McGregory and Kristen Heiss (Casper, Wyo.), who both lowered the meet record in the women's 200m backstroke during the preliminary session, again swam under the previous record in finals to finish in first and second place, respectively. McGregory posted a time of 2:08.42, while Heiss completed the race in 2:09.99. Japan's Aya Terakawa came in third at 2:10.31.
"You just do it," McGregory said of competing so soon after Trials. "You don't have a choice. You can sit at home and sulk or you can get back out there and get over it.
"I just wanted to have a pretty good swim here. Sometimes when you do a second taper, your longer swims can fall apart. I wanted to go a fast time, and even try to go faster than I did at Trials."
Clary bolted to the lead in the men's 400m IM on the first leg of the race. Clary held on to his first-place position throughout the race to grab his first gold medal in a meet record time of 4:17.02. In a battle for second place, Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) emerged with the silver in a time of 4:18.40. Alex Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) hit the wall just .04 later for the bronze medal in 4:18.44.
McGregory's teammate Thoman was responsible for erasing the final individual meet record of the night in the men's 200m back. His time of 1:56.15 was two seconds faster than his time at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming.
"I was a little nervous before the race," Thoman said. "All of the guys in the race are really good swimmers. I was in lane two. I didn't think I was going to go that fast. It surprised me. I didn't think I was going to drop that much time from Trials."
Clary garnered his second medal of the evening with a time of 1:57.92. Patrick Schirk (Pottstown, Penn.) swam to third place when he hit the wall at 1:59.05.
After earning the bronze in the women's 200m butterfly on the first night of competition, Ava Ohlgren (Northville, Mich.) returned to pick up her first win of the meet in the 400m IM. Ohlgren improved on her time from the Olympic Trials by two seconds to stop the clock at 4:43.30. Lyndsay De Paul (Orange, Calif.) hit the wall two seconds later in 4:45.40 to earn silver, while 16-year-old Andie Taylor (Issaquah, Wash.) swam the third-fastest time of 4:46.13.
Kate Dwelley (Brentwood, Calif.) posted the top time in the women's 100m free with a time of 55.21. Outside smoke Madison Kennedy (Avon, Conn.) sprinted in two tenths later to finish as the runner-up in 55.44. Samantha Tucker (Austin, Texas) rounded out the top three in 55.82.
In the men's 100m free, Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) got his hand on the wall first to collect his first gold medal of the meet in a time of 49.54. William Copeland (Lexington, Va.) edged Scot Robison (Charlotte, NC) by .03 seconds to place second in 49.85. Robison's time of 49.88 was good for third.
The U.S. Open will serve as the selection meet for the 2009 World University Games, to be held from July 2-7, 2009, in Belgrade, Serbia. The highest placing athlete in each event who will be enrolled as a full-time university student through Jan. 1, 2009 will to be invited to the World University Games Team. Additional qualifying procedures can be found online at www.usaswimming.org.
