Blistering times in blustery times

Swimming World and Junior Swimmer, Feb 2003 by Whitten, Phillip

Though the weather outside was frightful, the swimming around the world at the end of 2002 was simply delightful, especially at of the U.S. Open, European Short Course Championships and the Kerr-McGee Pro-Am Elite Meet.

Cold, wintry weather was the order of the day as 2002 came to an end, with snow drifts in the U.S. rising to heights not seen in two decades and parts of Europe inundated with devastating floods. But though the weather outside was frightful, the swimming around the world was simply delightful.

In December, three international meets-each swum over a different course-were particularly noteworthy: the U.S. Open (long course), the European Short Course Championships (short course meters) and the Kerr-- McGee Pro-Am Elite Meet (short course yards). Here's a roundup of the highlights:

U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS Minneapolis. Minn., Dec.5-7

Four meet records tumbled at the U.S. Open held at the University of Minnesota, as the winner's stand featured an intriguing mix of up-and-comers along with battle-scarred veterans. The women's sprints illustrated the changing of the guard that is taking place in American swimming (see page 24), with Club Wolverine's Kara Lynn Joyce (who set national high school marks in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle events in November) setting a meet record in the 50 and Amanda Weir winning the 100.

Joyce, whose 25.20 for the 50 broke the old meet mark of 25.29 by Dara Torres from 1999, bested veteran Tammie Stone (25.43), as six of the finalists were 17 or younger. Amanda Weir set a NAG record for girls 15-16 with her third-place time of 25.52.

"I wasn't expecting to get the meet record," said Joyce. "I'm still kind of shocked. I dropped a half a second off my time, and I didn't expect that much of a drop, but I'm pretty happy with it."

SwimAtlanta's Weir, 16, won the 100 in 55.60 (55.55p), ahead of 16-year-old Rhi Jeffrey (55.84) and Joyce (55.86).

Fourteen-year-old Jennifer Forster of the Washington Township (Ohio) Sharks won both women's medley races, taking the 200 in 2:17.52 and the 400 in 4:49.87. After the shorter race, where she earned her first national title, Forster said, "It felt great. It didn't hurt until the very end. I just forgot about everything and didn't think about the pain until I touched the wall."

Circle C's Hayley McGregory was a double winner, as were Curl-Burke's Masami Tanaka and Canada's Audrey LaCroix. McGregory, 16, won the two dorsal events, clocking 1:02.47 for the 100 and 2:15.75 for the 200. Tanaka, a Japanese Olympian, won the 100 breast in a swift 1:08.80 and the 200 breast in a meet record 2:26.52. LaCroix won both flys, taking the 200 in 2:12.81 and the 100 in 1:01.19, with Olympic champion Misty Hyman third in 1:01.79 in her comeback debut.

Florida's Sara McLarty won the 400 free in 4:15.24 with Diana Munz fifth. Munz negative-split the 800 to win in 8:39.71.

Tom Malchow, the 2000 Olympic and 2002 Pan Pacific champion, turned in the Open's outstanding swim, setting a meet record 1:55.66 as he won the 200 meter fly by almost eight seconds. His winning time was only 45-hundredths slower than his gold medal swim at Pan Pacs.

"Anytime I have a chance to race the 200 butterfly, I like to go after it," Malchow said. "I'm pretty excited about that time for this early in the season."

Malchow wasn't the only flying flyer in Minneapolis. Canada's Mike Mintenko, 27, set both a U.S. Open and Canadian national record in the 100 meters at 52.44, eighth fastest in the world in '02. U.S. Olympian Tommy Hannan was second in 53.29.

Several other Olympians made their presence felt at the Open. Circle C's Neil Walker won both freestyle sprints, taking the 50 in 22.59 and the 100 in 49.46. Sixteen-year-old Kyle Bubolz of the Waukesha Express was fourth in the 50 in a NAG record 23.15.

Triple 2000 Olympic gold medalist Lenny Krayzelburg, on the comeback trail after two surgeries, came roaring from behind to win the 100 meter back in 55.09, with Walker second in 55.25. The 1996 Olympic champion, 32-year-old Jeff Rouse, back in the water after a six-year layoff, was sixth in 57.18.

"It was very encouraging," Krayzelburg said. "I was really excited about my time and felt really strong. It was just a good race overall."

The K-man also finished second in the 200 back in 2:00.47, behind Canada's Keith Beavers at 1:59.75. Beavers also overtook Hungary's Tamas Kerkejarto in the final leg of the 400 IM to win in 4:24.39.

Club Wolverine's Chris Thompson cruised to an easy win in the 1500 in 15:22.76, while U.S. Olympic team captain Josh Davis, 30, atoned for a poor showing at summer nationals with a wire-to-wire victory in the 200 free in a swift 1:48.38. Klete Keller was second in 1:49.96.

"This was a big encouragement for me," said Davis. " It's been a year-and-ahalf since I've gone this fast, and it's nice to know I still got it. It took a little work, but I've still got it."

EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Riesa, Germany, Dec. 12-15

It was R&R time at the European Short Course Championships in Riesa, Germany. That's R&R as in "Risztov and Rupprath." The Hungarian teenager and the German veteran dominated competition at the sixth version of this annual meet, as each came away with three gold medals. Slovakia's versatile Martina Moravcova was also a triple winner, bringing to 15 her career total of Euro Short Course titles.