Olympian Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) took his first of two medals on the night, winning gold in the men's 400y IM. Lochte, who finished more than five seconds ahead of the field, led by two-body-lengths after the butterfly leg and distanced himself from the pack through the race.
Lochte was ahead of American-record pace through the end of the breaststroke, but fell 1.62 seconds short of Phelps' mark of 3:36.26. His time of 3:37.88 was the second-fastest of all time. Second was Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) in 3:43.30, while Robert Margalis (Flushing, N.Y.) was third in 3:43.72. Lochte's win was his third of the meet after taking the 200y IM and 50y free on the first night of competition.
"I wanted to break the record, but that was a best time, so I'm happy," Lochte said. Lochte scored his second medal of the meet finishing second behind Mark Gangloff (Akron, Ohio) in the men's 100y breaststroke. Gangloff, a fourth-place finisher in the event at the 2004 Olympic Games, took gold with a time of 53.05., while Lochte finished in 53.27. Auburn's David Maras (New Orleans) was third in 53.71.
Olympian Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.) won her second event of the meet in the women's 100m backstroke, turning in a time of 50.64, third-fastest of all-time. Coughlin now owns the top 12 fastest times in history. Finishing behind her was 2004 Olympic teammate Margaret Hoelzer in 52.30. National Teamer Leila Vaziri (Coral Springs, Fla.) was third in 53.13.
A trio of 2004 Olympians headed to the medal stand in the 100y butterfly, led by Olympian Rachel Komisarz (Louisville, Ky.), who took gold in 50.10. The time was just nine-hundredths shy of the American record. Coughlin, the record-holder, took silver in 50.23. Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Tx.) was third in 51.69.
"It's incredible. It would have been awesome to get an American record. I'm really happy, but a little faster would have been a little bit nicer."
Earlier in the evening, Phelps won gold in the men's 200y freestyle, out-touching his Club Wolverine teammate Vanderkaay by 13-hundredths of a second. Phelps led for the first 100 yards, but fell behind at the 150-yard mark. Vanderkaay's move set up a battle down the homestretch, which Phelps won, 1:32.13 to 1:32.26. Their times were the second- and third-fastest times ever recorded by Americans. DeJong, finished third in 1:33.22.
Hometown favorite Kathleen Hersey led the field from start to finish in the women's 400y IM, turning in a time of 4:04.19. Rounding out the medals were Olympian Kaitlin Sandeno (Lake Forest, Calif.) in 4:06.12 and Auburn's Ava Ohlgren (Northville, Mich.) in 4:09.50.
Tucson Ford's Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) jumped to an early lead in the men's 100y butterfly and claimed the gold medal, touching in 45.80, about a half a second ahead of silver medalist Tarwater (46.35) and more than a second ahead of Jayme Cramer (Westfield, Ind.), who was third in 46.85.
Olympian Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor, Mich.) came out on top of the women's 200y freestyle with a time of 1:44.14. Kim Vandenberg (Moraga, Calif.) finished in 1:44.37 for silver, while Auburn's Caitlin Geary took bronze in 1:44.85.
National Teamer Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) cruised to a victory in the women's 100y breast, touching about a body-length ahead of the rest of the field in 58.74. Hardy's performance made her the second-fastest in history, behind National Team standout Tara Kirk. Finishing second was Elizabeth Tinnon (Bowling Green, Ky.) in 1:00.01, while Florida Atlantic's Elle Weberg (Boca Raton, Fla.) was third in 1:00.26.
In the final individual race of the night, Atlanta's Peter Marshall won the men's 100y back. Swimming in lane 8, Marshall finished with a time of 45.09, just ahead of Randall Bal (Fair Oaks, Calif.) who took silver in 45.62, and Doug Van Wie (Charlotte, N.C.), who was third in 45.86.
The 2007 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming Short Course National Championships concludes tomorrow with prelims and finals of the men's and women's 200y backstroke, 100y freestyle, 200y breaststroke and 200y butterfly.
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. For more information, visit USA Swimming on-line.
