AUSTIN, Texas, November 30. CALIFORNIA's Tom Shields provided the highlight of the morning with a sizzling meet-record tying in the men's 100 fly at the U.S. Short Course Nationals during day two in Austin. Meanwhile, U.S. National Age Group records fell, and a U.S. Masters Swimming national mark also took a tumble.<\/p>\n
Women's 200 medley relay<\/b>
\nA pair of NCAA A cuts went up on the board to start the morning. USC's Joan Christel Simms (25.12), Kasey Carlson (26.57), Kendyl Stewart (23.36) and Katazryna Wilk (22.35) topped qualifying in 1:37.40, while Arizona's Lauren Smart (24.72), Chelsey Salli (27.11), Megan Lafferty (23.52) and Briana Wilford (22.51) posted a second-seeded 1:37.86, both under the NCAA A cut of 1:38.42. <\/p>\n
Texas' Sarah Denninghoff (25.18), Laura Sogar (27.29), Kelsey Amundsen (23.98) and Ellen Lobb (22.02) qualified third in 1:38.47, just missing the A standard. The Longhorns will likely rectify that during finals. Arizona B (1:39.80), Texas B (1:40.80), USC B (1:40.81), Indiana (1:41.25) and West Virginia (1:42.96) rounded out the championship heat. <\/p>\n
Men's 200 medley relay<\/b>
\nArizona's Mitchell Friedemann (21.10), Kevin Cordes (23.84), Giles Smith (20.42) and Jeffrey Amlee (19.80) just missed the meet record with a time of 1:25.16, but managed to blast the NCAA A cut of 1:26.38 to clinch the event at NCAAs for the Wildcats. SwimMAC's championship mark of 1:25.12 from 2010 is still on the board. <\/p>\n
USC's Luca Spinazzola (21.65), Sergio Lujan-Rivera (24.18), Chase Bloch (21.28) and John Wagner (19.52) placed second in 1:26.63, just off the NCAA A cut. Arizona's B team of Michael Sheppard (22.10), Carl Mickelson (23.81), Ellis Miller (21.40) and Nicholas Popov (19.76) touched third in 1:27.07. USC B (1:28.88), Indiana (1:29.11), Texas (1:31.02), NYAC (1:31.13) and NCAP (1:31.98) also made the finale.<\/p>\n
Women's 400 IM<\/b>
\nCelina Li, the 200 IM champion last night, could pull off an IM sweep after throwing down a 4:11.33 in prelims for the top seed. She has plenty in her tank, as her lifetime best is a 4:06.94 from 2011 Sectionals. She topped Olympic star Missy Franklin and Stina Gardell in the 200 IM last night with a 1:55.28. <\/p>\n
USC's Gardell placed second in 4:11.67 for the only other sub 4:12 of the morning, as she lead a boatload of Trojans into the championship heat. USC's Jessica Schmitt (4:12.05), Andrea Kropp (4:12.32) and Olympic silver medalist Haley Anderson (4:12.83) also made the A final with 4:12s.<\/p>\n
Texas' Kaitlin Pawlowicz (4:12.63), UCLA's Anna Senko (4:12.86) and Indiana's Dorina Szekeres (4:13.33) also made the big final. While the collegiate swimmers will be gunning for the national title, they will also be looking to clear the NCAA A cut of 4:05.98. <\/p>\n
Men's 400 IM<\/b>
\nNBAC's Chase Kalisz took the top seed into the finale with a 3:45.51, bettering his lifetime best of 3:45.78 set at the 2011 NBAC Christmas Meet a year ago. Dynamo's Gunnar Bentz joined him under 3:46 with a 3:45.80 for the second seed. That swim smashed his previous top time of 3:48.87 clocked at the 2011 Short Course Junior Nationals last December. Bentz had a strong day yesterday besting the 15-16 U.S. National Age Group record in the 200 IM with a 1:45.17 in prelims. He has a long way to go to take down Michael Phelps' age division standard in this event, which stands at a 3:42.08 from 2002. <\/p>\n
Tucson Ford's Austen Thompson (3:46.69), NCAP's Andrew Seliskar (3:47.03), Trojan's Alexander Tikhonov (3:47.18), Matt Thompson (3:47.84), Tucson Ford's Samuel Rowan (3:49.12) and Max Williamson (3:49.62) earned the rest of the transfer spots into the finale. <\/p>\n
Women's 100 fly<\/b>
\nTwo-time Olympic silver medalist form the 2008 Beijing Games, Christine Magnuson is still training even after missing out on 2012. This morning, she checked in with a swift 52.13 after allegedly not even training fly recently as she's focused on her freestyle. She definitely has the potential for much more in finals, as she is the fifth-ranked swimmer all time with a 50.70 from the 2008 NCAA Division I Championships. <\/p>\n
USC's Jasmine Tosky is the top collegian in the field with a 52.19, just missing the NCAA A cut of 52.11. She also has potential for a faster time, having a 51.92 to her credit from May 2011. Olympian Kathleen Hersey of Longhorn qualified third in 52.30, while USC's Kendyl Stewart clocked a 52.44 for fourth. NCAP's Janet Hu is just off the 15-16 U.S. National Age Group of Stewart, when she set a 52.43 in 2010. Hu qualified this morning in 52.61. <\/p>\n
Arizona's Lauren Smart (53.03) and Megan Lafferty (53.24) placed sixth and seventh, while Texas' Kelsey Amundsen completed the top eight with a 53.36. <\/p>\n
Men's 100 fly<\/b>
\nTom Shields, fresh off swimming the bulk of the FINA World Cup tour but turning down all race winnings to remain NCAA eligible, blitzed the 100 fly this morning with a meet-record tying 45.07. That performance matched the time Matt Grevers clocked back in 2010, and finished up a bit shy of Shields' fifth-ranked lifetime best of 44.76 from last year's NCAA Championships. The time easily cleared the NCAA A cut of 45.94, and put him in distance of dropping Austin Staab's American record of 44.18 from 2009. <\/p>\n
Olympian Davis Tarwater, who is back training with Tennessee Aquatics, is having a strong meet. After taking second in the 50 free last night, he cleared 46 seconds for the first time in this event with a 45.94. That swim eclipsed his previous personal best of 46.16 from the 2006 NCAA Division I Championships and nearly moved him into the top 30 all time in the event's history. <\/p>\n
MSU's Jacob Jarzen (46.65), Stanford's Eugene Godsoe (46.65), Arizona's Giles Smith (47.28), Texas' Tripp Cooper (47.43) and USC's Chase Bloch (47.46) qualified third through seventh, while NYAC's Tyler McGill and UCSB's Wade Allen set up a swimoff with matching 47.52s. McGill went on to scratch the swimoff.<\/p>\n
Women's 200 free<\/b>
\nOlympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky crushed her lifetime best with a top-seeded 1:44.58 in prelims. That swim cut more than two seconds off her 1:46.75 from her high school championships in February 2012, and moved her closer to taking down the 15-16 U.S. National Age Group record of 1:42.81 owned by Dagny Knutson. <\/p>\n
T2's Erika Erndl, meanwhile, smashed the U.S. Master Swimming 30-34 age division national record with a second-seeded 1:44.92. Dawn Heckman owned the previous record with a 1:50.13 from April of this year. Erndl now owns the 50, 100 and 200 free short course yard records in the division. <\/p>\n
Quinn Carrozza had an early time of 1:44.94 from heat two, which stood up to the rest of the heats to earn her the third seed, and cut time from her previous best of 1:46.21 from March 2011. Meanwhile, Olympic superstar Missy Franklin cruised into finals with a fourth-ranked 1:45.73. She definitely has more in the tank, as she is ranked in the top five all time with a 1:42.28 from the Minneapolis Grand Prix earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Longhorn's Karlee Bispo (1:45.77), FCST's Simone Manuel (1:45.99), Dynamo's Kylie Stewart (1:46.04) and AGUA Olympian Lia Neal (1:46.11) also earned spots into the championship finale. <\/p>\n
Men's 200 free<\/b>
\nOlympian Ricky Berens, who briefly announced his retirement after the 2012 London Games but changed his mind quickly, led the way this morning with a 1:33.21. He's not that far off his lifetime best of 1:32.01 from the 2009 Big 12 Championships as a relay leadoff that has him in the top five all time in the event's history. <\/p>\n
Olympic stud Ryan Lochte, fresh off a near American record swim last night, took second with a 1:34.59. His top time ever in yards is a 1:32.40 from back in 2008 at short course nationals. Texas' Clay Youngquist took third in 1:34.62, and has a second to clear tonight to make the NCAA A cut of 1:33.63 to automatically qualify for NCAAs in March. Louisville's Joao De Lucca qualified fourth tonight in 1:34.81.<\/p>\n
Trojan's Nikita Lobintsev (1:35.15), USC's Chad Brobrosky (1:35.67), Texas' Dax Hill (1:35.75) and Bolles' Ryan Murphy (1:35.76) rounded out the top eight.<\/p>\n
Women's 100 breast<\/b>
\nTexas' Laura Sogar (59.18), USC's Kasey Carlson (59.29) and Arizona's Ellyn Baumgardner (59.31) all made short work of the NCAA A cut time of 59.51 with strong swims in prelims. Meanwhile, 50 free champ Jessica Hardy cleared 1:00 as well with a fourth-ranked 59.62. Sogar (58.83), Carlson (58.46) and Hardy (58.41) have all been faster in their careers, while Baumgardner eclipsed her previous best of 59.58 from the 2010 Texas Invitational. <\/p>\n
Hardy is operating with some external stress as she tweeted out today that her cab driver is holding her cell phone hostage.<\/p>\n
\nLeft my phone in cab on the way to the pool & was told he “doesn't blackmail but needs incentive to bring it back.” Dynamic warm up this am!<\/p>\n
— Jessica Hardy (@swimhardy) November 30, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n