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By David Rieder
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, May 15. THE third day of long course meter finals at the USA Swimming Grand Prix in Charlotte featured stellar races across the board. Two meet records fell (Elizabeth Pelton in the women's 100 back and Rebecca Soni in the women's 200 breast). In addition, Eric Shanteau and Peter Vanderkaay posted blazing swims in the men's 200 breast and men's 400 free, respectively, while Josh Schneider (50 free) and Nick Thoman (100 back) beat fast fields to win their respective events.
Women's 200 Fly
A.S.K.'s Dagny Knutson claimed her second win of the meet, taking the race out ahead of a strong field and hanging on for the win. Knutson touched in a top time of 2:10.97, more than three seconds ahead of the field. Meanwhile, Bluefish's Elizabeth Beisel used a strong final 50 to touch out North Baltimore's Felicia Lee by just eight one-hundredths of a second, 2:14.28 to 2:14.36.
Men's 200 Fly
Club Wolverine's Wu Peng, the Chinese silver medalist at the 2007 world championships, led from start to finish in his best event. Wu clocked a time of 1:56.92 moving to 11th in the world just behind Great Britain's Michael Rock and South Africa's Chad Le Clos. The pair has 1:56.86 swims to their credit from 2009. Meanwhile, Wu's teammate Dan Madwed was the only other sub-2:00 swimmer, claiming second in 1:59.87. North Baltimore's Todd Patrick took second with a 2:01.37. Gator's Sebastien Rousseau, a South African who finaled in this event at the world championships, posted a time of 2:02.86 for fourth.
Women's 50 Free
Puerto Rico's Vanessa Garcia upstaged American Olympian Amanda Weir in the shortest race on the women's program. Garcia clocked a time of 25.38, tying her with Inge Dekker for 20th in the world. Eagle Swim Team's Anne Marie Botek also cleared Weir to claim second at 25.54, while SwimAtlanta's Weir finished third in 25.59.
Men's 50 Free
Josh Schneider of Cincinnati and SwimMAC touched out a deep and close field to take the men's splash-and-dash. Similar to what he did at the NCAA championships in March, Schneider stormed home for the win. He beat SwimMAC teammate Cullen Jones by just two one-hundredths, 22.38 to 22.40. The swim moves Schneider into a tie with Eamon Sullivan for 17th in the world, while Jones is ranked 20th. Meanwhile, Auburn's George Bovell claimed third in 22.61. The entire field was separated by less than a second, as Auburn's Gideon Louw (22.76), SwimMAC's Nick Brunelli (22.91), Auburn's Tyler McGill (23.12), Auburn's Bryan Lundquist (23.22), and Sabir Muhammad (23.25) rounded out the top eight.
Women's 100 Back
North Baltimore's Elizabeth Pelton held off two-time Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin for the win clocking a meet record time of 1:00.64, to Coughlin's 1:00.77. These swims move the pair of swimmers to 11th and 13th in the world, respectively. Colorado Stars' Missy Franklin and Georgia's Aleksandr Putra tied for third place with matching 1:01.83s.
Men's 100 Back
In the most anticipate final of the meet thus far, SwimMAC's Nick Thoman delivered for the home crowd and recorded a 53.70 for the win, improving on his seventh place in the world rankings. At the turn, Michael Phelps stood second, but Thoman held him off for the win. Phelps, representing North Baltimore, recorded a time of 53.92 as he settled for second, to sit eighth in the world for 2010. Tucson Ford's Matt Grevers and Minnesota's David Plummer both posted times of 54.50 to tie for third, ahead of world record-holder Aaron Peirsol, who was fifth in 54.68. Plummer's time ties him with Italy's Mirco di Tora for 15th in the world, while Grevers and Peirsol previously recorded faster swims at the Austin Grand Prix.
Women's 200 Breast
Olympic champion Rebecca Soni completed her breaststroke sweep, recording a top time of 2:22.31. The performance improved upon her top-ranked time in the world from the 2:22.91 she posted at the Austin Grand Prix. In addition, she took down the decade-old meet record of 2:25.84 set by Kirsty Kowal. SwimMAC's Justine Mueller finished six seconds adrift by clocking 2:28.77 for second, while Nittany Lions' Corrie Clark took third in 2:33.10.
Men's 200 Breast
After a suffering a touch-out loss in the shorter distance yesterday, Eric Shanteau rebounded to take the 200 breast with a blistering time of 2:10.59. That swim moved him past Igor Borysik to fourth in the world. Only Ryo Tateishi, Brenton Rickard, and Yuta Suenaga have been faster. Shanteau's closest competition finished 5.5 seconds back, as Club Seminole's Robert Holderness (2:16.03) took second, while Auburn's Mark Gangloff, who took the race out fast, held on for third in 2:16.73, just ahead of his teammate Adam Klein (2:17.00).
Women's 400 Free
Mission Viejo's Chloe Sutton added to her winning points total for the overall Grand Prix series, as she held off two other teenagers to win the 400 free. Sutton posted a top time of 4:08.29, about half a second off Katie Hoff's meet record of 4:07.83. Sutton has a 4:07.41 to her credit from the Austin Grand Prix, which ranks ninth in the world. She finished about a second and a half ahead of A.S.K.'s Dagny Knutson, who checked in at 4:09.61 – the 15th best performance in the world this year. Fort Lauderdale's Lauren Driscoll claimed third in 4:11.17.
Men's 400 Free
Club Wolverine's Peter Vanderkaay posted another dominating win in Charlotte, clocking a time of 3:48.94 to move to 11th in the world just behind Cesare Sciocchetti's 3:48.93. He finished just off his meet record 3:46.04 set last year. Meanwhile, Daytona Beach's Ryan Lochte held off Longhorn's Ricky Berens for second, 3:55.50 to 3:55.69.
400 Medley Relays
Swim Ontario's squad of Brittany MacLean, Tera Van Belien, Chantique Payne, and Jacqueline Keire posted a 4:14.51 for victory in the women's medley relay, while SwimMAC's team of Nick Thoman, Nelson Wesby, Russell Payne, and Joe Skuba won the men's equivalent in 3:47.17.
