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Phelps Wins at U.S. Open

Nov 30, 2001

The American's had a solid showing on the first night of the U.S. Open at the Nassau County Aquatic Center, with U.S. swimmers taking first place in five of the 10 events Thursday.

Michael Phelps, the world record holder in the 200m fly, kicked it all off with a win in the 200m IM. Phelps time of 1:59.07 was good enough to hold off a charge in the breaststroke from second place finisher George Bovell.

"I thought after the breast it would be a little tight, because that's where everyone seems to catch me," Phelps said. "But I didn't expect it to be that close. My kick's pretty good, and once I lay my six-beat kick down in the freestyle, things go the way I want them to.

"I would have like to be a little faster, but for right now, that was pretty good."

Winning the men's 400m free was Robert Margalis, who took an early lead and held off Olympic silver medalist Chris Thompson in the final 100 meters of the race. Margalis finished with a time of 3:49.27.

"I'm typically able to have a pretty good last 100," Margalis said. "That wasn't as fast as I planned, but I wasn't worried. "I swam better than this morning. The time was a little slow, and I would have liked to be a little faster, but I can't complain with a win, though."

American swimmers paced the field in both the men's and women's 100m breast. First, Olympic gold medalist Megan Quann held off Australia's Brooke Hanson and Japan's Masami Tanaka to take gold with a time of 1:07.40. Then, Ed Moses turned in a decisive win over the field in 1:00.26.

"I thought it was a really good race with a lot of competition," Quann said. "The U.S., Australia and Japan are all powerhouses, and all three were here tonight. It was definitely a fun race."

Moses was also pleased with his performance.

"Not bad," he said. "I went about the same as last night (at the FINA World Cup), and I had another hard workout this morning, so I'm pretty happy. It shows I'm swimming pretty consistent right now."

Christina Swindle won the 50m free in a time of 25.08. Swindle, who broke the national high school record in the 50y free last week was gunning for the meet record Thursday night but came up a little short.

"I've beaten both girls before, so I didn't feel like I had too much pressure tonight," Swindle said. "I was actually hoping to go under 25 tonight, and maybe get the meet record. Maybe next year."

In other highlights, Slovenia's Alenka Kejzar, a swimmer at SMU, was the only double event winner of the evening, taking first in the women's 200m IM (2:13.10, a meet record) and the 200m back (2:09.01). Hong Zhe Sun, who now swims in Hawaii and will reportedly be applying for American citizenship, won the men's 200m back with a time of 1:57.74.

The SMU women's 800m free relay team of Lotta Wanberg, Flavi Rigamonti, McCall Dorr and Lisa Wanberg set a meet record with a time of 8:06.04.

WOMEN'S 200M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
1.  Alenka Kejzar  Dallas  Texas  2:13.10 
2.  Brooke Hanson  Victoria (AUS)  2:14.37 
3.  Anu Kovisto  Dallas  Texas  2:14.74.

MEN'S 200M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY 
1.  Michael Phelps  Baltimore  Md.  1:59.07 
2.  George Bovell  Jacksonville  Fla.  2:00.02 
3.  Honza Vitazka  Columbus  Ohio  2:00.08.

WOMEN'S 400M FREESTYLE 
1.  Janelle Atkinson  Jacksonville  Fla.  4:05.39 
2.  Lindsay Benko  Elkhart  Ind.  4:08.85 
3.  Lotta Wanberg  Dallas  Texas  4:09.46.

MEN'S 400M FREESTYLE 
1.  Robert Margalis  St. Petersburg  Fla.  3:49.27 
2.  Chris Thompson  Ann Arbor  Mich.  3:49.76 
4.  Peter Vanderkaay  Oakland  Calif.  3:52.70.

WOMEN'S 100M BREASTSTROKE 
1.  Megan Quann  Puyallup  Wash.  1:07.40 
2.  Brooke Hanson  Victoria (AUS)  1:07.71 
3.  Masami Tanaka  Irvine  Calif.  1:07.98.

MEN'S 100M BREASTSTROKE 
1.  Ed Moses  Burke  Va. 1:00.26 
2.  Garth Fealey  Princeton  1:01.61 
3.  Vlad Polyakov  Coral Springs  Fla.  1:01.87.

WOMEN'S 200M BACKSTROKE 
1.  Alenka Kejzar  Dallas  Texas  2:09.01 
2.  Tay Zimmer  Victoria (AUS)  2:09.95 
3.  Anu Kovivisto  Dallas  Texas  2:10.31.

MEN'S 200M BACKSTROKE
1.  Hong Zhe Sun  Iolani  Hawaii 1:57.74 
2.  Keith Beavers  Ontario  Canada 1:57.79 
3.  Michael Phelps  Baltimore  Md.  1:58.35.

WOMEN'S 50M FREESTYLE
1.  Christina Swindle  Miami  Fla.  25.08 
2.  Amanda Weir  Atlanta  Ga.  25.19 
3.  Laura Pomeroy  Canada  25.32.

MEN'S 50M FREESTYLE
1.  Julio Santos  Phoenix  Ariz.  22.42 
2.  Donald Gold  Bloomington  Ind. 22.62 
3.  Austin Thomas  Phoenix  Ariz.  22.65.