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GOLD COAST, Australia, August 21. A trio of swimmers cleared the Pan Pacific Championship record in prelims of the men’s 100-meter back, but USA’s Matt Grevers got there first with a 52.91 in the second heat. That performance wiped out the Australian All-Comers record of 52.98 set by Aaron Peirsol of the USA back in 2007, and beat Peirsol’s meet record of 53.31 set back in 2010.
Comparative Splits:
=== Preliminaries === 1 GREVERS, MATT 29 UNITED STATES 52.75 52.91A 946 r:+0.69 25.93 52.91 (26.98) 2 MURPHY, RYAN 19 UNITED STATES 53.21 53.24P 928 r:+0.58 25.80 53.24 (27.44) 3 IRIE, RYOSUKE 24 JAPAN 52.57 53.29P 925 r:+0.56 26.06 53.29 (27.23)
Meanwhile, USA’s Ryan Murphy powered his way to second with a time of 53.24 with Japan’s Ryosuke Irie earning third in 53.29. Irie has the fastest time in the field this year with a second-ranked 52.57 from Japanese Nationals, but will have his work cut out for him tonight.
Australia’s Mitch Larkin (4th, 53.49), Japan’s Junya Koga (6th, 54.30), Australia’s Ben Treffers (7th, 54.34), Brazil’s Thiago Pereira (9th, 54.43) and Brazil’s Guilhermo Guido (11th, 54.50) will also compete in the A final.
B finalists are USA’s David Plummer (5th, 53.82), Australia’s Josh Beaver (8th (54.40), Canada’s Russell Wood (13th, 55.15), Brazil’s Fabio Santi (14th, 55.16), New Zealand’s Corey Main (15th, 55.36), South Africa’s Richard Ellis (16th, 55.59), Japan’s Haya Matsubara (17th, 55.82) and Venezuela’s Albert Subirats (18th, 55.95).
For the first time in three editions, someone else other than Peirsol will win the event as the retired Peirsol won in 2002 (54.22), 2006 (53.32) and 2010 (53.31). Koga took second in 2010 in 53.63, while Ashley Delaney of Australia placed third in 53.67.
