at the Long Beach Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Women's 100 free<\/b>
\nKara Lynn Joyce dropped the hammer with a stellar time in the women's 100 free. She clocked a 47.85 as the lone sub-48 swimmer of the event. That time fell just a bit off her personal best time of 47.24 set last year at NCAAs and is among the top 20 times of all time.<\/p>\n
Jessica Hardy placed second in the race with a 48.64 after leading prelims with a 49.68. Her time of 48.64 surpassed her personal-best time of 48.80 from last November.<\/p>\n
Kim Vandenberg completed the top three with a bronze-winning effort of 48.79. She also cleared her best time of 48.91 set at the 2007 SCY National Championships in November.<\/p>\n
Men's 100 free<\/b>
\nMichael Phelps joined the exclusive 41-club in the men's 100 free with a blazing fast time of 41.93. That performance cut his previous best of 42.14 clocked at the 2007 SCY National Championships. The readout also moved him into seventh all-time in USA Swimming's record books behind Roland Schoeman's 41.91.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Matt Grevers notched a time of 42.24 for second place, chipping away at his previous best time of 42.33 set at the 2007 NCAA Championships. Jason Lezak rounded out the podium with a third-place readout of 42.64, a bit off his best time of 42.22.<\/p>\n
The top eight featured some top talent like Nick Brunelli (4th\/43.23), Adam Ritter (6th\/43.66) and Simon Burnett (7th\/44.07).<\/p>\n
Women's 200 fly<\/b>
\nMary DeScenza nearly joined the 1:52 club with a personal-best readout of 1:53.09 to grab the title. Her previous best had been a 1:53.51 set at the 2003 NCAA Champs. Her 1:53.09 time did, however, move her into the top five all time.<\/p>\n
Dana Kirk, who qualified first, had a battle on her hands with Kim Vandenberg for second place. Kirk had just enough in the tank to get her hand to the wall first in 1:54.45. Vandenberg, meanwhile, grabbed third place in 1:54.66.<\/p>\n
Other notable finishes came from Kaitlin Sandeno (4th\/1:56.41) and Caitlin Leverenz (6th\/1:58.73).<\/p>\n
Men's 200 fly<\/b>
\nDavis Tarwater cruised in the men's 200 fly to a triumph in 1:42.19, which was a huge drop from him prelim effort of 1:47.85. Tarwater, however, wound up a bit shy of his best effort of 1:41.84.<\/p>\n
In a theme that is starting to develop, second place proved to be the most exciting race. Juan Veloz came from behind with a strong 27.16 final 50 split to take second place in 1:44.77. He overtook Patrick Cary, who placed third in 1:44.84.<\/p>\n
Women's 200 back<\/b>
\nMargaret Hoelzer picked up the hard fought victory over Mary DeScenza with a first-place time of 1:52.40, not too far off from her personal-best time of 1:51.68 set at the SCY Nationals in November. <\/p>\n
DeScenza placed second in 1:52.44 to chop more than a second off her personal-best time of 1:53.70 also set at the national championship in November.<\/p>\n
Samantha Pearson finished third in 1:58.79.<\/p>\n
Men's 200 back<\/b>
\nMatt Grevers posted the lone 1:39 effort of the race with a 1:39.99 to dominate the field. While still off his best time of 1:38.71, there still aren't a whole lot of people that go sub-1:40. Ryan Lochte (1:36.81) and Aaron Peirsol (1:38.45) would be those people.<\/p>\n
Peter Marshall earned silver with a 1:42.12, not far away from his best time of 1:41.71 set in 2004, while Simon Burnett grabbed bronze in 1:43.33.<\/p>\n
Women's 500 free<\/b>
\nKaitlin Sandeno backed up her 1000 free win with a conquest in the 500 free. She clocked a winning effort of 4:40.44, off her personal-best time of 4:39.09. It's amazing to think how far the women's 500 free has come after Katie Hoff demolished the record with her 4:30, and Kate Ziegler notched a time of 4:32. In comparison, a 4:40 is somewhat slow now. Talk about sport-altering.<\/p>\n
Sandeno's 17-year-old teammate Allison Schmitt picked up second in 4:41.68, whacking nine seconds from her prelim time of 4:50.66, while Carly Piper snared third place in 4:43.56.<\/p>\n
Men's 500 free<\/b>
\nMichael Phelps is obviously enjoying an off-event schedule at this Grand Prix, especially when he hacked two seconds from his personal-best time in the men's 500 free. He eased through the middle distance race with a time of 4:10.43 that moved him ahead of Ous Mellouli's 4:12.18 in the all-time rankings. Phelps' previous best had been a 4:12.33 set in 2004.<\/p>\n
Erik Vendt, who blasted the 1000 free American record last night, clipped some time off his personal best with a second-place effort of 4:13.41. Previously, Vendt had gone 4:13.63 set in 2003.<\/p>\n
Peter Vanderkaay, the American record holder with a swift 4:08.60, garnered a bronze-medal readout with a time of 4:21.06.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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