CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, May 11. NEARLY a year's worth of drama finally came to an end as Cullen Jones vanquished his Josh Schneider specter with a 22.24 to 22.28 victory in the men's 50 free swimoff for the final spot on the U.S. roster for the World Championships in Shanghai. The swim took place on the first night of long course meter swimming at the Charlotte UltraSwim. Both times rank in the top 15 in the world rankings this year.
As previously reported by Swimming World, Schneider no-showed his 100 fly preliminary swim at U.S. Long Course Nationals last summer citing that he was not aware that he was entered in the event. The penalty for a no show is that a swimmer is disqualified from the next event, which was Schneider's pet event – the 50 free.
Last summer, Schneider swam the 50 free prelims under protest and qualified second in 22.20. Still under protest, he swam the 50 free final and tied with Jones with matching 21.97s. Schneider then swam the following day, while his 50 free performance was still at jeopardy and suffered what had to be the end of an incredibly tough two days when he broke his hand during his 100 free preliminary finish.
He elected to withdraw his appeal for a place on the Pan Pacific roster that summer, but wound up winning his appeal in September 2010 to keep the 21.97 as part of his resume. That put him on the National Team, and set up a showdown with Jones for the second spot on the World Championships squad this summer.
Jones, the face of the Make a Splash campaign, had remained in the background as most of the attention surrounding the swimoff had centered on Schneider. The live stream of the race even had his name as "Colin Jones." Meanwhile, Schneider earned a berth on the World University Games roster for the United States.
Mission Viejo's Chloe Sutton put on the steam down the stretch to win the women's 1500 freestyle event in 16:16.11. That swim stands ninth in the world this year. Sutton had hung with Gator's Andreina Pinto throughout most of the swim, at one point trailing 14:43.69 to 14:43.70, but then used a strong final push for the win. Pinto, meanwhile, clocked a second-place 16:18.79 to move to 11th in the world. Parkland's Gillian Ryan, 15, wound up third overall in 16:43.39.
Scenic City's Sean Ryan nabbed the men's 800 free crown in 8:11.10, while Mission Viejo's Joseph Arnold touched second in 8:12.14. Gator's Alex Gomez pocketed third overall in 8:12.54.