AUSTIN, Texas, March 8. AFTER witnessing its first world records at the hands of Hayley McGregory last night, the All-American Long Course Championships opened the final night of swimming at the event.<\/p>\n
Women's 200 back<\/b>
\nThe newest world-record holder on the planet, Hayley McGregory of Longhorn Aquatics, completed a strong run in the backstroke events at the meet as she demonstrated some front-end speed to win the 200 in 2:11.25.<\/p>\n
McGregory went out in 1:03.51 to hold a two-second lead over Mary DeScenza of Athens Bulldog (1:05.42) at the 100-meter mark, but started to get gassed as DeScenza made her move.<\/p>\n
McGregory \u2013 the new world record holder in the 50 back from last night, however, had just enough in the tank as she touched out DeScenza, 2:11.25 to 2:11.33, at the wall.<\/p>\n
McGregory's teammate, Elizabeth Wycliffe rounded out the top three with a time of 2:13.16.<\/p>\n
Men's 200 back<\/b>
\nWhile Aaron Peirsol had a much closer 100 back race against Longhorn teammate David Cromwell, the longer distance was no contest as Peirsol dropped the hammer with a 1:55.96 to claim the title.<\/p>\n
Cromwell, meanwhile, took a run at his lifetime best with a time of 1:58.75, but finished a second off the pace as he has a 1:57.43 set at the 2007 U.S. National Championships from last summer.<\/p>\n
Adam Mania of Schroeder YMCA completed the podium with a time of 2:07.01 as he took third.<\/p>\n
Women's 100 free<\/b>
\nKara Lynn Joyce of Athens Bulldog came within a fingernail of cleared her personal best time of 54.34 set at the Missouri Grand Prix, but finished just short of that effort with a swift time of 54.40. Joyce rocketed from the blocks with a split of 26.49 and came back in 27.91.<\/p>\n
Amanda Weir of Swim Atlanta settled for second as she sprinted to a time of 55.98, while Agata Korc finished third in 56.13.<\/p>\n
Men's 100 free<\/b>
\nAfter becoming just the 15th member of the 21 club in the 50 free on the first night of competition with a 21.93, Longhorn Garrett Weber-Gale moved into a more crowded 48 club in the 100 free. Weber-Gale's 48.50 to touch out Matt Grevers (48.53) of Tucson Ford, destroyed his lifetime best effort of 49.04 set at last summer's national championships.<\/p>\n
Grevers' time, however, was nothing to shake a stick at as he clipped his best effort of 48.59 set at the Missouri Grand Prix last month. That jumped him into the top 15 all-time in the world in the event.<\/p>\n
Finally, Lyndon Ferns grabbed third place with a time of 49.09, just off his career-best of 48.99 set in 2003.<\/p>\n
Women's 800 free<\/b>
\nNext year's collegiate freshman class was on display as Longhorn teammates Jessica Rodriquez and Nikki White went head-to-head in the distance event. Rodriquez, however, had just a little more at the end as she clocked a time of 8:40.45. White, on the other hand, grabbed second with a time of 8:40.98.<\/p>\n
Sterling Wine, 16, of Highlander Aquatics ended up taking third in 8:53.12 to comprise the rest of the medal-winners.<\/p>\n
Men's 1500 free<\/b>
\nAlthough the race was a lost closer at the halfway mark, Larsen Jensen had way too much stamina coming down the stretch as the Trojan Swim Club member dropped a strong time of 15:14.80 to capture the distance freestyle event.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Robert Margalis of Athens Bulldog wound up finishing nearly 10 seconds back with a second-place time of 15:23.22, while Alex Arbios completed the top three with a time of 16:13.85.<\/p>\n
Women's 200 breast<\/b>
\nTara Kirk of Stanford went out with a vengeance in the 200 breast as she clocked a 1:10.63 at the 100-meter mark and had enough of an advantage in the back half to hold on to the win with a time of 2:28.22.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Tinnon of Lakeside, who stood nearly two seconds behind Kirk at the 100 with a 1:12.35, put on some final speed but couldn't overcome the deficit as she took second in 2:29.90.<\/p>\n
Adriana Marmolejo of Sun Devil Aquatics touched just behind Tinnon for third in 2:29.97.<\/p>\n
Men's 200 breast<\/b>
\nIncredibly, Eric Shanteau is starting to get the better of training partner, and world-record holder, Brendan Hansen at the 200-meter distance as Shanteau did just that this evening with a winning time of 2:10.59 for the victory. On top of beating the top swimmer in the world in the event, Shanteau cut his personal best time down from a 2:10.65 last summer at the national championships.<\/p>\n
The performance did not put him ahead of Jim Piper's 2:10.51 as the sixth-fastest swimmer ever in the event, but he's getting closer.<\/p>\n
Hansen, who actually seemed upset at the finish of 100 breast last night when he touched in 59.61 (the seventh-best ever), had a difficult time of it in the 200 with a time of 2:11.60. He trailed Shanteau from the 100 after going out in 29.83.<\/p>\n
Neil Versfeld placed well behind with a third-place effort of 2:13.20.<\/p>\n
Women's 200 fly<\/b>
\nKathleen Hersey enjoyed a lifetime best in the event as she dominated the race from start-to-finish. Hersey hit the wall in 2:07.13 to pip her 2:07.19 set at the 2007 U.S. National Championships.<\/p>\n
Her closest competition came in the form of Mary DeScenza of Athens Bulldog, who wound up second with a time of 2:09.34, while Tanya Krisman of North Coast whacked two seconds from her personal best as she shot right past 2:11 with a 2:10.03. Her old top time had been a 2:12.07 set at the same meet as Hersey's previous best effort.<\/p>\n
Notably, Hersey's time broke a 24-year-old Texas Swimming Center record of 2:07.88 set by Mary T. Meagher on Jan. 8, 1984. Additionally, Hersey's time is the fastest in the world this year.<\/p>\n
Men's 200 fly<\/b>
\nJayme Cramer of Crawfish Aquatics closed out the individual races at the meet with a winning readout of 1:59.39, while Juan Veloz of Tucson Ford picked up second place in 1:59.86. Pat Cary of Trojan Swim Club rounded out the top three with a time of 2:00.25.<\/p>\n
Relays<\/b>
\nSwim Atlanta's team of Allyson Sweeney, Kathleen Hersey, Kristen Redmond and Amanda Weir won the women's 400 free relay in 3:55.70, while UCD Aquatics' Trent Richardson, Adam Pluemer, Kyle Anderson and Nik Kemp touched out Swim Atlanta's Conor Sweeney, Brian Robbins, Brent Murray and Eric Murray, 3:39.48 to 3:39.72, for the men's 400 free relay title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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