Peirsol Sets World Record on Final Day of Nationals

Three-time Olympian Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.) set his second world record of the meet, smashing the mark in the 200m back by nearly a second with a time of 1:53.08. Olympians Cullen Jones (New Brunswick, N.J.), Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.)  and Dara Torres (Parkland, Fla.) all set American records to conclude the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships.

 

“We’ve been going back and forth for a few years now,” Peirsol said of reclaiming the 200m backstroke record from Ryan Lochte. “It’s certainly helped me. This is all just a stepping stone. He’ll get his shot again in a couple weeks.”

Olympian Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) added the 200m back to his event schedule in Rome when he touched second with a time of 1:54.21.

 

Olympian Shanteau closed his event schedule in Indianapolis with an American record swim in the men’s 200m breaststroke. Shanteau lowered the record he set during prelims to 2:08.01. The win was marked with a special moment when cancer-survivor Shanteau was presented his gold medal from Dr. Einhorn, who declared him free of cancer earlier this year. Adam Klein (New Orleans, La.) posted the second-fastest time of 2:10.39.

 

Earlier in the meet, Jones and Garrett Weber-Gale (Milwaukee, Wis.) tied for second place in the 50m free, causing them to re-swim the sprint race head-to-head for an opportunity to compete in the event in Rome. During the swim off, Jones got his hand on the wall first and broke the American record with a time of 21.41.

 

In a time trial event, 42-year-old Dara Torres (Parkland, Fla.) set an American record in the 50m fly, posting a time of 25.50.

 

For the second time this week, Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.) came near a world record, this time her own, in the women’s 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:20.38. Keri Hehn (Fargo, N.D.), who trains with Soni, earned the chance compete on her first World Championship Team at the age of 28 with the silver-medal time of 2:23.70.

 

Olympian Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) added a second individual event to her slate at Worlds when she won the 100m free in 54.00. Right on the heels of Vollmer was Amanda Weir (Lawrenceville, Ga.) who clocked in just .03 seconds later at 54.03. Christine Magnuson (Tinley Park, Ill.), Julia Smit (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.), Kate Dwelley (Brentwood, Calif.) and Caitlin Geary (Jacksonville, Fla.) also earned spots on the Worlds team as members of the women’s 400m free relay.

 

Open water Olympian Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) staked her claim on the women’s 800m free from the first 100 when she took an early lead in the distance race. Sutton continued to increase her lead, and took the gold in a time of 8:29.34. Haley Anderson (Granite Bay, Calif.) earned the silver and a spot on the World Championship team with a time of 8:31.66.

 

In the final event of the meet, Jackson Wilcox (Nashville, Tenn.) and Brennan Morris (Baltimore, Md.) added their names to the U.S. World Championship Team roster, with the top two finishes in the men’s 1500m free in times of 15:11.98 and 15:13.47, respectively.

 

The full U.S. World Championship Team Roster can be found here.

For complete qualifying procedures, click here. To view on-demand footage from Nationals, visit www.swimnetwork.com. For complete results, click here.