Wins 100-meter backstroke
BY ERIK BOAL, Special to the Daily News
IRVINE - It had been a year to the day since hometown favorite Aaron Peirsol last competed in the pool at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.
And just like he did at the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool, Peirsol brought the capacity crowd to its feet with his performance in the men’s 100-meter backstroke Wednesday night at the ConocoPhillips National Championships.
Trailing Stanford graduate and three-time defending summer-national champion Randall Bal at the halfway point, Peirsol, of Newport Beach, rallied to win in 53.38 seconds, the second-fastest time ever in the event.
“It never gets any easier, especially when you race against these guys,” said the 23-year-old Peirsol, who set the world record of 53.17 at last year’s spring nationals in Indianapolis.
“I think the first one (winning the 200 in 2000) was easier than that one. Randall and I swim the race totally different. Randall’s a great front-halfer & but I knew I was in great position coming off the wall.”
Peirsol, competing for Longhorn Aquatics, increased his career total to 10 national titles, half of them coming in the 100.
Michael Phelps’ two victories Wednesday improved his total to 30, moving him into a tie for fifth place all-time among American swimmers.
But a pair of meet records weren’t enough to satisfy the Club Wolverine standout, who won the 200 freestyle (1:45.63) and 200 butterfly in a world-leading 1:54.32 less than 45minutes apart.
“To come in and be so close it’s kind of disappointing, but I have a number of things I know right now from swimming that race I can fix,” said Phelps, 21, who owns the five fastest times in the 200 butterfly, including the world record of 1:53.93 set in Barcelona in 2003.
“I haven’t done a best time since 2003, so it’s disappointing for me to be so close so many times. My goal this week was to go a best time. I’m getting closer and closer, hopefully by the end of the week I’ll get there.”
Although Cal graduate Natalie Coughlin or Katie Hoff didn’t produce a lifetime best in the final of the women’s 200 freestyle, they treated fans to the most competitive race of the night, with Coughlin winning in 1:58.11.
Hoff, competing for North Baltimore Aquatic Club, set a meet record with a 1:58.03 in the morning prelims but couldn’t duplicate her effort in the championship heat, finishing in 1:58.16.
Coughlin, who increased her career total to 13 titles, narrowly missed a second victory Wednesday, as Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics won the women’s 400 free relay in a meet-record 3:42.90, ahead of California Aquatics’ 3:34.19.
Indiana senior Leila Vaziri, representing Coral Springs Swim Club, took advantage of Coughlin deciding not to swim the event to win her first national title in 1:01.69, the 11th-fastest mark in U.S. history.
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