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Michael McBroom — Photo Courtesy: Robert Stanton\/USA Today Sports Images<\/p><\/div>\n
Over the years, Santa Clara has attracted plenty of the sport’s vaunted names. In fact, the only meet record not <\/em>held by an Olympian is the men\u2019s 800 free, in which Michael McBroom<\/strong> swam a time of 7:49.96 one year after capturing silver in the event at the World Championships.<\/p>\n
The techsuit era of 2008 and 2009 left its mark on the meet record list, and indeed, the oldest existing marks were set in 2008. At that 2008 edition of the meet, a\u00a015-year-old girl named\u00a0Elizabeth<\/strong> Beisel<\/strong>, hardly known as a 400 IMer at that point, blasted a 4:36.75 to win the event and set herself up as the No. 2 seed for the event at the upcoming Olympic Trials.<\/p>\n
Beisel went on to finish second behind Katie Hoff<\/strong> in the event at Trials\u2014four years after a 15-year-old Hoff had made the Olympic team after a breakout performance at, you guessed it, the Santa Clara meet.<\/p>\n
The meet record-setters from that meet whose times still stand: Coughlin, Cate<\/strong> Campbell<\/strong>, Peter<\/strong> Vanderkaay<\/strong>, Erik Vendt<\/strong> and Michael<\/strong> Phelps<\/strong>\u2014each of whom have won medals in at least three Olympic Games.<\/p>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Joao Marc Bosch<\/p><\/div>\n
Campbell, too, was 15 when she swam in Santa Clara in 2008, having already qualified for her first Australian Olympian team. That year, she broke U.S. Open records in both the 50 and 100 free. The 50 time of 24.13 tied her as the third-fastest performer of all-time in the event, and it still stands as the fastest time ever recorded on American soil.<\/p>\n
Months later, Campbell’s first Olympics did not go so smoothly, as she ended up missing the Olympic final in the 100 free, but Campbell did rebound to take the bronze in the 50 free.<\/p>\n
Vanderkaay, meanwhile swam times of 1:46.24 in the 200 free (a meet record broken in 2016) and 3:43.82 in the 400 free, at that point his lifetime best in the longer distance. At that point, he had never won an individual medal internationally, but less than three months later, he picked up an Olympic bronze medal in the 200 free and just missed the medals with a fourth-place finish in the 200.<\/p>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports<\/p><\/div>\n
As for Phelps, the Santa Clara meet provided one of his final preparation meets for his legendary summer of 2008, a stretch which was capped off by his eight-gold-medal performance in Beijing.<\/p>\n
That year, Phelps won the 100 fly in\u00a0Santa Clara in 51.61, a time which remains the meet record entering 2017, and he also set a since-broken meet record in the 100 back, touching in 54.03.<\/p>\n
Yes, the 100 back. It\u2019s easy to forget now, almost a decade later, but Phelps almost broke world records in both backstroke events during the summer of 2007 (53.01 in the 100 back, 1:54.65 in the 200 back). At the time of the Santa Clara meet in 2008, it was a legitimate possibility that Phelps might try to add one or both backstroke races to his event lineup for Beijing.<\/p>\n
Of course, he didn\u2019t go that route, and the U.S. ended up finishing one-two in both races anyway. And in the years since, Americans have continued to get along just fine without the greatest-of-all-time swimming backstroke. Just last year, Ryan Murphy won gold and took down the world record\u2014two months after he obliterated Phelps\u2019 Santa Clara meet record in the event with a time of 52.76.<\/p>\n
So, yes, a few good swimmers have made pit stops in Santa Clara over the years. In 2016, Murphy and Josh Prenot<\/strong> each won events in which they would go on to make the podium in Rio, while eventual 100 free gold medalist Kyle Chalmers actually finished second in his signature event behind fellow Australian\u00a0James Magnussen.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Also at last year’s meet, Maya DiRado<\/strong> passed on her signature IM events and the 200 back in her final tune-up for Olympic Trials, but her third-place finish in the Santa Clara 200 free ended up proving paramount. Her time of 1:57.70 was a lifetime best, and it ended up earning her a spot on the U.S. 800 free relay in Rio, even after she skipped the event at Olympic Trials.<\/p>\n
The start lists for this year\u2019s meet<\/a> indicate another good one, even if some of those who entered could still decide to not make the trip<\/a>. Caeleb Dressel<\/strong> is expected to compete against Nathan Adrian<\/strong> in a 100 free for the first time since he swam 40.00 in the 100-yard event at the NCAA championships, and the top three finishers from the epic men\u2019s 200 breast at Olympic Trials, Prenot, Kevin Cordes<\/strong> and Will Licon<\/strong>, are all entered.<\/p>\n
On the women\u2019s side, Katie Ledecky<\/strong> will make the short trip south from Palo Alto, and she will swim\u00a0her first 1500 free since the 2015 World Championships, where she set the current world record with a time of 15:25.48. In total, 25 swimmers who have won Olympic medals are expected to be\u00a0in town, according to USA Swimming Stats.<\/p>\n
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We are ready for the #ArenaProSwim<\/a> at Santa Clara to get started tomorrow. Check out some key numbers for the meet. It’s going to be fun! pic.twitter.com\/mwFU8eI6Ec<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 USA Swimming Stats (@USASwimStats) June 1, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n