Dec. 1, 2006
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Carlene Takaki and Sam Wilcher both improved on their prelim times during the consolation finals of the 100-meter fly, and later pushed their medley relays to sixth-place showings Friday night at the U.S. Open.
Takaki went from a 1:02.93 to a 1:02.47, picking up one place along the way to finish 15th overall. Mary DeScenza of the Athens Bulldog Swim Club won the title in 59.47.
Takaki's finals mark was .10 seconds off her personal best, which thrilled Purdue women's head coach Cathy Wright-Eger.
"I'm very proud to see Carlene earn her first second swim at a national level meet. We have seen great progression with her from year to year, and I know she'll just keep getting better," said Wright-Eger.
Winner DeScenza is no stranger to the Boilermaker Aquatic Center, as evidenced by her name being located next to several events on the pool record board. At the 2005 NCAA's, DeScenza set Holloway Pool short-course yardage records in the 100 and 200 fly as well as with the 400 and 800 free, and 200 and 400 medley relays. DeScenza's record-breaking times helped give Georgia the NCAA title over defending champion Auburn.
Wilcher held onto 12th place with his finals mark of 55.55. During morning prelims, the Arlington Heights, Ill., freshman posted a 55.88. The overall winner of the men's 100 fly was Olympian and World Record holder Ian Crocker, who completed the course in 52.78. Crocker's world record mark of of 50.40 was set in 2005 in Montreal, Canada.
"I am just so glad to be here at this meet and swimming with this kind of talent," said Wilcher. "I'm used to swimming in meters, but by being at Purdue, I'm also improving on how to swim in yards."
Men's head coach Dan Ross thought Wilcher's Olympic Trial qualifying performance was simply awesome.
"That was a lifetime best for Sam, which is incredible because he's just a freshman and that's an unshaved time. He now has Olympic Trial cuts in both fly events, so it's nice to get them out of the way," said Ross.
The individual results were good for Purdue, but the relay results were greater as both Purdue 'A' relays (men's and women's) won their respective heats and placed sixth overall.
The men's 'A' relay of Romain Maire, Aaron Koger, Wilcher and Trey Smith won the fourth of five heats in 3:51.38, while the women's 'A' group of Kimbre Vogel, Jennifer Lavers, Takaki and Susan Hentschel posted a winning cut of 4:21.49. Both times were improvements over their seeded marks.
Purdue's secondary relays also finished among the top 16 as well, with the men recording a 3:57.01 and the women a 4:25.58.
"A good medley relay just does not pop up overnight," said Wright-Eger. "I am always seeing signs of improvement in our relays, especially in the area of mental toughness, and I firmly believe it will get better."
Purdue's women's 'A' relay started the race in fifth, but Lavers brought them up to third and then Takaki gave them lead for good during her final 50-meter split.
The Boilermaker men's 'A' relay held its lead from start to finish thanks to a personal best from Maire on the leadoff backstroke leg split (58.20). Maire's teammates had zero trouble keeping their lead.
"I was a bit nervous jumping in, but I was able to stay focused on my kicks and my breaths and keep the lead. It was exciting," said Wilcher.
The third and final day of the U.S. Open starts Saturday at 9 a.m. with prelims. Finals commence at 6 p.m.
Complete U.S. Open Day Two Recap
By Jamie Fabos
Four more meet records fell tonight on the second night of the 2006 U.S. Open. Kirsty Coventry (Harare, Zimbabwe / Longhorn), Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla. / Daytona Beach Swimming), Katie Hoff (Towson, Md. / North Baltimore) and Ous Mellouli (Tunis, Tunisia / Trojan) all shattered marks in their respective events. Hoff's time of 4:38.38 in the 400m IM bested a 19-year-old meet record set by the legendary Janet Evans.
It was Hoff's second meet record of the event, after setting the mark in the 200m IM Thursday.
"Overall, especially right now in-season, my swims are going really well," Hoff said. "I've been trying to work on my back half and even-splitting my breast, which I almost did tonight. I'm just really pleased with how things are going so far."
Mary DeScenza (Naperville, Ill. / Athens Bulldog) won two events tonight, claiming victories in the women's 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly.
"I'm extremely happy," DeScenza said. "It's always hard to do a double. It's just a tribute to my training to do that. It shows I'm in a good place right now, and I'll be looking for better things in the future."
En route to her first win of the night, DeScenza turned in a time of 2:01.05 in the 200m freestyle. Chanelle Watson (Laval University) was second in 2:02.27, while Brittany Reimer (Victoria, B.C. / Univ. of British Columbia) was third in 2:02.53.
DeScenza returned to the pool a short time later to take the women's 100m fly with a time of 59.47, out-touching 2004 Olympian Rachel Komisarz (Louisville, Ky. / Lakeside Swim Team) by just 24-hundredths of a second. Slovakian Olympian Martina Moracova, representing the Dallas Mustangs, was third 1:00.11.
"I'm not as great a sprinter, so (my win in the 100 fly) gives me confidence for my 200 fly tomorrow, because I brought it home really well tonight," DeScenza said.
Lochte was the first of two American swimmers to break a meet record tonight, winning the men's 100m backstroke with a time of 54.37. Auburn's Doug Van Wie (Charlotte, N.C.) was second in 55.69, while Adam Mania (Lincoln, Neb. / unattached) was third in 55.99.
"This whole meet has been basically a training meet for me," Lochte said. "My coach let me put on a new suit tonight, so I tried on a new fastskin, and it felt great. It helped out a lot. I haven't been feeling too good at this meet, so I'm glad I got a good swim out of it. Hopefully that will carry me through tomorrow."
Also swimming in tonight's finals of the men's 100m back was 2000 Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder Lenny Krayzelburg (Odessa, Russia / unattached). Krayzelburg finished fourth with a time of 56.93. The two-time Olympian was competing in his first elite-level competition since the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
"I thought it was pretty good," Krayzelburg said. "I dropped about seven-tenths from this morning. Right now, the main thing is to get the racing back and get a feel for the water."
Hoff became the second American to set a meet record on the night, out-touching American record-holder Kaitlin Sandeno (Lake Forest, Calif. / Club Wolverine), who touched in 4:45.20. Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz. / El Dorado Aquatic Club), was third in 4:49.89.
Setting the other meet records Friday were Coventry in the women's 100m back and Mellouli in the 400m IM.
Coventry, an Olympian from Zimbabwe, broke the 15-year-old meet record in the women's 100m backstroke, finishing with a time of 1:01.34. Leila Vaziri (Coral Springs, Fla. / Indiana University) was second in 1:02.05, while Margaret Hoelzer (Huntsville, Ala. / Auburn Aquatics) was third in 1:02.22.
In the men's 400m IM, Mellouli upset world record-holder Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md. / Club Wolverine), turning in a time of 4:15.61. Phelps was second in 4:18.32, while Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga. / Swim Atlanta) was third in 4:19.93.
"Ous is really good and has really come on strong in the last few years," Phelps said. "You can always count on him to put in a solid swim, which he did tonight."
Phelps added to his win total for the meet, finishing atop the field in the men's 200m free with a time of 1:49.48. Simon Burnett (Tucson Ford) was second in 1:50.11, followed by Robbie Renwick (Scotland / unattached) in 1:50.49.
Rounding out meet action, world record-holder Ian Crocker (Portland, Maine / Longhorn) won the men's 100m butterfly with a time of 52.78, ahead of Northwestern's Kyle Bubolz (53.45) and Peter Verhoef (Newport News, Va. / unattached) who finished in 53.59.
The 2006 U.S. Open resumes Saturday morning at 9 a.m. ET with prelims in the men's and women's 100m freestyle, 200m breaststroke and 200m butterfly. Timed finals for the women's 800m free and men's 1500m free will also be held throughout the day Saturday.