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MISSION VIEJO, California, June 21. THE final night featured the finest swim of the TYR Swim Meet of Champions as New Zealand's Natalie Wiegersma made a serious mark in Mission with a meet record. This one just happened to be one that stood 30 years since the legendary Tracy Caulkins first set it in 1979 while representing Nashville.
Wiegersma clocked a time of 2:14.16 to clip Caulkins' 1979 effort of 2:14.18. North Coast's Jessie Schmitt placed second in 2:18.07, while Claremont's Noelle Tarazona finished third in 2:21.01.
With The Fish's Kate Ziegler posted the time to beat in earlier heats with a 16:40.19 in the women's 1500 free, Mission Viejo's Chloe Sutton knew exactly what she needed to do to complete a special meet at her home pool. Sutton did more than enough to pocket her fourth gold medal of the meet with a personal-best time of 16:24.51. Ziegler's effort withstood a charge from Trojan's Whitney Sprague, who finished third in 16:40.69 out of the final heat.
North Coast's Kendyl Stewart, 14, knocked off some strong competition with a winning effort of 1:00.09 in the women's 100 fly. She downed Canada's MacKenzie Downing (1:01.15) by a second. Stewart's North Coast teammate Tanya Krisman placed third in 1:01.96.
New Zealand's Andy McMillan must have been riding the adrenaline rush from the Haka War Chant he and his compatriots performed for the crowd prior to the beginning of the final night. McMillan touched in 54.51 for the men's 100 fly triumph. Mission Viejo's Tom Shields raced to second in 55.09, while Palo Alto's Peter Davis finished third in 55.27.
Trojan's Dina Hegazy cruised in the women's 100 back to a winning effort of 1:03.24. West Coast's Cindy Tran snatched second-place honors in 1:03.98, while Aquazots' Melanie Klaren earned third in 1:04.20.
California posted a 1-2 finish in the men's 100 back with David Russell claiming the top of the podium in 55.12. Teammate Guy Barnea captured second in 55.98, while Trojan's Peter Marshall touched third in 56.91.
Rebecca Soni usually has open-water victories in breaststroke events, but her Trojan Swim Club teammate Keri Hehn gave her a bit of a run in the women's 100 breast finale. Soni topped the heat in 1:08.36, while Hehn placed second in 1:09.11. Waves' Melissa Bates completed the top three in 1:11.68.
California's Damir Dugonjic turned in a dominant conquest of the men's 100 breast with a winning time of 1:01.85. The performance just missed the meet record of 1:01.66 set by Japan's Genki Imamura back in 2005. Simon Fraser's Sean Nugent snared second in 1:03.17, while Terrapin Sean Mahoney picked up third in 1:03.34.
Following Wiegersma's epic swim, California's Martti Aljand and Martin Liivamagi went 1-2 in the men's 200 IM. Aljand won in 2:04.42, while Liivamagi finished second in 2:08.22. New Zealand's John Gatfield claimed third in 2:08.25.
Mission Viejo swept the top four spots in the men's 800 free with Kane Radford of New Zealand winning in 8:16.45. Deni Cullom finished second in 8:17.00, while Charlie Rimkus (8:20.43) and Jon Daniec (8:22.87) took third and fourth.
In relay action, North Coast's Nicole Parmenter, Schmitt, Allie Tomkinson and Katie Tomkinson won the women's 400 medley relay in 4:26.81. New Zealand's Gatfield, Steven Kent, McMillan and Adam McDonald snatched the men's 400 medley relay in 3:52.60.
Highpoint award titles went to Sutton with 96 points among the women, while Cullom won with 70 points for the men.
Results: TYR Swim Meet of Champions – (06-18-2009 – 06-21-2009)
