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CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, May 18. RUSSIAN Olympian Arkady Vyatchanin celebrated with the Gator Chomp when he won the men's 200-meter backstroke at the Arena Grand Prix in Charlotte.
Vyatchanin, who trains in Gainesville and is looking for a country to swim for after defecting from Russia last year, surged to a strong time of 1:55.33 this evening. That performance jumped him to fifth in the SwimVortex world rankings. He ranks behind only Ryosuke Irie (1:53.91), Kosuke Hagino (1:54.23), Xu Jiayu (1:55.11) and Mitch Larkin (1:55.26).
The time also stands as the best time for Vyatchanin since 2006, and is his best in a jammer according to the man during a post-race interview.
SwimMAC's Tyler Clary picked up second-place honors in 1:58.03 on the back of a difficult 200 IM/200 back double. Omar Pinzon checked in with a third-place effort of 1:59.76.
Connor Green (2:00.41), Charlie Boldison (2:00.55), Carter Griffin (2:01.40), Drew teDuits (2:02.28) and James Wells (2:04.44) rounded out the championship heat.
=== Championship ===
1 *Arkady Vyatcha 30 New York Athleti 1:58.94 1:55.33 NAT
26.69 55.64 (28.95)
1:25.24 (29.60) 1:55.33 (30.09)
2 Tyler Clary 25 Una MAC-NC 1:58.88 1:58.03 NAT
28.09 58.06 (29.97)
1:27.97 (29.91) 1:58.03 (30.06)
3 *Omar Pinzon 24 Bolles School Sh 2:01.00 1:59.76 NAT
27.24 57.20 (29.96)
1:27.92 (30.72) 1:59.76 (31.84)
4 Connor Green 18 Bluefish Swim Cl 2:01.36 2:00.41 NAT
28.60 59.08 (30.48)
1:29.97 (30.89) 2:00.41 (30.44)
5 *Charlie Boldis 21 Great Britain 2:03.53 2:00.55 NAT
28.54 58.84 (30.30)
1:29.53 (30.69) 2:00.55 (31.02)
6 Carter Griffin 19 Univ Denver Hill 2:03.83 2:01.40 NAT
29.48 1:00.03 (30.55)
1:31.13 (31.10) 2:01.40 (30.27)
7 Drew teDuits 20 Unattached-WI 2:02.98 2:02.28 NAT
28.61 59.51 (30.90)
1:30.89 (31.38) 2:02.28 (31.39)
8 James Wells 22 Badger Swim Club 2:03.52 2:04.44
29.03 1:00.39 (31.36)
1:32.96 (32.57) 2:04.44 (31.48)
=== Consolation ===
9 *Jonathan Carli 21 Great Britain 2:05.12 2:01.76 NAT
28.05 58.84 (30.79)
1:29.80 (30.96) 2:01.76 (31.96)
10 Joey Reilman 17 Firestone Akron- 2:05.70 2:03.82 NAT
28.48 59.76 (31.28)
1:31.73 (31.97) 2:03.82 (32.09)
11 Koya Osada 18 Duke Aquatics-NC 2:05.66 2:04.62
29.52 1:01.40 (31.88)
1:33.46 (32.06) 2:04.62 (31.16)
12 Jack Mangan 18 Club Wolverine-M 2:06.39 2:05.77
29.73 1:01.01 (31.28)
1:33.77 (32.76) 2:05.77 (32.00)
13 *Yeziel Morales 18 Bayamon 2:04.95 2:07.11
29.10 1:02.16 (33.06)
1:35.25 (33.09) 2:07.11 (31.86)
14 Alex Walton 17 Iowa City Eels S 2:07.74 2:07.83
29.79 1:01.85 (32.06)
1:35.38 (33.53) 2:07.83 (32.45)
15 Andrew Seliskar 17 Nation's Capital 2:07.39 2:08.62
29.41 1:02.04 (32.63)
1:35.14 (33.10) 2:08.62 (33.48)
16 Tynan Stewart 19 Unattached-MS 2:03.83 2:09.73
29.45 1:01.54 (32.09)
1:35.29 (33.75) 2:09.73 (34.44)
