Phelps edged world record-holder and top seed Ian Crocker (Portland, Maine / Longhorn Aquatics) by 22-hundredths of a second. Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla. / Daytona Beach Swimming) was third in 53.26.
“I noticed on the first 50 that (Crocker) wasn’t the normal body-length ahead of me,” Phelps said. “I could tell it was close, but I didn’t know if I was taking it out fast, or if he was taking it out slower. I was able to hang with him on the first 50, and it’s just a race to the finish from there.”
Katie Hoff (Towson, Md. / N. Baltimore) broke her own U.S. Open record in the 400m IM, posting a time of 4:35.82. It was the second win of the meet for the 17-year-old, who set the American record in the 200m IM on Tuesday night.
Hoff trailed Olympian Kaitlin Sandeno (Lake Forest, Calif. / Club Wolverine) and Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa. / Germantown Academy) at the end of the butterfly leg, before taking over the lead in the backstroke. She increased her lead in the breaststroke portion and was 73-hundredths ahead of American record pace at the 300-meter mark.
Hoff’s final time of 4:35.82 eclipsed her old mark of 4:37.06 by 1.24 seconds and outdistanced the rest of the field by nearly four-and-a-half seconds. Ariana Kukors (Auburn, Wash. / King Aquatic Club) was second in 4:40.10, while Sandeno was third in 4:43.06.
“I could hear the crowd, so I knew I had to be close to American record time,” Hoff said. “I think everything is going really well going into Canada [for the Pan Pacific Championships, Aug. 17-21], and I’m excited to see what I can do in the next couple of weeks.”
The women’s 100m breaststroke featured the top three American swimmers of all time in that event. Olympic gold medalist Megan Jendrick (Puyallup, Wash. / King Aquatic Club) picked up the win with a time of 1:07:54 while American record-holder Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif. / Cal Aquatics) and Stanford Swimming’s Tara Kirk (Bremerton, Wash.) tied for second, touching in 1:07.65.
“Coming into this meet, everyone was asking me what my goal time was or how fast I thought I could go, but my goal wasn’t really a time, it was just to take first or second and make the Pan Pacific team,” Jendrick said.
Hardy, an Orange County native swimming in her home pool, jumped out to the lead and was three-tenths off world record pace at 50 meters. She and Kirk were 1-2 after the turn until Jendrick passed both in the last 30 meters.
Next up was the men’s 50m freestyle. Cullen Jones (New Brunswick, N.J. / North Carolina State) emerged on top of the field, turning in a time of 21.94, the fastest time in the world this year. Stanford’s Ben Wildman-Tobriner (San Francisco, Calif.) was second in 22.16, while hometown favorite Jason Lezak (Irvine, Calif. / Irvine Novaquatics) was third in 22.22.
The race was a dead heat until Jones distanced himself from the rest of the field with about 20 meters to go.
“My coach told me that at NCAAs, I was swimming against the big boys and now I’m swimming against the men,” Jones said. “There were a lot of big names in that heat. Gary Hall is definitely one of the guys I’ve looked up to since ’96, and Lezak after 2000, I was completely impressed. It was amazing competition, and for me to pull that out is a blessing in itself.”
The women’s 50m free went to Olympian Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Athens Bulldogs), who finished just seven-hundredths of a second off the meet record in 24.97. Five-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif. / Cal Aquatics) was second in 25.17 and local product Courtney Cashion (Irvine, Calif. / Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics) was third in 25.20.
“I’m really happy with the race,” Joyce said. “It was my best time and my first time under 25 [seconds]. That’s something I’ve been going after for a while, so it’s great to get that out of the way. I’ve been in the 25’s for probably two or three years.”
The 2006 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships continues Friday morning with prelims in the Men’s 100m freestyle, Women’s 200m butterfly, Men’s 200m IM, Women’s 200m backstroke, Women’s 800m free, Men’s 1500m free, then finals in the Men’s 100m freestyle, Women’s 200m butterfly, Men’s 200m IM, and the Women’s 200m backstroke. The finals for the women’s 800m free and the men’s 1500m free will be held Saturday. Timed finals for the men’s 800m free relay will also be held Friday night.
