LONG BEACH, Calif. – U.S. National Teamer Mary DeScenza (Naperville, Ill.) broke the 200yd fly American record Saturday on the second day of finals at the Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming. DeScenza swam a 1:51.28 at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif., breaking the short course record by more than five tenths. The previous record of 1:51.91 was set in 2002 by Olympic gold medalist Natalie Coughlin.
“I didn’t want anyone to know but I had planned to break the record tonight,” DeScenza said after her swim. “I told my coach on Tuesday and we worked together to make it happen. I struggled with jet lag a little yesterday but I felt good tonight and was really happy with my swim.”
DeScenza was two for two in her events Saturday, winning the 200yd back in addition to her record-setting swim in the 200yd fly. Her time of 1:51.85 in the back also broke a meet record. DeScenza is the current point leader in the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series, which awards the Series winner with a $20,000 prize.
“I was second to Michael Phelps last year,” DeScenza said. “I’m trying to get a little bit of a lead this year.”
Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) also had a strong night Saturday, setting a meet record in the 200y back in 1:39.01. Olympic silver medalist Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) was second in 1:40.42 and Adam Ritter (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) was third in 1:44.41.
Tunisian Olympic gold medalist Ous Mellouli won the Men’s 500y Free in 4:17.92. Switzerland’s Dominik Meichtry was second in 4:26.41 and Jon Daniec (Mission Viejo, Calif.) was third in 4:28.07. Olympian Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) won the Women’s 500yd Free with a personal-best time of 4:41.69. Great Britain’s Jazz Carlin touched the wall second in 4:43.90 while Lyndsay DePaul (Orange, Calif.) placed third in 4:45.93. Both Mellouli and Sutton earned their second gold medals of the meet with their wins in the 500yd free.
Olympic silver medalist Lacey Nymeyer (Tucson, Ariz.) was first in the Women’s 100yd free, winning the event in 48.73. Andi Murez (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Roxanne Akradi (Eagan, Minn.) finished second and third, respectively, in 50.22 and 50.59. Grevers took home the top spot in the men’s 100yd free with a time of 42.24. William Copeland (Lexington, Va.) was second in 42.89 and Ritter was third in 43.27.
In other races, Akradi placed second in the Women’s 200yd back in 1:57.73 and Cindy Tran (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was third with a time of 1:59.07. In the 200yd fly, DePaul finished second behind DeScenza in 1:56.51. Noelle Tarazona (Claremont, Calif.) was third in 1:57.09. Trojan Swim Club’s Hidemasa Sano (Japan) won the Men’s 200yd Fly with a time of 1:41.88. Tom Shields (Huntington Beach, Calif.) placed second in 1:46.14 and Jeff Dash (Tucson, Ariz.) rounded out the top three with a time of 1:46.96.
The Southern California Grand Prix of Swimming presented by Vintage Design Incorporated continues Sunday with ten events. The competition will include prelims and finals in the Men’s and Women’s 200yd Free, 200yd ***, 50yd Free, and 400yd IM. The finals session will also feature the 800yd Free Relay. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. and finals start at 5 p.m. Race footage from the meet will be broadcast LIVE throughout the weekend on
http://www.swimnetwork.com
Are you going to swim in this meet?
2009 USA Swimming Austin Grand Prix
March 5-7, 2009
Prelims: SCY; Finals: LCM
The University of Texas at Austin
LONGHORN AQUATICS
This meet mentions this rule for NCAA Athletes:
NCAA Uniform Interpretation: All NCAA athletes must abide by the NCAA Uniform Interpretation effective December 18, 2008:
"The uniform is defined as one swimsuit or garment. No other suit, garment or material is permitted to be worn attached or supplemented under, over, or as part of the uniform. This includes tanks or briefs worn under the suit or drag suits worn over the suit."
Austin Grand Prix Meet Information
Grand Prix Time Standards
I'm thinking about entering the following events:
Thursday, March 5
# 05 100 Butterfly 54.99 1:03.99
# 08 200 IM 2:02.09 2:20.99
#10 50 Freestyle 23.09 26.29
Friday, March 6
#18 100 Backstroke 57.99 1:05.89
Saturday, March 7
# 24 200 Backstroke 2:05.09 2:22.59
# 26 100 Freestyle 49.19 56.99
Ande,
I say enter everything you can, then decide if you really want to swim them later! Give yourself every option. Lucky you not to have to travel, and getting sleep in your own beddy-by every night.
Do you think this meet will pull most of the Austin area swimmers, as well as those that don't make sectional cuts? It is really odd to have both meets the same weekend.
Are you going to swim in this meet?
2009 USA Swimming Austin Grand Prix
March 5-7, 2009
Prelims: SCY; Finals: LCM
The University of Texas at Austin
LONGHORN AQUATICS
Ande,
I am sooo tempted and sooo want to go to this, but it doesn't work very well with my work schedule. The long shot is that I come for Thursday to do the 500 free, then swim the 400 IM on Friday morning.
Question on qualifying times (likely for the future): are times done in Masters' meets sufficient? What kind of proof is needed?
hey pat,
do it
to swim in a USS meet
you have to be registered with http://www.usaswimming.org
sign up for the team where your kids swim
your times need to be in the USS Data Base
www.usaswimming.org/.../DesktopDefault.aspxwww.usaswimming.org/.../DesktopDefault.aspx
there's a form you can fill out at USMS meets to get them to submit your times into the USASwimming DataBase
so my times from 2008 masters nats are in there but
I forgot to fill out the form for my SCM times
Ande,
I am sooo tempted and sooo want to go to this, but it doesn't work very well with my work schedule. The long shot is that I come for Thursday to do the 500 free, then swim the 400 IM on Friday morning.
Question on qualifying times (likely for the future): are times done in Masters' meets sufficient?
What kind of proof is needed?
there's a form you can fill out at USMS meets to get them to submit your times into the USASwimming DataBase
If I recall correctly, I believe this form has to be filled out BEFORE the swim, so it can be observed (by the S&T judges) to be legal according to USA-S rules. Don't wait until after the fact.
think it's any USMS meet
ande
So, I could fill this form out before Zones and get my times submitted to the USA SWIMS Database. Or, you can only do this for USMS Nationals.
Go towww.usaswimming.orgClick on Applications and FormsClick on Observed MeetsRead carefullyGive the meet people plenty of advance time to help you with this. Make sure you have a good answer why your swims should be observed, vs. getting your SWIMS times the traditional way (ie, be able to answer why, if there are plenty of local USA meets, should your times from a masters meet count?)
