The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hansen and Peirsol earn top qualifying spots on day five of FINA World Championships
07.29.2005 | Men's Swimming and Diving
MONTREAL -- The crowd was treated to a rare match-up Thursday night at the XI FINA World Championships, as the top three finishers in the final of the men's 200m IM became the three fastest swimmers of all time in that event.
Michael Phelps won the four-stroke race with a time of 1:56.68, followed by Hungary's Laszlo Cseh in 1:57.61 and American teammate Ryan Lochte in 1:57.79. The three are the only swimmers to ever break 1:58, with Phelps still holding nine of the top 10 performances of all time.
"Coming into tonight, I knew it was going to be a great race," Phelps said. "In the 400, Laszlo put up a 4:10.1 earlier in the year, and so you expect him to put up a good time in (the 200). I knew Ryan was going to be fast coming off his short course season, and he's improved a lot since Athens, so I just wanted to go out there and relax a bit and go out there and do what I had to do."
Lochte swam in the semifinals of the 200m back just before the IM.
"It was a hard double," Lochte said. "But it was a great challenge, and I love swimming against (Phelps). I was a great day for me."
The Americans' showing in the 200m IM wasn't the only story for Team USA on Day 5. The women's 800m free relay - Natalie Coughlin, Katie Hoff, Whitney Myers and Kaitlin Sandeno - also took gold, bringing the United States' medal count to 17 - eight gold, five silver and four bronze.
The relay's time of 7:53.70 was just 28-hundredths off the world record set by Team USA at last summer's Olympic Games in Athens and was a World Championships record. The USA trailed second-place Australia by as much as 1.76 seconds at the end of the first leg, but chiseled away at their rivals over the remaining 600 meters before Sandeno finally took the lead in the last 50 meters.
Australia finished in 7:54.06, while China was third in 7:57.29.
"We weren't nervous," Hoff said. "That's how we swam in the Olympic Games. I knew Natalie swam really well. I wasn't too nervous. I just put blinders on and went. It worked out for me.''
It worked out for Sandeno, too, who swam the third fastest relay split in history.
"I just didn't want to let the girls down," she said.
Meanwhile, Myers was just excited about the opportunity to swim tonight.
"I couldn't have asked for a better swim," Myers said, "or a better group to do it with. I really loved my experience."
In the other medal events Thursday, Phelps finished 7th in the 100m free with a time of 48.99, while teammate Jason Lezak was fourth in 48.74. Italy's Filippo Magnini won the event in a World Championships record of 48.12, followed by South Africans Roland Schoeman and Ryk Neethling in 48.28 and 48.34, respectively.
American Mary DeScenza finished 6th in the 200m butterfly, turning in a time of 2:10.44. Poland's Otylia Jedrzejczak set the world record in 2:05.61, while Australia's Jessicah Schipper was second in 2:05.65 and Japan's Yuko Nakanishi was third in 2:09.40.
No American women swam in the finals of the 50m back, won by Australia's Giaan Rooney in 28.63. Gao Chang of China was second in 28.69, and Antje Buschschulte was third in 28.72.
In semifinal action Thursday, the first semifinals of the evening, Amanda Weir and Natalie Coughlin qualified third and fourth, respectively, for tomorrow night's finals of the 100m free, turning in times of 54.61 and 54.65 respectively.
"It felt good," Coughlin said. "I was just trying to make it into the top 8. I tend to go out really fast and try to hold on, and for this one, I just tried to let myself go fast, but not force it, and then make myself come home. That was my strategy, and I think it worked."
Former Longhorn Brendan Hansen claimed the No.1 qualifying spot in the 200m breast in 2:10.23, while teammate Scott Usher was ninth in 2:13.03. Usher missed tomorrow night's finals by 53-hundredths.
"I will be close to my record tomorrow night," Hansen said. "That race felt really good. I took control in the first 100 meters and fed off the crowd.
"It was nice to be swimming next to (Canada's) Mike Brown, because I knew the crowd was screaming for him, but I took some of the energy like it was for me. It was fun swimming tonight, and tomorrow looks to be even better."
Another former Texas great Aaron Peirsolis seeded first heading into the finals of the 200m back with a time of 1:56.60. Lochte was fourth in 1:58.17.
"Overall, it was pretty much where I wanted to go tonight," Peirsol said. "My 100 (back) was pretty good, so I have a good shot tomorrow. I don't want to race anybody in particular. I just want to race. I'm not scared of anybody."
In the women's 100m breast, both Tara Kirk and Kristen Caverly advanced to the finals, finishing fourth (2:27.31) and eighth (2:28.82), respectively.
"I wasn't expecting to be that fast," Kirk said. "I had a very difficult preparation, training at home, training in a different city and getting my workouts in different places every day, so it was kind of a puzzle I tried to put together.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow. The gold medal will probably go to Leisel Jones, and everybody else will be fighting for bronze and silver."
