Also breaking meet records Saturday at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center, Olympian Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor, Mich.) won the women's 50m free in 24.71, and Gemma Spofforth claimed the 100m backstroke in 1:01.09. Luca DeMatteis lowered a meet record in the prelims of the 200m breaststroke (2:13.65) and Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) knocked down the record in the 400m free with a time of 3:49.25.
DeScenza's win marked her second gold medal of the meet, following a pair of record-breaking swims (prelims and finals) in the 100m fly on Friday. Her time in the final of the 200m fly tonight was more than three seconds ahead of the rest of the field, and more than two seconds faster than the meet record of 2:10.61 that she set on this date in 2003. "It's been a great meet so far," said DeScenza, who also finished third in the 100m back. "I've been doing really well. The 200 fly is one of my best races. Everyone likes to go out really fast, but I like to hold back and let it rip that last length.
"I think right now, I'm pretty much where I want to be [heading into Olympic Trials]. I had two best times yesterday. You have to come into these meets with one thing in mind - beat everyone else."
Lochte's win in the 400m free was his third of the meet and his second meet record. His time bettered the previous mark of 3:50.12, set by Olympian Peter Vanderkaay in 2006, by 87-hundredths. He also finished nearly five seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
"I knew the field I was racing against, and I knew I had to get out there and press it a little bit," Lochte said. "I might have pressed it a little too hard at the beginning, but I'm really happy with my final time. I haven't raced a lot since about seven or eight weeks ago at Short Course Worlds. Just getting back in the water and racing again gets me going. Olympic Trials is going to be amazing."
Olympic hopeful Cullen Jones stepped toward his Olympic goals, besting the field in the 50m freestyle by almost a half second (22.33).
"My coach is happy, so that makes me very, very happy," Jones said. "Somehow, I know how to close a race and I was able to do that tonight. For a while, I haven't been able to do that, so I'm very happy with that right now. I'm really excited. I needed a fast swim and putting that up tonight really helped me as I head into Trials." Joyce, who qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in the 50m free, bested the rest of the field in the race Saturday by .82 seconds. The win was her second of the meet.
Other first-place finishers in Saturday night's finals included Gil Stovall (Memphis, Tenn.) in the men's 200m butterfly (2:00.20), Clay Matthew of Great Britain in the men's 100m backstroke (56.00), Kaitlin O'Brien in the women's 200m breaststroke (2:33.51), Luca DeMatteis (Naples, Italy) in the men's 200m breaststroke (2:15.63), Auburn University's Margo McCawley in the women's 50m butterfly (27.48), Peter Verhoef (Newport News, Va.) in the 50m fly (24.54) and Whitney Sprague (Bronxville, N.Y.) in the 400m free (4:13.63).
The 2008 Charlotte UltraSwim will conclude Sunday with prelims and finals of the women's and men's 50m breast, 200m IM, 200m back and 100m free. Timed finals will also be held in the women's 1500m free and men's 800m free.
