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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, July 11. WHILE last night did not add to the world record tally at the meet, the final day of preliminary action set up a few more world-record attempts heading into this evening.
Women's 100 free
California's Dana Vollmer turned in the fastest swim this morning with a 54.21 for the top seed. SwimAtlanta's Amanda Weir placed second in 54.25, while Tennessee's Christine Magnuson claimed third in 54.45.
Tucson Ford's Lacey Nymeyer (54.52), Auburn's Caitlin Geary (54.60), Stanford's Julia Smit (54.91), Athens Bulldog Kara Lynn Joyce (54.98) and Terrapins' Kate Dwelley (55.06) made up the rest of the top eight.
Men's 200 back
In what has the makings of a special event this evening, Club Wolverine's Tyler Clary (1:55.37), Longhorn's Aaron Peirsol (1:55.78) and Daytona Beach's Ryan Lochte (1:55.99) qualified first, second and third. They will be gunning for Lochte's world record of 1:53.94 tonight.
Tucson Ford's Matt Grevers (1:57.04), Daytona Beach's Rex Tullius (1:57.28), California's David Russell (1:58.00), Nick Thoman (1:58.09) and Nashville's Tim Johnson (1:59.47) all cleared 2:00 for the top eight qualifying spots.
Women's 200 breast
Trojan's Keri Hehn raced into the top seed with a time of 2:26.05. Lakeside's Elizabeth Tinnon claimed second in 2:27.09, while world record holder Rebecca Soni of Trojan cruised with a third-place 2:27.35.
Wisconsin's Ashley Wanland touched fourth in 2:27.55, while Sara Nicponski qualified fifth in 2:27.56. KING's Megan Jendrick (2:27.80), Parkway's Elizabeth Smith (2:28.50) and SwimMAC-Carolina's Justine Mueller (2:28.54) completed the top eight.
Men's 200 breast
Longhorn's Eric Shanteau put Kosuke Kitajima's world record on notice this evening after racing to an American-record time of 2:08.43 during prelims. The performance wiped out Brendan Hansen's national mark of 2:08.50 set at the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships. Kitajima's record stands at 2:07.51.
Incidentally, Shanteau also broke Hansen's U.S. Open record of 2:08.74 set during the 2006 U.S. Nationals held in Irvine, Calif.
Auburn's Adam Klein qualified second in 2:11.25, while Longhorn's Scott Spann touched third in 2:12.33. Nashville's Curtis Lovelace placed fourth in 2:12.43.
Tucson Ford's Jack Brown (2:13.68) and Bart Steninger (2:14.22) finished fifth and sixth, while Indiana's Aaron Opell (2:16.03) and California's Nolan Koon (2:16.03) tied for seventh.
Later in the day, however, Longhorn's Matt Lowe's disqualification was overturned, moving him into fifth place with a 2:12.77. This pushed Opell and Koon into a tie for eighth that resulted in a sparsely seen swimoff at 1:50 p.m. Eastern. With Indiana and California's contingent cheering them on, Opell came out on top, 2:11.23 to 2:15.06. Opell's time cut five seconds from his qualifying time and is faster than Klein's second-place qualifying effort from this morning.
Time Trials
Similar to Ben Hesen downing the American record in the 50 back twice during time trials last year at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Australian Matt Targett broke the 23 second barrier in the men's 50 fly with a 22.98. The performance beat his national mark of 23.17 set in June. The performance is the fourth best all time behind Rafael Munoz (22.43), Fred Bousquet (22.84) and Amaury Leveaux (22.94).
