August 3, 2006

2006 National Championships Highlights - Day Three

Posted by Scott

Three days in, there is no let up on the fast swimming. Fast swimming was the standard on day three of the 2006 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships.

Women’s 100 Breaststroke Prelims: Megan Jendrick posted the fastest time of the preliminaries with a 1:07.78, just .66 seconds off her meet record set when she was Megan Quann in 2000. Meanwhile, Jessica Hardy stopped the clock in 1:08.24 as the second-fastest qualifier.

Jendrick led wire to wire after splitting a 31.81 at the halfway point. She also came home the fastest with a 35.97 on the way back to the finish. The second fastest first half came from Hardy with a 31.99, while Tara Kirk clocked the second best back half with a 36.12.

Women’s 100 Breaststroke Finals: The race was only ever between three swimmers. Jessica Hardy led at the 50 meter mark in 31.14, but only barely ahead of Tara Kirk and Megan Jendrick. The three women were nearly two seconds ahead of their nearest competitors at this point and they would never look back. It was Jendrick who surged ahead the last 50 meters to win in 1:07.54 over Kirk and Hardy who tied for second in 1:07.65.

Men’s 100 Butterfly Prelims: The seeding held almost completely to form in the men’s 100 fly as Ian Crocker cruised in with a preliminaries leading time of 52.20, while Michael Phelps clocked a 52.53 not far behind. Joseph Doyle, Ryan Lochte, and Davis Tarwater will join Crocker and Phelps in the finals. Doyle was the fastest of any preliminary swimmer as he turned in a 24.20 time at the 50-meter mark. Crocker, however, put together the most consistent race with a 27.86 on the back half.

Men’s 100 Butterfly Finals: To no one’s surprise this event was all Crocker and Phelps. Crocker led at the 50 meter mark - as is his trademark - in 24.23 and surprise Joseph Doyle was second at the 50. Phelps was third, not far back, less than half a second behind Crocker - an ominous sign for Crocker who has always struggled to beat Phelps on the second half. Once again Phelps ran Crocker down to win in 51.51 to Crocker’s 51.73 with Doyle fading to sixth. The surprise came in the form of Ryan Lochte who finished third in 53.26.

Women’s 50 Freestyle Prelims: The top seeds held in the women’s 50 free as Kara Lynn Joyce sprinted in with the fastest qualifying time of 25.29. Meanwhile, Lacey Nymeyer clocked a 25.34 for second, and Amanda Weir placed third in 25.37. A stellar field followed these three including Natalie Coughlin, Maritza Correia, Brooke Bishop, and Samantha Woodward.

Women’s 50 Freestyle Finals: In a close race Kara Lynn Joyce was the only woman under 25 seconds winning in 24.97, just off the championship record. Natalie Coughlin was 25.17 and Courtney Cushion was third in 25.20 just beating Maritza Correia. Surprising, Amanda Weir who is normally strong in this event finished sixth.

Men’s 50 Freestyle Prelims: Top seed Cullen Jones made a statement with a very fast 22.19 in his morning swim - nearly .3 seconds ahead of the closest qualifier Jason Lezak in 22.45. Nick Brunelli was third followed by Garrett Weber-Gale, Neil Walker, and Ben Wildman-Tobriner. Gary Hall Jr. swam the seventh fastest time of the morning with a 22.74 to qualify for the championship heat.

Men’s 50 Freestyle Finals: No surprise to me Cullen Jones set the pace this evening to win handily in 21.94 - it will only be a matter of time before he challenges Gary Hall Jr.’s American record and Popov’s World Record. Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner finished second in a fast 22.16 with Jason Lezak continuing his hold on American sprinting by hanging on to finish third in 22.22 and qualify for the Pan Pacs. Neil Walker and Gary Hall tied for fourth in 22.49 - far back from the front three.

Women’s 400 IM Prelims: Katie Hoff nearly set a meet record during prelims with a top qualifying time of 4:38.69. Her time came within .11 seconds of tying Janet Evans’ championship standard of 4:38.58 posted at the 1988 Championships. Adrienne Binder stood as a distant second with a 4:44.20, while Ariana Kukors rounded out the top three with a 4:44.33.

Women’s 400 IM Finals: Although Kaitlin Sandeno led at the end of the butterfly leg, Katie Hoff would soon take complete control of the heat and never look back. Hoff would just miss the American Record, but shatter the championship and US Open records finishing in 4:35.82. Ariana Kukors would finish second in 4:40.10, but the real race occurred for third place between Sandeno and Alicia Aemisegger. Sandeno led Aemisegger for the first 300 meters, but Aemisegger made a run a little early on the first 50 of the freestyle leg - catching Sandeno, but Sandeno would pull away again on the final length to finish third in 4:43.06 to 4:43.83