Phelps started the night swimming the 100m freestyle against a field that included four Olympians. Phelps turned in sixth place, behind Olympians Eamon Sullivan of Australia and Brent Hayden of Canada, but used a second-half split of 24.70 to win the gold medal in a meet-record time of 49.10. Hayden finished second in 49.34 and Sullivan was third in 49.35.
In his second race of the evening, Phelps took gold in the 200m IM. The world record holder in the event, Phelps built an early lead and never trailed, besting the field by over a half-second with a time of 1:59.71. Canada's Brian Johns was second in 2:01.38 while Pine Crest Swimming's Bradley Alley (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) touched third in 2:02.46.
The two-time Olympian concluded his program by lowering his own meet record in the 100m backstroke. Despite turning in third place behind Longhorn's David Cromwell (Missoula, Mont.) and Bluefish's David Russell (Wellesley, Mass.), Phelps completed the final 50 meters in 27.11 to best the field by nearly a half-second with a time of 54.45. Cromwell was second in 54.93 while Russell finished third in 55.38.
In other men's action, world record-holder Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa.) battled Australia's Brenton Rickard in 200m breaststroke. Rickard led by more than a second at the half-way point, but Hansen cut his lead to sixth-tenths at the 150 and pulled ahead in the final 25 meters to win his second title of the meet in 2:13.49. U.S. teammate Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) was second in 2:13.73 while Rickard fell to third, touching in 2:15.04.
U.S. World University Games team member Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) won gold in the 1500m freestyle, breaking Erik Vendt's meet record with a time of 15:08.28. Canada's David Cochrane was second in 15:13.73 while U.S. open water star Chip Peterson (Chapel Hill, N.C.) was third in 15:16.25.
Kicking off the women's races, Kim Vandenberg (Moraga, Calif.) cruised to a gold medal in the 200m fly by cutting more than two seconds off her prelims time. Vandenberg led the field by two seconds at the 150-meter mark and touched in 2:09.02 for her first gold medal of the meet. U.S. World Championships teammate Mary DeScenza (Naperville, Ill.) was second in 2:10.65 while Elaine Breeden (Lexington, Ky.) was third in 2:11.44.
Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.) continued her strong Grand Prix Series record by claiming her third medal of the weekend with a meet record time in the 200m IM. Leverenz shaved nearly five seconds off her prelims time to touch in 2:13.82, besting the one-year-old mark of 2:14.33, set by Ariana Kukors (Auburn, Wash.). Rounding out the medals were U.S. Pan American Games team members Julia Smit (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) in 2:14.04 and Jessica Rodriquez in 2:14.67.
American distance star Hayley Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.) won her second gold medal of the meet with a time of 8:33.27 in the 800m freestyle. Peirsol, who won the 1500 earlier in the meet, led from start to finish. U.S. World University Games team member Kelsey Ditto (Austin, Tex.) was second in 8:38.81 and Australia's Lorren Sellwood was third in 8:39.11.
The other two women's events went to Australian swimmers as Meagen Nay won gold and bested a 15-year-old meet record in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:11.13. Japan's Tomoyo Fukuda was second in 2:12.17 while Smit took third in 2:12.83. The 50m freestyle went to Australia's Cate Campbell in 25.17 while California Aquatics' Emily Silver (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) won silver in 25.42 and Stanford's Brooke Bishop (Los Altos, Calif.) took bronze in 25.56.
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.
