Pan Pacific Championships, Irvine, California, day 2 finals:
Women's 400m Individual Medley
Samantha Hamill (AUS) was out first in 1:02.58 on 'fly, on a day when her Olympic champion teammate Stephanie Rice announced that she would return home for shoulder surgery and miss the Commonwealth Games. By the end of backstroke, Elizabeth Beisel, a 4:34.04 championship record under her belt in morning heats, had taken a slight edge on 2:12.22, pulled away on breaststroke and built up a strong lead that was never going to be whittled away, even though teammate Caitlin Leverenz came back into contention on breaststroke from a long way back and will need to make strong gains on the first half of the race if she is ever to be a contender for gold.
Beisel took her first major international crown in 4:34.69 and expressed disappointment that she was not faster than she had been this morning. She noted too the toughness of the task Americans often face: two trials within a matter of three weeks.
Hamill hung on for silver in 4:37.84, with Leverenz taking bronze in 4:38.03. Those times compared to the world-leading 4:33.09 clocked by Britain's Hannah Miley for the European crown last week in Budapest.
Trans-Atlantic splits:
- Miley 2010: 1:03.50; 2:13.05; 3:30.42; 4:33.09
- Hosszu 2010: 1:01.97; 2:11.69; 3:32.21; 4:36.43
- Rice 2008: 1:01.47; 2:09.83; 3:27.25; 4:29.45
- Beisel: 1:03.82; 2:12.22; 3:30.86; 4:34.69
Trans-Atlantic medals:
- Pan Pacs: 4:34.67; 4:37.84; 4:38.03
- Euro 1-3: 4:33.09; 4:36.43; 4:37.92
Records
Shiny suit era
- WR: Stephanie Rice (AUS) 4:29.45
- ER: Katinka Hosszu (HUN) 4:30.31
February 1 2008
- WR: Katie Hoff (USA) 4:32.89 Mar 2007
- ER: Yana Klochkova (UKR) 4:33.59 Sept 2000
