MISSION VIEJO, California, June 26. THE last night of the Fran Crippen Memorial Swim Meet of Champions concluded with several more meet records going into the ledger. The meet, presented by TYR, took place in long course meters.
Mission Viejo's Chloe Sutton bettered her season best in the women's 1500 free with a victorious time of 16:12.73. She cut her previously 10th-ranked season best down from a 16:16.11, and moved to sixth in the world rankings. FAST's Kate Ziegler finished second in 16:17.21 to take 12th in the rankings, while FAST's Emily Brunemann took third in 16:22.09.
Minnetonka's David Plummer downed the meet record in the men's 100 back with a 54.19. That time cleared the 55.09 set by Peter Marshall back in 2008. Plummer finished off his 13th-ranked season best of 54.04. FAST's Tyler Clary showed some speed with a second-place 55.57, while New Zealand's Kurt Bassett snared third in 56.16.
FAST's Michael Klueh posted a 7:56.59 to win the men's 800 free in meet-record fashion. Mission Viejo's Chad La Tourette finished second in 7:58.63, while Delaware's Andrew Gemmell earned third in 8:07.56. Klueh improved to for 12th in the world, while La Tourette took 18th.
Trojan's Jessica Hardy, typically a sprint freestyle and breaststroke specialist, showed off her butterfly stroke with a triumphant time of 59.32 in the women's 100 fly. Teammate Lyndsay De Paul touched a close second in 59.38, while FAST's Whitney Myers snared third in 59.99.
Trojan's Yuliya Efimova nabbed the women's 100 breast title in 1:06.97, just missing her fourth-ranked season best of 1:06.77 set in May. Minnesota's Jillian Tyler finished second in 1:07.87 for 16th in the rankings, while Kayla Voytechek rounded out the top three in 1:11.07.
Trojan's Kosuke Kitajima, who owns the top time in the world with a 59.44 from April, set a meet record with a 1:01.01 in the men's 100 breast. Rose Masters' Ed Moses, 31, finished second in 1:02.71 to crush his preliminary time of 1:03.69. Moses' prelim swim cleared the previous standard for the men's 30-34 FINA Masters world record of 1:04.08 set by Ryosuke Imai of Japan in August 2010. Trojan's Andrew Bree placed third in 1:02.96. Notably, Steve West, 39, just missed his second U.S. Olympic Trials cut of the meet with a 1:04.91 during preliminary qualifying. The Trials cut is 1:04.59. West returned in the B final with an 11th-place 1:05.15. Yesterday, West became the oldest American man to ever make a U.S. Olympic Trials with a cut in the 200 breaststroke.
FAST's Katie Hoff and Canada's Erica Morningstar put on a show in the women's 200 IM with Hoff winning, 2:11.33 to 2:11.89. Both swimmers smashed Katinka Hosszu's meet record of 2:13.52 set last year. Hoff moved to seventh in the world with the swim, while Morningstar already stood sixth with a season best 2:11.23 from March. Efimova grabbed a second podium for the night with a third-place 2:13.93.
Clary finished the evening with a meet record of 2:01.14 in the men's 200 IM. That time clipped his 2010 standard of 2:01.37. Teammate Robert Margalis finished second in 2:02.17, while Wild's Sean Mathews picked up third in 2:04.75.
Minnesota's Kyler Van Swol followed in the men's 100 fly with a 54.02 for the win. Trojan's Dominik Meichtry placed second in 54.27, while New Zealand's Kurt Bassett grabbed third in 55.02. Notably, Octavio Alesi won the B final in 54.63.
New Zealand's Melissa Ingram topped the women's 100 back in 1:02.10, while Canada's Genevieve Cantin touched second in 1:03.28. Katy Murdoch completed the top three in 1:03.35.