Coughlin set a Pan Pacific record en route to her second medal of the meet, winning the 100m freestyle in 53.67. Teammate Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) tied Australia's Emily Seebohm for second in 53.96. Coughlin's time was the third-fastest in the world this year, and her win Thursday was her third straight Pan Pac title in this event. Bronze went to Yolne Kukla of Australia in 54.02.
Olympian Adrian chased down the field in the final 10-15 meters claiming the Pan Pac record and the fastest time in the world this year in 48.15 in the men's 100m freestyle. Adrian out-touched silver medalist Brent Hayden of Canada by four-hundredths of a second. World record-holder Cesar Cielo of Brazil was third in 48.48.
In the women's 100m breaststroke, Soni pulled ahead of Australia's Leisel Jones at the first turn, and built her lead to half a body length to win in a championship record-time of 1:04.93. Jones touched second in 1:05.66, while Australia's Sarah Katsoulis was third in 1:07.04. American Veteran Amanda Beard was fifth in 1:07.49.
Soni's time was the fastest performance in the world this year. "I couldn't ask for it to go any better," Soni said. "We're all chasing those records now, and to see a 1:04 is awesome."
Eighteen-year-old Beisel took advantage of a strong backstroke leg to separate herself from the rest of the field in the women's 400m IM, winning gold in 4:34.69, just 65-hundredths of a second off the Pan Pac record she set in this morning's prelims. Australia's Samantha Hamill was second in 4:37.84 while Team USA's Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.) finished third in 4:38.03.
Lochte raced ahead of world-record pace for the first 150 meters of the men's 400m IM. The highest-scoring swimmer at the U.S. Nationals, Lochte won his second gold of the meet in a championship record time of 4:07.59. In second was teammate Tyler Clary (Riverside, Cali.) in 4:09.55. Brazil's Thiago Pereira was third in 4:12.09.
Team USA swept the 4x200m freestyle relays with both the men and women winning gold in championship record time. On the women's side, Vollmer, Morgan Scroggy (Aurora, Ore.), Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.), and Allison Schmitt (Ann Arbor, Mich.) won gold in 7:51.21. Second place went to Australia in 7:52.64, while Canada took third in 7:54.32.
The men's team of Michael Phelps, Ricky Berens (Charlotte, N.C.), Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) and Lochte won gold in 7:03.84.
In other events, American Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio) won bronze in the 50m backstroke in 25.02. Gold in the event went to Japan's Juna Koga in 24.86 while silver went to Ashley Delaney of Australia in 24.98.
The women's 50m back went to Australian Sophie Edington in 27.83, while Japan's Aya Terakawa was second in 28.04. There was a three-way tie for bronze, between Emily Thomas of New Zealand, Fabiola Molina of Brazil and Rachel Bootsma of Team USA, who all touched in at 28.44.
The Pan Pacific Championships continue Friday with prelims and finals in the 400m free, 100m fly, 200m back and 50m breaststroke. The 4x100m freestyle relays will be contested in the evening session, which begins at 6 p.m. PT.
*By agreement of the charter nations, the 50m races, with the exception of the 50m freestyle, do not count in team scoring or medal counts.
Results and rosters for the 2010 Pan Pac Swimming Championships are available on-line.
USA Swimming is the host of the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. It's the first time the U.S. has hosted an International meet since Short Course World Championships in 2004 in Indianapolis. The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, which takes place once every four years, was last held in Victoria, British Columbia in 2006. That year, the USA Swim Team captured a total of 48 medals - 26 of them gold - and smashed five world records and 20 meet records. The last time this meet took place in the United States was in 1995, when the meet was held in Atlanta, Ga.
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships are held under the oversight of the Pan Pacific Swimming Association. The Association was established in the mid 1980s and is made up of the four founding swimming federations - Swimming Australia, Swimming Canada, the Japan Amateur Swimming Federations and USA Swimming. These charter nations developed the concept of the swimming competition to provide their national teams with first class international competition between the two major international swimming competitions - the Olympic Games and the FINA World Championships.
