INDIANAPOLIS – The ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships concluded with a night of record-breaking performances. Dara Torres kicked off the record-breaking trend when she eclipsed her own American record in the 50m free. Erik Vendt followed suit in the 800m free when he set U.S. Open and National meet records in that event.
Torres stole the show once again when she broke her own seven-year old American record at the age of 40. The only athlete to swim under 25 seconds in the final, her time of 24.53 ties as the second-fastest time posted this year.
“I had a goal after this morning felt so easy to go for the American record,” Torres said. “I went back to take a nap, and afterward, I was having a hard time with my shoulder. I don’t know if I slept on it wrong or what, but I could barely move my arm. I took like four Advil just to get through it. Tonight, I had no idea what was there going into it, so I was just going for a win.
“To stand up and race against all these young girls is a lot of fun. I’m having as much fun at 40 as I was when I was 14. Even before I started swimming fast at meets I had been having so much fun with my teammates and training with my team.”
Tuscon Ford’s Lara Jackson finished second in the splash-and-dash race in 25.27, 2007 U.S. World Championships Team member Lacey Nymeyer came in at 25.28 for third.
Ben Wildman-Tobriner nearly followed in Torres’ footsteps when he fell just .04 shy of breaking the American record in the men’s 50m free. The reigning world champion re-claimed his national title when he put a time of 21.80 on the board.
“Obviously, it feels great,” Wildman-Tobriner said. “The field was extremely fast. With Cullen, Roland and Nick out there, I knew someone was going to go fast, and I was hoping to be one of those people. I also knew this pool could lend itself to some good times, and I was really excited to race.”
Just two-hundredths separated Wildman-Tobriner and Cullen Jones, who finished second in 21.82. Nick Brunelli, who competed at the 2005 World Championships, filled the third-place spot in 22.05.
Katie Hoff, who owns the world record in the 400m IM, made a run for the 200 IM record, swimming on record-breaking pace for three-fourths of the race. Hoff finished just off the record in 2:10.62 to take home her third gold medal this week. Her time is the second-fastest recorded this year.
Hoff took home the women’s Kiphuth Award for high points for her efforts this week, which included three first-place finishes and two second-place finishes.
“I think next year I will develop a lot more power,” Hoff said. “It will take a lot of training in the next year to break the record.”
Pan American champion Caitlin Leverenz earned her second silver medal this week when she finished behind Hoff in 2:12.32. Stanford’s Julia Smit rounded out the top three in 2:12.99.
Ryan Lochte remained the medley master of the championships with his second IM title of the meet. The three-time national champion bolted ahead of the field on the first leg of the 200m IM to outdistance the competition by three seconds. His time of 1:56.95 is the fourth fastest this year.
“We wanted to try something different at this meet,” Lochte said. “I didn’t rest a lot and didn’t shave. This afternoon my coach told me to just go after it. So, that’s what I did.”
Longhorn Aquatics’ Eric Shanteau made the move into second in the breaststroke portion of the race to finish in 1:59.56. Stanford’s Nate Cass earned his first national medal when he finished third with a time of 2:02.09.
Emily Brunemann opened up the final session of the National championships with a win in the women’s 1500m freestyle. The Club Wolverine swimmer began to pull away at the 500-meter mark and continued to increase her lead for the remainder of the race. Bruneman posted a final time of 16:23.77. Ashley Evans of Brophy East Swim clocked in at 16:31.74 for the silver. Kirsten Groome of First Colony Swim Team touched in at 16:33.36 to take third.
Two-time Olympian Vendt concluded his schedule of events the same way he began them – with a gold medal. Vendt defeated Olympians Peter Vanderkaay and the American-record holder in this event, Larsen Jensen, in a time of 7:49.25, a U.S. Open and National meet record.
Teammate Vanderkaay finished four seconds behind in 7:53.93, while Jensen touched in at 7:57.79 for third.
Michael Phelps attempted to break the 100m backstroke world record for a second time when he led off Club Wolverine’s 400m medley relay. Although he was under record pace at the half-way point, Phelps fell short of the record by .19. The Wolverine relay continued to set the U.S. Open record in a time of 3:38.32.
The thirty-six time National champion was awarded the 2007 ConocoPhillips Performance of the Meet for his gold-medal swim in the 200m back, in addition to the Men’s Kiphuth High Point Award.
In the men’s team standings, Club Wolverine totaled 510 points to finish the meet as the first-place team. Longhorn Aquatics finished second with 356 points and Trojan Swim Club finished third with 147 points.
Tucson Ford Dealers scored 242 points to finish as the women’s first-place team. Club Wolverine finished second with 184 points and Trojan Swim Club finished third with 169 points.
In the combined team scores, Club Wolverine was again the top team with 694 points. Longhorn Aquatics followed with 516 points, while Trojan Swim Club completed the top three team standings with 316 points.