Hungarian world champion in the 400m medley last year, Katinka Hosszu, coached by Dave Salo in California, cracked out a 4:34.68 (earlier reports and the official report of the meet had the time 0.38sec faster initially but the official results state otherwise) victory in the long medley to climb to second on the 2010 world rankings at the Los Angeles Grand Prix. That effort also put some serious blue water between herself and Americans Ariana Kukors (Auburn, Wash.), world 200m medley champ, on 4:39.55, and Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.), on 4:40.73.
The 400m rankings is still led at 4:34.59 by China's Li Xuanxu, 16, with Hosszu now next before Olympic champion Stephanie Rice on 4:35.04 and Brit European short-course champ Hannah Miley on 4:32.29. Hosszu's previous best this season had been 4:36.93, for 5th just behind Mireia Belmonte (ESP). The pressure mounts: Hungary hosts the European Championships in Budapest early next month.
Light at the end of a long tunnel for fighter Kate Ziegler (Fairfax, Va.): the 2007 world champion who suffered disappointment at the 2008 Olympic Games, set her second meet record in the 800m free (8:31 prelims), with an 8:25.89 victory.
Closest to her was Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) on 8:30.50, with third going to Chelsea Chenault, on 8:38.03. Ziegler's time places her at 6th in the world so far this year, the leader of the shoal Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington (GBR), on 8:21.25. It is the fastest performance from Ziegler since she clocked 8:25.38 at US Olympic trials in 2008. She won the 2007 world title in 8:18.52.
"Going into that race, I didn’t know what to expect," said Ziegler. "I was hoping after last night to go under 8:30, and I felt pretty strong for mid-season and just very happy with that race. I’ve been struggling with my times for a while, and I feel like that was a big confidence booster heading into Nationals. Based off that swim, I’m just going to go back and train hard and hopefully have another great swim at Nationals."
Elswehere, Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.) had a great swim in the 100m free, his 48.71 lifting him from 10th to 6th in the world this year, and that in a race in which he was, relatively speaking, unapposed: Israel’s Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or was second in 50.10, Lars Persson third in 50.28. Jason Lezak, he of the LZR-fired best relay split in history, finished 9th overall but won the B final in 50.03.
The women's two-lap free sprint went to Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor, Mich.) in 54.69 to 54.84 for Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.), with Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) third in 54.93.
Among winning visitors was Canadian Ryan Cochrane, victorious in the 400m free in 3:50.78 ahead of Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.), 3:52.05, and Charlie Houchin (Raleigh, N.C.), 3:52.53. Chinese visitors enjoyed a run on the medals: Jiao Liuyang took the women’s 200m 'fly in 2:08.40 just 0.04sec ahead of Lyndsay DePaul (Orange, Calif.) with Tanya Krisman a stroke back on 2:09.00; Yin Chen, on 1:55.67 at nationals in April this year, took the 200m 'fly in 1:56.92 ahead of Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.), 1:57.85, and Bobby Bollier (Mission Hills, Kan.), 1:58.28; Austria's Markus Rogan clocked 1:59.46 to win the 200m back 0.09sec ahead of David Russell (Wellesley, Mass.), with Cory Chitwood third in 2:01.39.
The meet threw up a new name for international observers to contemplate: 15-year-old Madison White, of Crown Canyon, kept Katie Hoff at bay in the 200m back, 2:12.15 to 2:12.79, with Bonnie Brandon third in 2:13.96.
