As the clock ticks down toward the U.S. Masters Swimming short course national championships later this month, three athletes lowered national records last weekend to up the ante in two different age groups. Two of those records were broken by Darian Townsend and Laura Val, who are part of this month’s World Masters Swimmers of the Year in Swimming World Magazine.
Townsend, an Olympic gold medalist in the 400 free relay as well as NCAA champion in the 200 free and 200 IM, has never swum the 200 fly in competition. He remedied the situation in fine fashion on Saturday at the Arizona state championships in Tucson with a 1:45.01. The 30-year-old member of Team USA’s Pan American Games squad broke one of the oldest short course U.S. Masters Swimming records, a 1:49.52 swum in 1994 by Peter Egan in the 30-34 age group.
Darian Townsend 200 fly splits
23.76
50.40 (26.64)
1:17.52 (27.12)
1:45.01 (27.49)
Townsend also went after Adam Mania’s 100 IM record of 48.26, but fell a bit short with a 48.73. Townsend now turns his focus to preparing for the Pan American Games and is racing this week at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Mesa.
Laura Val rarely swims in a meet without breaking a record, and the 63-year-old continued that streak with a 2:05.95 in the 200 freestyle at the Pacific Masters championships in Moraga, California. Val broke her own 60-64 age group record of 2:06.13, and could lower it even further when she swims at nationals in two weeks.
Laura Val 200 free splits
28.38
1:00.24 (31.86)
1:33.10 (32.86)
2:05.95 (32.85)
Also at the Pacific Masters meet, Lo Knapp broke a national record in the 60-64 age group, posting a 2:47.45 in the 200 breaststroke. That took down Deb Walker’s record of 2:52.02 from 2012. Knapp is getting back into the record-breaking swing, having broken two long course national records last summer after a five-year drought.
In other Masters news, Jeff Julian competed in the Southern Pacific Masters championships last week. Julian, a former NCAA All-American and USA Swimming national team member, was diagnosed with lung cancer in January. Julian has never competed in Masters swim meets before despite coaching Rose Bowl Masters for many years in Pasadena. The 40-year-old posted times of 1:51.63 in the 200 free and 55.43 in the 100 fly.
2015 Arizona Masters State Short Course Championships – Results
2015 Pacific Masters Short Course Championships – Results