AUSTIN, Texas, July 16. DURING a weekend that featured stellar swimming from a number of locales across the nation, the Texas Senior Circuit Championships didn’t disappoint when it came to the production of swift times. Not surprisingly, it was Longhorn Aquatics’ Big Three that did the most damage and whet appetites for Summer Nationals.
Over the course of the meet, Brendan Hansen was sharp in his breaststroke specialties, but it was his performance in the 100 distance that left mouths agape. The world-record holder in the 100 and 200 breast events, Hansen won the two-lap affair in 1:00.36. That time was just more than a second slower than his global standard of 59.30 and suggests Hansen could be the first man to break the 59-second barrier. Hansen also won the 50 breast in 28.16 and the 200 breast in 2:15.17.
Also flourishing for Longhorn were Ian Crocker and Aaron Peirsol. Crocker won his prime event, the 100 butterfly, in an impressive time of 52.29. He also took the 50 fly in 23.95. As for Peirsol, he toppled the competition in the 100 backstroke (55.30) and 200 back (1:57.42). The Longhorn crew also saw Neil Walker sweep the 50 and 100 freestyles (22.82/49.92) and Michael Klueh take the 200 free (1:50.74), 400 free (3:53.54) and 200 butterfly (2:01.40).
On the women’s side, Dana Vollmer and Kirsty Coventry were the headliners. Vollmer won the 50 free (26.31) and 200 free (1:59.56) and also prevailed in the 50 fly (27.15) and 100 fly (59.38). Coventry was the victor in the 100 and 200 backstrokes (1:03.22/2:14.11) and the 200 and 400 medley events (2:17.42/4:48.05). Kelsey Ditto won the 400 free (4:14.25) and 800 free (8:41.33).