ATLANTA, Georgia, May 22. DURING the penultimate day of U.S. Masters Swimming Short Course Yard Nationals, the national record book witnessed a serious revision.
Jim Clemmons, 60, continued his assault on the men's 60-64 national record book. Today, he clocked a 5:13.68 in the 500 free to obliterate the 5:21.61 set by Paul McCormick in 2007. Alan Bell, 60, also surpassed the previous standard with a second-place 5:17.25.
A trio of swimmers broke the women's 50-54 100 breast national record of 1:12.85 set by Lisa Bennett last year. Cokie Lepinski, 51, earned the close victory and the final standard with a 1:12.45. Bennett, 54, finished second in 1:12.46, while Brigitte Heuer, 50, took third in 1:12.50. Lo Knapp, 55, followed with a 1:14.67 in the women's 55-59 100 breast. That swim eclipsed the 1:16.47 set by Deb Walker a year ago.
Mark Gangloff, 27, added another men's 25-29 record to his resume. Tonight, he clocked a 52.30 in the 100 breast to crush the 54.30 set by Gary Marshall last year. Jon Blank, 50, cleared the men's 50-54 100 breast with a 59.94 to become the first man in the age division under not only 1:01 but also 1:00. Don McKenzie held the previous record with a 1:01.02 that stood all the way since 1998. Robert Strand, 64, lowered his men's 60-64 100 breast standard with a 1:05.17. That swim edged his 2006 mark of 1:05.46.
Tanica Jamison, 28, clipped the women's 25-29 50 fly record with a 24.41. Her time erased the 24.46 set by Nadine Rolland in 2004. Charlotte Davis, 60, beat Diann Uustal, 63, 29.86 to 30.13 in the women's 60-64 50 fly as both cleared the 31.72 national record set by Ruth Shaps in 2008.
Zsolt Gaspar, 33, posted a 21.65 to break the record in the men's 30-34 50 fly. That swim erased the long-standing time of 22.22 set by Brian Alderman back in 1999. Richard Abrahams, 65, posted a 24.94 in the men's 65-69 50 fly. That effort wiped out the 25.99 set by Keefe Lodwig last year. Clarke Mitchell, 77, clocked a 31.44 to clip the 31.48 set by Frank Piemme in 2000 in the men's 75-79 50 fly.
Marissa Clapp, 22, touched in 2:03.20 to beat the women's 18-24 200 IM record. Sara Schweitzer set the previous record with a 2:05.30 in 2000. Laura Val, 58, posted a 2:21.91 in the women's 55-59 200 IM. That performance lowered her record time of 2:23.50 set in 2009. Davis demolished another record, this time stopping the clock in 2:31.84 in the women's 60-64 200 IM. That effort cut more than 10 seconds off Carolyn Boak's 2005 record of 2:43.09. Celeste Miller, 60, also cleared the former record with a second-place 2:42.54. Suzanne Dills, 65, followed a day in which she set three national marks yesterday with another record today in the women's 65-69 200 IM. Dills touched in 2:52.51, clearing Ardeth Mueller's 2007 record of 2:53.77.
Gangloff returned in the men's 25-29 200 IM for another record. This time, he posted a 1:48.18 to beat the 1:49.11 set by Erik Scalise in 2007. Ande Rasmussen, 47, posted a 1:58.20 in the men's 45-49 200 IM to lower his 2009 record time of 1:58.39. Richard Burns, 66, turned in a 2:20.31 in the men's 65-69 200 IM to smash his previous record of 2:23.17 set in 2009.
Jamison picked up her second record of the day with a 50.14 in the women's 25-29 100 free. She beat the 50.80 set by Louise Johncke in 2003. Davis earned her third record of the day with a 59.41 in the women's 60-64 100 free. She far surpassed the 1:01.27 set by Francine Williamson in 2009.
Steve Scheren, 23, clocked a 43.78 in the men's 18-24 100 free, wiping out the 43.89 record set by Romain Barnier in 2001. Nick Brunelli, 28, then beat the men's 25-29 100 free national record with a 42.62. He beat SwimMAC teammate Cullen Jones (43.17) to the wall and cleared the national record of 42.91 set by Sabir Muhammad back in 2004. David Sims, 47, won the men's 45-49 100 free in record time with a 46.46. That swim beat Rich Saeger's 46.72 from 2009, while Richard Hughey took second today in 46.65, also under the former mark. Abrahams claimed his second record of the day with a 49.42 in the men's 65-69 100 free. He beat the 52.76 set by Keefe Lodwig last year.
Fiona O'Donnell-McCarthy, 23, clocked a 26.18 in the women's 18-24 50 back, beating Emile Ewing, 22, who took second in 26.44. Both cleared the 1998 national record of 26.47 set by Jessica Tong. Jamison earned her third record of the session with a 25.26 in the women's 25-29 50 back. She cleared the 1999 mark of 25.98 set by Mary Edwards. Sheri Hart, 39, touched in 25.97 in the women's 35-39 50 back. She lowered her 2009 record of 26.17 in the process. Uustal ended the day with a record to call her own with a 32.94 in the women's 60-64 50 back. She beat the 33.95 set by Ruth Shaps in 2008.
Chris Stevenson, 45, posted a 24.28 in the men's 45-49 50 back to clip the national record. Clay Britt held the previous time with a 24.31 from 2008. Richard Kammerer, 52, clocked a 25.52 in the men's 50-54 50 back, downing the 26.15 set by James Ballard in 2009. Philipp Djang, 55, followed with a 26.42 in the men's 55-59 50 back. He cleared the 26.51 set by Geoff Mykleby in 2008.