2009 Nationals Prelim Report - Day 1 (7/7/2009)

Jul 7, 2009

 
 

2009 Nationals Prelim Report - Day 1  (7/7/2009)

 

The 2007 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships and World Championship Trials kicked off Tuesday with prelims of the women’s 100m butterfly, men’s 400m freestyle, women’s 200m IM, men’s 100m breaststroke, women’s 400m freestyle and men’s 400m IM.
The top 24 swimmers from each event will return to swim in tonight’s A, B and C finals. Timed finals of the men’s 400m free relay will be swum tonight.
Below are the highlights from each of this morning’s events. For complete results from the meet, go to our special 2007 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships and World Championship Trials section.
Women’s 100m Butterfly
Olympians Christine Magnuson and Elaine Breeden are the top two seeds heading into tonight’s finals. Both swimmers competed in this race in Beijing, where Magnuson won the silver medal and set the American record. 2004 Olympian Dana Vollmer, the 2009 NCAA women’s swimmer of the year, qualified as the third seed, while National Teamer Mary DeScenza qualified fourth. DeScenza was the top swimmer on USA Swimming’s 2008-09 Grand Prix circuit and was recently awarded $20,000 for her effort. Olympian Kathleen Hersey is also in the mix as the third seed. Hersey swam the 200m fly in Beijing.
 
Men’s 400m Freestyle
Olympian Peter Vanderkaay qualified first in this morning’s prelims, ahead of Club Wolverine teammates Daniel Madwed and Adam DeJong. The 400m free was one of four events – along with the 200m free, 1500m free and 800 free relay – Vanderkaay swam in Beijing last year, but he did not medal in this event. With the retirement of American record-holder Larsen Jensen and former American record-holder Klete Keller, this is one event that is wide open for anyone hungry enough to take it.
 
Women’s 200m IM
With the two 2008 Olympic qualifiers in this event – Natalie Coughlin and Katie Hoff – absent from the field, this is another event that is wide open for up-and-comers looking to qualify for the World Team. Olympian Julia Smit emerged as the top seed from this morning’s prelims, her qualifying time of 2:10.54 less than a second off the American record. Smit did not swim this event in Beijing last year (she swam the in prelims of the 400 and 800 free relays), but she set the American record and won NCAA titles in both the 200 and 400 IMs in March of 2009. Qualifying right behind her was 2008 Olympic teammate Elizabeth Beisel, who swam the 200m back and 400m IM in Beijing. Also qualifying for finals were teenagers Elizabeth Pelton, Dagny Knutson and Caitlin Leverenz. Knutson dominated the Junior Pan Pacific Championships earlier this year and set an American record in the 400-yard IM at last year’s Short Course National Championships. Leverenz was a medalist at the 2007 Pan American Games and is a member of the U.S. National Team.
 
Men’s 100 Breaststroke
Longhorn Aquatics teammates and 2008 Olympians Eric Shanteau and Scott Spann qualified 1-2 in the men’s 100m breast this morning. Shanteau, who qualified for the Olympic 200m breast in 2008 after being diagnosed with testicular cancer last year, became the second American to break a minute in this event, turning in a time of 59.89 in this morning’s prelims. He is .76 seconds off Brendan Hansen’s American record of 59.13. Two-time Olympian Mark Gangloff qualified as the third seed in this, his specialty event.
 
Women’s 400m Free
Two more Olympians headline the qualifiers in the women’s 400m free, with Allison Schmitt and Katie Hoff taking the top two seeds. Schmitt swam the 200 free and the 800 free relay in Beijing last year, but she’s no stranger to the distance events, winning the 500-yard free at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships this year. Hoff was the Olympic silver medalist in this event in Beijing, getting out-touched by just seven-hundredths of a second by Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington at the water cube after leading for all but 15 meters of the race. Other Olympians to watch in tonight’s finals include Caroline Burckle, who swam on the women’s 800m free relay last year, and open water standout Chloe Sutton.
 
Men’s 400m IM
With Michael Phelps retiring from this event, many people are expecting Olympic bronze medalist Ryan Lochte to step up and fill the void in this event. It’s a logical choice, as Lochte is the second-fastest swimmer of all time in the 400m IM, based on his performance at the Olympic Trials last year in Omaha. Lochte cruised to a second seed in this morning’s prelims, but a swimmer who has emerged as a contender lately is top seed Tyler Clary. Clary, a silver medalist in the 200m back at the 2007 Pan American Games, won the NCAA title and set an American record in the 400-yard IM in March. Long-time National Teamer Robert Margalis rounds out the top three qualifiers from this morning’s prelims. Margalis won a silver in this event at the 2007 Pan Am Games.