Sandeno Wins 3 Golds

INDIANAPOLIS - Doing their best to shake off the cobwebs left from Athens, about half of the world's top swimmers came to Indiana to swim in a temporary pool. They came to the heartland of US basketball, but shifted away the attention of the Hoosier crowd from basketball just long enough to show them how cool swimming can be.

Men's 200 Free Final
Michael Phelps made his World Champs debut tonight; need I say more? He won. He broke the US Record. The crowd went nuts. He's a stud. His time: 1:43.59. In second spot was Rick Say (CAN) who looked strong enough to stay with Phelps for the first 125, but just couldn't stick with him on the turns. Phelps pulled away on the last 50 and Ryan Lochte (USA) looked like he might catch Say, but was unable to get there. Say finished just off his best with a 1:44.39 to Lochte's 1:44.97. "I wanted to go out there the first 100," said Phelps. "I knew Rick was going to go out. I saw him go out this morning. I wanted to try to stay with him or have a good feeling of the raced the first 100. There are a few things I could have changed in that race, but for right now, I'll take a 1:43."

Rick Say summed up what most of Phelps' competitors have resigned themselves to these days. "To race against Michael Phelps, of course I am going to get second. He is the best in the world, so I am happy. All of us are pretty much coming off the Olympic Games and everyone wants to do well."

Of note is the fact that prior to the meet Phelps remarked on his poor turns, yet he was clearly superior then the rest of the field. "I'm really more of a long course swimmer," he said. "Short course requires more turns, which is not my forte." I guess when you have six Olympic gold medals even your weaknesses are better than everyone else's strengths.

Women's 50 Breast Semi-Final
Jade Edmistone (AUS), who broke the world record in this event at the Aussie SC Champs in September, was a full stroke ahead of the field, qualifying for tomorrow night's final with a 30.01, just off her world record of 29.96. "I love the pool," said Jade. "It's great. The water feels better, and I hope to give the Americans the chance to really experience it all over the next few days." In second spot is Tara Kirk (USA) with a 30.61 followed by Olympic medallist Brooke Hansen (AUS) in 30.67. Lisa Blackburn (CAN) qualified for the final in 7th spot.

Men's 100 Back Semi-Final
World record holder Peter Marshall (USA) led out his semi until the 75, executing his turns perfectly. But perhaps not, because he just seemed to run out of gas on the last turn, coming up behind a fast finishing Aaron Peirsol (USA) who touched first in 51.92. Matt Welsh (AUS) also caught Marshall with his 52.00 to Marshall's 52.24. "It's a lot easier than long course, a lot faster," said an unshaved Peirsol. "This week I want to have fun, meet a lot of kids. I know a lot of kids and fans came out to see the US team swim and I want them to enjoy their experience more than anything."

In the second semi it was all Thomas Rupprath (GER). He was under world record pace at the 50, but fell off slightly to finish in a 51.39. Two swimmers tied for 8th spot with 53.46, with Ryan Pini (PNG) going much faster to qualify with a 52.80.

Women's 200 Fly Final
Despite taking it out hard and fast, Mary Descenza (USA) become yet another victim of Kaitlin Sandeno's (USA) famous finish. With about 120 metres to go, Sandeno took a long look at Descenza and turned on the jets. On the final turn it was over and Sandeno finished in 2:06.95 to Descenza's 2:07.79. Audrey Lacroix (CAN) finished in third spot with a 2:08.35, despite the fact that her best time from last month would have won the race. "One down, two to go," said Sandeno. It felt good. I think I'm just swimming off adrenaline and heart. The pool and atmosphere are great. You walk onto the floor and you feel like you should be shooting some hoops. It's a lot of fun being in front of the home crowd."

Men's 100 Breast Semi-Final
Brendan Hansen (USA) looked great and was very happy with his 58.46. Mikhail Alexandrov (BUL) heads in second with a 59.57 and in third Eduardo Fischer (BRA) with a 59.66. Another tie for 8th spot led to the night's second swim off. The Scandinavian battle between Swedan's Martin Gustavsson and Norway's Aleksander Hetland ended in victory for Norway's Hetland in 1:00.25.

Women's 100 Back Semi-Final
Despite the injury withdrawal of Natalie Coughlin (USA) last week, it is still the American girls who head into tomorrow's final in 1st and 2nd spot. Haley Cope (USA) leads the duo with a 59.81 to Margaret Hoelzer's 59.95. Sophie Eddington (AUS) sits in third with a 1:00.10 to Erin Gammel's (CAN) 1:00.13. Regarding her competition, Cope pointed to her teammate as one to watch. "Obviously I have to tip my hat to Margaret. Her time is usually about 0.8 seconds faster than mine. She's awesome and probably the one I worry about the most, in a good way, to make me better."

Men's 100 Fly Semi-Final
Ian Crocker (USA) made it look easy, winning semi number two and qualifying in first with a 50.61. Winning semi one was James Hickman (GBR) with a 51.69. Evgeny Korotyshkin (RUS) sits in third with a 51.72 while two men: Peter Mankoc (SLO) and Kaio Almeida (BRA) are tied for 4th at 52.18. "I am happy with what happened tonight," said Ian. "I dropped some time. It's one of those hit or miss meets for all of the athletes that are here after the Olympic, and I think we're all just trying to have fun with it."

Women's 400 IM Final
In less than an hour Kaitlin Sandeno earned the two hardest World Titles: the 200 fly and 400 IM. Her win in the 400 was decisive as she led teammate Katie Hoff (USA) from start to finish. Her time of 4:30.12 was a new American record, ahead of Hoff's 4:33.09 and Lara Carroll's (AUS) 4:35.46. Her time was just off the world record held by Yana Klochkova (UKR) who won this event in Athens, but is not here. Perhaps if she didn't have the 200 fly today as well we might have seen record. On the other hand, it looks like Sandeno gets better as she goes.

Men's 4x100 Free Relay Final
It took 4 American men gunning for gold and under world record pace to finally get the crowd into the meet, but when they did it was loud and for a moment, very exciting. Americans Nick Brunelli, Neil Walker, Nate Dusing, and Jason Lezak combined for a 3:09.96, ahead of the Brazilians who came in for the silver and the Canadians who touched out Sweden for the bronze. The US team was just off the world record of 3:09.57. The Spanish team finished in 8th spot, but was the crowd favourite as they marched out in Indian Pacers' jerseys.

Women's 4x200 Free Relay Final
Kaitlin Sandeno made it three for three gold medals tonight, anchoring the US relay as they finished just off the World record in 7:47.72. Dana Vollmer, Rachel Komisarz, and Lindsay Benko joined Sandeno for the victory.

A local children's choir was on hand to sing each winner's national anthem. They learned over 30 songs to prepare for this week, but tonight all they had to do was sing one as the Americans dominated all five races.