Team USA Swimming Advances All Swimmers, Keeps Streak Alive at 07 Pan Am Games

Scott Spann (Austin, Tex.) and Courtney Kalisz (Bel Air, Md.) heated up the pool Thursday night, leading a USA Team that kept its streak alive, advancing a swimmer in every preliminary event. Spann topped the men’s 200m breast, qualifying first in 2:15.70. Kalisz led the women in the 200m fly and qualified in 2:11.41. Both swimmers will swim in Friday morning’s semifinals.

The men’s 400m free relay team of Gary Hall, Jr. (Miami Beach, Fla.), Alex Righi (Phoenix, Ariz.), Andy Grant (Livermore, Calif.) and Ricky Berens (Charlotte, N.C.) led their heat and qualified in first with a time of 3:18.19. Team Brazil was close behind and qualified second in 3:19.65.

Notes from Thursday’s preliminaries:

Men’s 200m fly:

Eddie Erazo (San Diego, Calif.) and Pat Cary (Coto De Caza, Calif.) both advanced to the men’s 200m fly semifinal. Erazo qualified in 2:00.15 to win his heat and qualify second overall for Friday’s semifinal swim. Cary qualified just behind Erazo with a time of 2:00.22.

Women's 200m fly:

Kalisz and Kathleen Hersey (Atlanta, Ga.) advanced to the semifinals in the women’s 200m fly, claiming the event’s top two qualifying spots. Kalisz topped her heat to finish first while Hersey led the other women’s heat to qualify second in 2:11.62. Hersey will look to add to her gold medal count following her wins in the 400m IM and 100m fly.

Men’s 200m breast:

Spann and David Ash (Canton, Ohio) topped the men’s 200m breast to advance to Friday’s semifinals. Spann will look to add to the Spann family’s Pan Am Games medal count as both his father and sister have medaled at the Games. His sister, Alexandra Spann, claimed gold in the 200m breast at the 2003 Santa Domingo Games, while his father, Scott Sr., took home the bronze medal in the 200m IM at the San Juan Games in 1979. Ash qualified second for the semifinal in 2:17.89.

Competition will continue Friday at 10 a.m. local time and will feature finals in the women’s 800m free, 200m IM, and 200m free, and the men’s 200m free, 200m IM, and 400m free relay. Semifinals will be swum in the men’s 200m fly and 200m breast, and the women’s 200m fly.

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.