By Stephen J. Thomas
YOKOHAMA, Japan, August 26. THE USA continued to run roughshod over the rest of the nations on day Three of the Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama, Japan.
After today's events, in which the US took three of the five finals, the Americans lead Australia 8-6 in gold medals and 26-12 in total medals. Host Japan is a distant third with two golds and eight medals overall.
This evening, the USA was dominant, going one-two in two events and one-three in a third. In the two events the US did not win, they managed to place third in one, and second and third in the other.
It took Aussie superstar Ian Thorpe and Japan's brilliant Tomoko Hagiwara to prevent an American sweep of the evening's events.
Men's 200m Freestyle
World record-holder Ian Thorpe crafted another brilliant freestyle performance to come within 0.69 of a second of his record to clock the fourth fastest swim in history over the four laps. Thorpe looked like he had a chance at history's first sub-1:44 swim when he was well under the record split for the 50 (24.58 v 24.81), then fell 0.03 behind at the 100 (51.48 v 51.45), 0.12 at the 150 (1:18.38 v 1:18.26) and finally touched in a new championship record 1:44.75 to his WR 1:44.06.
Thorpe swam 1:44.71 last month in Manchester to win gold at the Commonwealth Games and owns four of the five times under 1:45. Despite this outstanding performance, Thorpe was particularly hard on himself at his press conference. Reflecting on his swim he said, "I felt I made quite a few small mistakes, with my turns and my acceleration during the race. I felt tired mentally and physically coming here after Manchester and it has been hard to get up for this meet."
Grant Hackett got as close to Thorpe as he has ever been in finishing second in a PR 1:45.84, only the third man to swim under 1:46 along with the flying Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband.
Hackett said of his swim, "The competition was stronger here (than the Commonwealth Games). I was in a tougher mind-set tonight and that allowed me to get the best out of myself. I will always keep trying to improve on my best and trying to catch Ian (Thorpe)."
In a tight battle for the bronze between Circle C's Nate Dusing, teammate Klete Keller and Canada's Rick Say, Dusing (1:48.11) touched out Say (1:48.26) after Keller (1:48.42) had held third spot at the last flip.
Men's 50m Freestyle
Team USA went one-two in the splash and dash. Nova's Jason Lezak (22.22) had the better finished to touch out Olympic gold medalist Anthony Ervin (22.28) with Aussie Brett Hawke (22.40) taking third from teammate Ashley Callus (22.56).
This was a breakthrough victory for the 26 year-old UCSB graduate, who has had a history of swimming very well in the US but then swimming below his capability in big international events. This win should do wonders for Lezak's confidence, particularly since he is actually better in the 100 meters than the 50.
Men's 100m Backstroke
Again, it a battle between USA teammates, Aaron Peirsol of Irvina Novaquatics and Stanford's Randal Bal. Team USA went one-two in the two lap dorsal event. Peirsol, the world record-holder for the 200 back, took the race out fast to lead Bal, the one-lap world champ, 26.18 to 26.20. Peirsol had the goods on the night to record a fast 54.22, not far outside his PR 54.01 earlier this month in Fort Lauderdale. Bal stroked a PR 54.45, dropping 0.43 on his previous best.
Japan's Tomomi Morita took bronze in 55.30 from team-mate Atsushi Nishikori (55.30). Aussie world champion, Matt Welsh was missing in action after having being DQ'ed for breaking the 15-meter rule in his semi last night.
Women's 100m Backstroke
Cal's Natalie Coughlin broke the magic minute for the second time this month, but fell short of her own world record by fourteen one-hundredths of a second to record a championship record 59.72. As predicted, Coughlin showed a clean pair of heels to the field leaving Aussie Dyana Calub, the '99 Pan Pac championship title-holder to take silver in a PR 1:01.49 and one-lap world champ Hailey Cope with another bronze for Team USA in a time of 1:01.74.
"I basically had the same game plan as the 100 fly," said Coughlin, blast off the wall and come home hard. This is my favorite event and the crowd atmosphere was so good it made for an exciting race."
Women's 200m Individual Medley
Tomoko Hagiwara brought the home crowd to fever pitch when she took Japan's first women's gold of the championships in a fight to the finish with Irvine Nova's Gabrielle Rose.
Rose led after the fly leg with Auburn's Maggie Bowen second and Hagiwara third. Hagiwara moved to the lead in the backstroke leg, Rose second, Bowen third. Rose took over the lead again from the Japanese in the breast and then it was down the last lap with Hagiwara winning out in 2:13.42 to Rose's 2:13.93. Bowen finished a disappointing third in 2:14.28, well outside her 2001 World Championship winning PR 2:11.93.
Bowen was initially DQ'ed in her semifinal for an illegal change from back to breast, but the US head coach protested and the disqualification was overturned.
Semifinal Highlights
Men's 200m Breaststroke
Aussie Jim Piper broke the championship record to take lane four for the final in a fast 2:11.54. American Brendan Hansen, the world champion, was second (2:12.90), Canada's Mike Brown third in 2:13.28.
Men's 200m Butterfly
World record-holder, Michael Phelps and 2000 gold medalist Tom Malchow qualified one-two for tomorrow night's battle of the giants. Phelps clocked 1:56.15 to Malchow's 1:56.19.
The Japanese will keep them honest with Takashi Yamamoto third fastest in 1:56.25 and Takashi Matsuda fourth in 1:56.71 with Aussie 2000 bronze medalist, Justin Norris, at 1:58.71.
Women's 50m Freestyle
Texas Aquatics Tammie Stone qualified fastest for the one-lap dash in 25.26 from Aussi Jodie Henry, who clocked a new Australian record 25.29. Veteran Jenny Thompson (25.48) and 16 year-old Aussie Alice Mills (25.64). Cal's Haley Cope, the US national champion, was fourth fastest but only two Americans can race the final, so she will watch the finals from the sidelines.
Women's 200m Freestyle
The USA qualified one-two for the final with Lindssy Benko swimming 2:00.66 and Diana Munz 2:00.78, followed by the Aussies Elka Graham 2:00.85 and world champ Giaan Rooney 2:01.37. Japan's Tomoko Hagiwara, at 2:01.37, is the likely challenger for gold tomorrow.
Women's 200m Butterfly
USA's Emily Mason (2:10.48) and Mary Descenza (2:10.57) head Aussie world champion Petria Thomas (2:10.74) and Japan's Yurie Yano (2:10.96) as fastest qualifiers.
Medal Standings after Day 3
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
USA 8 11 7 26
Australia 6 4 2 12
Japan 2 1 5 8
China 0 0 1 1
Canada 0 0 1 1
PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Yokohama, Japan
August 24-29
DAY THREE: August 26, 2002
Semifinals and Finals Results
Event 37 200m Freestyle Women Semifinals
Ranking Results
WR 1:56.64 Franziska VAN ALMSICK GER 2002/08/03 BERLIN
CR 1:57.48 Claudia POLL CRC 1997/08/10 FUKUOKA
Rank HT LN Name first name Nation YB Time (R.T.)
——————————————————————————–
1 2 4 Lindsay BENKO USA 76 2:00.66 (0.81)
2 1 5 Diana MUNZ USA 82 2:00.78 (0.78)
3 2 5 Elka GRAHAM AUS 81 2:00.85 (0.79)
4 1 4 Tomoko HAGIWARA JPN 80 2:01.37 (0.84)
4 2 6 Giaan ROONEY AUS 82 2:01.37 (0.75)
6 1 3 Mariana NERY BROCHADO BRA 84 2:01.52 (0.84)
7 2 8 Sachiko YAMADA JPN 82 2:01.55 (0.85)
8 2 2 Jiaying PANG CHN 85 2:01.61 (0.79)
9 2 1 Mary HILL USA 85 2:01.73 (0.79)
10 2 3 Alison FITCH NZL 80 2:01.92 (0.86)
11 1 2 Tomoko NAGAI JPN 81 2:02.04 (0.80)
12 1 6 Monique ANDRADE FERREIRA BRA 80 2:02.20 (0.82)
13 1 8 Elizabeth COLLINS CAN 82 2:02.54 (0.86)
14 1 1 Heidi CRAWFORD AUS 82 2:02.58 (0.78)
15 2 7 Norie URABE JPN 86 2:03.27 (0.82)
16 1 7 Jessica DEGLAU CAN 80 2:03.53 (0.86)
Event 38 200m Freestyle Men Finals
Ranking Results
WR 1:44.06 Ian THORPE AUS 2001/07/25 FUKUOKA
CR 1:44.75 Ian THORPE AUS 2002/08/26 YOKOHAMA
Rank HT LN Name first name Nation YB Time (R.T.)
——————————————————————————–
1 1 4 Ian THORPE AUS 82 1:44.75 CR (0.81)
2 1 5 Grant HACKETT AUS 80 1:45.84 (0.76)
3 1 6 Nate DUSING USA 78 1:48.11 (0.69)
4 1 2 Richard SAY CAN 79 1:48.26 (0.76)
5 1 3 Klete KELLER USA 82 1:48.42 (0.71)
6 1 7 Mark JOHNSTON CAN 79 1:49.48 (0.80)
7 1 1 Daisuke HOSOKAWA JPN 82 1:49.74 (0.69)
8 1 8 Yoshihiro OKUMURA JPN 83 1:49.97 (0.74)
Event 39 100m Backstroke Women Finals
Ranking Results
WR 59.58 Natalie COUGHLIN USA 2002/08/13 FORT LAUDERDALE
CR 59.72 Natalie COUGHLIN USA 2002/08/26 YOKOHAMA
Rank HT LN Name first name Nation YB Time (R.T.)
——————————————————————————–
1 1 5 Natalie COUGHLIN USA 82 59.72 CR (0.57)
2 1 4 Dyana CALUB AUS 75 1:01.49 (0.63)
3 1 6 Haley COPE USA 79 1:01.74 (0.58)
4 1 3 Noriko INADA JPN 78 1:01.98 (0.63)
5 1 2 Aya TERAKAWA JPN 84 1:02.16 (0.59)
6 1 1 Erin GAMMEL CAN 80 1:02.43 (0.62)
7 1 7 Giaan ROONEY AUS 82 1:02.75 (0.66)
8 1 8 Hannah MCLEAN NZL 81 1:03.28 (0.58)
Event 40 100m Back Stroke Men Finals
Ranking Results
WR 53.60 Lenny KRAYZELBURG USA 1999/08/24 SYDNEY
CR 53.60 Lenny KRAYZELBURG USA 1999/08/27 SYDNEY
Rank HT LN Name first name Nation YB Time (R.T.)
——————————————————————————–
1 1 5 Aaron PEIRSOL USA 83 54.22 (0.58)
2 1 4 Randall BAL USA 80 54.45 (0.58)
3 1 2 Tomomi MORITA JPN 84 55.29 (0.52)
4 1 3 Atsushi NISHIKORI JPN 78 55.30 (0.54)
5 1 6 Riley JANES CAN 80 55.63 (0.65)
6 1 7 Leigh MCBEAN AUS 83 55.71 (0.61)
7 1 8 Ethan ROLFF AUS 82 56.51 (0.64)
8 1 1 Rui YU CHN 82 56.55 (0.57)
Event 41 200m Individual Medley Women Finals
Ranking Results
WR 2:09.72 Yanyan WU CHN 1997/10/17 SHANGHAI
CR 2:12.54 Allison WAGNER USA 1993/08/15 KOBE
Rank HT LN Name first name Nation YB Time (R.T.)
——————————————————————————–
1 1 4 Tomoko HAGIWARA JPN 80 2:13.42 (0.81)
2 1 3 Gabrielle ROSE USA 77 2:13.93 (0.73)
3 1 5 Martha BOWEN USA 80 2:14.28 (0.72)
4 1 1 Yafei ZHOU CHN 84 2:16.23 (0.80)
5 1 7 Alice MILLS AUS 86 2:16.51 (0.76)
6 1 6 Elizabeth WARDEN CAN 78 2:16.99 (0.81)
7 1 2 Jennifer REILLY AUS 83 2:18.70 (0.82)
8 1 8 Kristy CAMERON CAN 81 2:18.72 (0.73)
Event 42 200m Butterfly Men Semi-Finals
Ranking Results
WR 1:54.58 Michael PHELPS USA 2001/07/24 FUKUOKA
CR 1:55.41 Tom MALCHOW USA 1999/08/25 SYDNEY
Rank HT LN Name first name Nation YB Time (R.T.)
——————————————————————————–
1 1 5 Michael PHELPS USA 85 1:56.15 (0.74)
2 2 4 Thomas MALCHOW USA 76 1:56.19 (0.83)
3 1 4 Takashi YAMAMOTO JPN 78 1:56.25 (0.73)
4 2 3 Takeshi MATSUDA JPN 84 1:56.71 (0.81)
5 2 7 Justin NORRIS AUS 80 1:58.77 (0.80)
6 2 6 Kohei KAWAMOTO JPN 79 1:59.66 (0.68)
7 1 3 Juan Pablo VALDIVIESO PER 81 1:59.87 (0.71)
8 2 5 Yu KONDO JPN 81 2:00.06 (0.65)
9 2 2 Pedro BARBOSA R. MONTEIRO BRA 75 2:00.07 (0.78)
10 1 6 Eric DONNELLY USA 80 2:00.27 (0.75)
11 1 2 Andrew LIVINGSTON PUR 78 2:01.37 (0.74)
12 2 1 Moss Burmester NZL 81 2:02.30 (0.75)
13 2 8 Trent STEED AUS 77 2:02.54 (0.78)
14 1 7 Heath RAMSAY AUS 81 2:02.57 (0.88)
15 1 1 Chad MURRAY CAN 81 2:02.82 (0.81)
16 1 8 Dean KENT NZL 78 2:03.18 (0.77)
Event 43 200m Breaststroke Men Semifinals
Ranking Results
WR 2:10.16 Mike BARROWMAN USA 1992/07/29 BARCELONE
CR 2:11.54 Jim PIPER AUS 2002/08/26 YOKOHAMA
Rank HT LN Name first name Nation YB Time (R.T.)
——————————————————————————–
1 1 3 Jim PIPER AUS 81 2:11.54 CR (0.79)
2 2 5 Brendan HANSEN USA 81 2:12.90 (0.70)
3 1 5 Mike BROWN CAN 84 2:13.28 (0.80)
4 2 4 Daisuke KIMURA JPN 81 2:13.48 (0.73)
5 2 2 David DENNISTON USA 78 2:13.73 (0.76)
6 1 4 Thomas WILKENS USA 75 2:13.84 (0.78)
7 1 2 John STAMHUIS CAN 78 2:15.87 (0.76)
8 2 6 Mark GANGLOFF USA 82 2:16.19 (0.75)
9 2 3 Marcelo Augusto TOMAZINI BRA 78 2:16.25 (0.74)
10 1 6 Regan HARRISON AUS 78 2:16.40 (0.67)
11 2 7 Haibo WANG CHN 82 2:18.98 (0.84)
12 1 7 Henrique RIBEIRO M. BARBOSA BRA 84 2:19.67 (0.91)
13 2 1 Chad THOMSEN CAN 83 2:20.06 (0.82)
14 1 1 Chi Kin TAM HKG 80 2:22.88 (0.73)
15 1 8 Kieran DALY NZL 81 2:24.45 (0.81)
16 2 8 Michael Andrew SCOTT HKG 80 2:26.37 (0.84)
Event 44 50m Freestyle Women Semifinals
Ranking Results
WR 24.13 Inge DE BRUIJN NED 2000/09/22 SYDNEY
CR 25.03 Amy Van DYKEN USA 1995/08/13 ATLANTA
Rank HT LN Name first name Nation YB Time (R.T.)
——————————————————————————–
1 2 5 Tammie STONE USA 76 25.26 (0.74)
2 1 5 Jodie HENRY AUS 83 25.29 (0.82)
3 1 4 Jennifer THOMPSON USA 73 25.48 (0.79)
4 2 3 Haley COPE USA 79 25.53 (0.73)
5 2 4 Alice MILLS AUS 86 25.64 (0.72)
6 1 3 Sarah RYAN AUS 77 25.91 (0.72)
7 2 2 Laura NICHOLLS CAN 78 25.94 (0.80)
8 1 6 Cassie HUNT AUS 83 25.99 (0.80)
9 2 6 Toni JEFFS NZL 68 26.08 (0.84)
10 1 2 Kaori YAMADA JPN 81 26.17 (0.74)
11 2 7 Tomoko NAGAI JPN 81 26.22 (0.74)
12 2 1 Alison FITCH NZL 80 26.35 (0.83)
13 1 7 Courtney SHEALY USA 77 26.40 (0.75)
14 1 1 Joscelin YEO SIN 79 26.44 (0.74)
15 1 8 Norie URABE JPN 86 26.81 (0.72)
16 2 8 Rebeca BRAGA LAKISS GUSMAO BRA 84 27.20 (0.76)
Event 45 50m Freestyle Men Finals
Ranking Results
WR 21.64 Alexander POPOV RUS 2000/06/16 MOSCOU
CR 22.06 Brendon Dedekind RSA 1999/08/28 SYDNEY
Rank HT LN Name first name Nation YB Time (R.T.)
——————————————————————————–
1 1 4 Jason LEZAK USA 75 22.22 (0.72)
2 1 3 Anthony ERVIN USA 81 22.28 (0.64)
3 1 5 Brett HAWKE AUS 75 22.40 (0.70)
4 1 6 Ashley CALLUS AUS 79 22.56 (0.69)
5 1 1 Yannick LUPIEN CAN 80 22.81 (0.74)
6 1 7 Issei NAKANISHI JPN 79 23.00 (0.67)
7 1 2 Renato GUIMARAES GUERALDI BRA 80 23.05 (0.65)
8 1 8 Naoki NAGURA JPN 81 23.29 (0.70)
Event 46 200m Butterfly Women Semifinals
Ranking Results
WR 2:05.78 Otylia JEDREJCZAK POL 2002/08/04 BERLIN
CR 2:06.53 Susan O’NEILL AUS 1999/08/25 SYDNEY
Rank HT LN Name first name Nation YB Time (R.T.)
——————————————————————————–
1 2 4 Emily MASON USA 82 2:10.48 (0.74)
2 1 5 Mary DESCENZA USA 84 2:10.57 (0.80)
3 1 4 Petria THOMAS AUS 75 2:10.74 (0.77)
4 2 3 Yurie YANO JPN 88 2:10.96 (0.81)
5 1 6 Dana KIRK USA 84 2:11.04 (0.66)
6 2 6 Yuko NAKANISHI JPN 81 2:11.15 (0.71)
7 1 3 Margaret HOELZER USA 83 2:11.41 (0.84)
8 2 5 Jennifer BUTTON CAN 77 2:11.91 (0.80)
9 2 7 Felicity GALVEZ AUS 85 2:12.06 (0.85)
10 2 1 Audrey LACROIX CAN 83 2:12.54 (0.80)
11 2 2 Yin LIU CHN 84 2:12.69 (0.81)
12 1 2 Maki MITA JPN 83 2:12.93 (0.71)
13 1 1 Sawami FUJITA JPN 84 2:14.65 (0.75)
14 1 8 Elizabeth VAN WELIE NZL 79 2:15.26 (0.82)
15 1 7 Jessica DEGLAU CAN 80 2:16.01 (0.85)
16 2 8 Heidi CRAWFORD AUS 82 2:16.18 (0.77)
——————————————————————————–
Get up close and personal with many of the top women on the U.S. team now competing at the Pan Pacific Championships. The book, "By a Fraction of a Second," chronicles the stories of current Pan Pac team members; Megan Quann, Lindsay Benko, Diana Munz and others. Read how the latest world record setter on the Pan Pac team had her 2000 Olympic dreams shattered.
After reading the accounts in this fast moving, insiders book, you will appreciate even more the continuing excellence displayed by these athletes. Learn what goes on behind the scenes at international meets, as well as how these swimmers recover from disappointment and injury, and cope with allegations of undetected illegal drug use amongst their competitors.
A great book that will motivate swimmers of all ages. Anyone interested in the drama of great swimming competition will enjoy "By a Fraction of a Second."