Phelps kicked off the night winning the 200m freestyle in U.S. Open record time. He flipped on his own world record pace at the 100-meter mark and held his lead for the final 100 meters to earn his 35th National title in 1:44.98. Teammate Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) closed in down the homestretch, but settled for second in 1:45.45. Australia’s Kenrick Monk took third in 1:47.40.
“This was the race I was most looking forward to at this meet,” Vanderkaay said. “I did a lot of training and strength training out of the water, and it definitely showed. I just tried to bury my head and get into the wall. I think this was a breakout event for me. I am just really happy with it.”
Phelps continued on his gold-medal path with a second win in the 100 back. After third-place finisher Ben Hesen (Jeffersonville, Ind.) flipped under the World-record pace at the 50, Phelps came off the first wall to surface ahead of the competition. He finished first in 53.01 – just .03 off Aaron Peirsol’s four month-old world record. The time is the second-fastest ever recorded and a U.S. Open and meet record.
Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) notched her second National title of this meet, winning the 200m freestyle in U.S. Open record time. The 2004 Olympian finished in 1:57.57, 96-hundreths ahead of her ‘04 teammate Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas), who was second in 1:58.53. Kate Ziegler (Great Falls, Va.) finished third in 1:58.56.
“I was trying to hold them off,” Hoff said. “I tried to focus. I think I was a little less scared in the 200 because it is more familiar. The 200 free is a good event for me. I just wanted to go out and try to have the best time I could.”
Reigning world record-holder Brendan Hansen claimed his second victory of the meet, winning the 100m breaststroke in 59.59. Hansen, the world champion in the event, trailed slightly at the turn, but pulled ahead in the final 50 meters to post the fastest time of the year. In second was Olympian Mark Gangloff (Akron, Ohio) in 1:00.43 while Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) was third in 1:01.50.
“I am really happy with that,” Hansen said. “It was faster than what I went in March, and I am not feeling as good this week. It has been a rough week, but it has gotten much better. I took note of a lot of things in the notebook that I will remember for next year.”
Facing a deep field in the 100m breaststroke, Rebecca Soni earned her second national title this week. Soni out-touched Olympians Tara Kirk (Bremerton, Wash.) and Megan Jendrick (Puyallup, Wash.), as well as American record-holder Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) on the second lap to finish 1:07.06. Jendrick finished in 1:07.19 for second place while Kirk touched in third at 1:07.35.
Longhorn Aquatics’ Hayley McGregory (Houston, Texas) concluded the women’s individual portion of the evening with her first National title in the 100 back. Her time of 1:00.93 was just one-tenth faster than reigning national champion Leila Vaziri (Coral Springs, Fla.) second-place time of 1:01.03. Indiana native Jennifer Connolly of Purdue took the bronze in 1:01.38.
The 2007 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships will conclude tomorrow with prelims at 9 a.m., and finals at 6 p.m. The women’s 1500 free, men’s and women’s 200 IM and 50 free will be contested.
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.
