LaTourette opened his record-breaking race (15:00.26) in front of the pack, swimming just ahead of U.S. teammate Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind. / Texas) and Ukrainian swimmer Sergiiy Fesenko for the first 600 meters. By the halfway point, it was a two-horse race with LaTourette barely holding off Fesenko. LaTourette made his move at 1,200 meters, eventually building up a 10.55-second margin for his second gold medal of these Games. “It felt really good – first place feels great,” said LaTourette. “It was a really good time for me. I dropped 13 seconds. It’s always good to drop time, and I’m continuing to drop.”
Klueh closed in on Fesenko in the final 25 meters, but finished less than three seconds behind in 15:13.04 to win bronze. Fesenko took silver in 15:10.81.
Kelly Harrigan opened the night with a gold-medal performance in the 200m backstroke. Harrigan traded leads with Japan’s Takami Igarashi through the first 150 meters before splitting the final 50 meters in 32.88 to best Igarashi and the field in 2:11.48. “This whole summer, all I’ve been training for is this meet,” said Harrigan. “I had to wait for the last night to swim. It was a nice way to finish.”
Igarashi finished third in 2:12.04 while New Zealand’s Melissa Ingram won silver in 2:11.98. U.S. swimmer Lauren English (Lincoln Park, N.J. / Cougar Aquatic Team) competed in the “B” final and finished 11th overall in 2:17.05.
The men’s 400m medley relay team became the sixth U.S. relay to medal at this meet, claiming silver in 3:37.42. The squad of Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio / Arizona), Matt Lowe (Minot, N.D. / Texas), Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill. / Northwestern) and Adam Ritter (Reynoldsburg, Ohio / Arizona) was in fifth place at the halfway point, but closed the gap on the fly (51.17) and freestyle (48.66) legs to finish second, just 1.25 seconds behind gold medalist Japan. The Ukraine was third in 3:37.74.
The men’s 50m freestyle saw another U.S. medal awarded as Scott Goodrich (Glendale, Ariz. / Auburn) claimed bronze in 22.39. Goodrich finished just six-hundredths behind silver medalist Jonathon Newton of Australia (22.33). Brazil’s Nicholas Dias Dos Santos took gold in a meet record time of 22.12.
In the women’s race, Brooke Bishop (Los Altos, Calif. / Stanford) finished fifth in 25.40 while Courtney Cashion (Irvine, Calif. / Arizona) finished eighth in 25.60. Gold went to German Olympian Britta Steffen in a Games record time of 24.87. Silver went to Aliaksandra Herasimenia in 25.01.
In the women’s 200m fly, a pair of Americans finished just off the podium. Kaitlin Sandeno (Lake Forest, Calif. / Club Wolverine), who already has three medals at this meet, was fifth in 2:11.97 while Elaine Breeden (Lexington, Ky. / Wildcat), a silver medalist at these Games, was eighth in 2:12.89. The top two spots went to Canadians Audrey Lacroix (2:06.83) and MacKenzie Downing (2:08.83). Slovakia’s Sara Isakovic was third in 2:09.45.
Tyler O’Halloran (Boardman, Ohio / Texas) represented Team USA in the championship final of the 50m breaststroke and posted a time of 28.17 to finish fifth. Gold went to Oleg Lisogar of The Ukraine in 27.74 while Brazil’s Felipe Lima won silver in 27.94. Darren Mew of Great Britain took bronze in 27.95.
In the women’s 100m breaststroke Elle Weberg (Boca Raton, Fla. / Florida Atlantic) finished sixth with a time of 1:08.99. Japan’s Nanaka Tamura was the gold medalist in 1:08.33 while Australia’s Sarah Katsoulis took silver in 1:08.42. The bronze medal went to Austria’s Mirna Jukic in 1:08.53. Jessica Embick (Portland, Ore. / Mt. Hood Swim Team) went 1:10.43 in the “B” final to take 12th overall.Team USA concluded the swimming competition with a Games-leading 26 medals, 10 of them gold.
About USA Swimming: As the National Governing Body for competitive swimming in the United States, USA Swimming formulates the rules, implements policies and procedures, conducts national championships, disseminates safety and sports medicine information and selects athletes to represent the United States in international competition. USA Swimming has more than 300,000 members nationwide and sanctions more than 7,000 events each year. For more information, visit USA Swimming on-line.
