Pan Pacific Championships, Irvine, California, day 3 finals:
Men's 200m Backstroke
Ryan Lochte sped to his fourth gold medal of the meet with a 1:54.12 championship-victory on the way to which he killed off contenders with walls that took him 12 dolphins to a surface surge fingertip shy of the 15m line.
Once more, he shared the podium with Tyler Clary, on a terrific 1:54.90 for silver, with bronze going to Ryosuke Irie (JPN) on 1:55.21. Only three men had ever gone faster than Clary in a textile suit before, 1:54.32 for Lochte for the world crown in 2007, Aaron Peirsol for the 2006 pan Pac crown on 1:54.44 and Michael Phelps, on 1:54.65 at 2007 nationals.
Context was provided by the champion, who summed up his season thus: "It's going good, just a stepping stone for next year's world championships and then the Olympics. I'm right where I need to be."
The winner's time is a textile world record that we cannot celebrate as the best performance we have ever seen, even though that is what it is, at least in terms of time. He could have been better, quicker, scraping the lane line in the closing metres.
Lochte said: "I felt pretty controlled, tried to hold back on the first 50 ...". Asked about that lane scrape, he said through a smile: "yes, I hit it at the very end. I was trying to stay in the middle but it didn't work."
Aaron Peirsol (USA), locked out in heats, won the consolation final in 1:56.67.
Trans-Atlantic splits:
- Lochte 27.26; 55.76; 1:24.69; 1:54.12
- Clary: 27.53; 56.36; 1:25.68; 1:54.90
- Irie: 27.57; 56.93; 1:26.31; 1:55.21
- Donets: 27.28; 56.98; 1:26.99; 1:57.18
Shiny:
- Peirsol 09: 26.52; 54.90; 1:23.30; 1:51.92
Pre-shiny:
- Lochte 2007: 26.88; 55.67; 1:25.05; 1:54.32
Trans-Atlantic medals:
- Pan Pacs: 1:54.12; 1:54.90; 1:55.21
- Euro 1-3: 1:57.18; 1:57.31; 1:57.37
Records
Shiny suit era
- WR: 1:51.92 Aaron Peirsol (USA) Jul 2009
- ER: 1:54.75 Arkady Vyatchanin (RUS) Jul 2009
February 1 2008
- WR: 1:54.32 Ryan Lochte (USA) Mar 2007
- ER: 1:55.44 Arkady Vyatchanin (RUS) Jul 2006
