Jul - Aug 2002 View the PDF - Swimnews Online

2002 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPSAMERICANS EASY WINNERS, WITH HALF OF ALL MEDALSONE WORLD AND 15 CANADIAN RECORDS IN 10 EVENTSPaul Quinlan and Nick ThierryOne world record was the final tally after six days ofcompetition at this year’s Pan Pacific Championships.(There were 10 world records in 1999.) Once held everysecond year, the Pan Pacs have been scaled back to onceevery four years, since the international calendar is evermore crowded.It is really an Australia versus United States dual meet,with small crumbs for Japan and Canada in a uniqueformat that allows unlimited entries from each country inthe prelims, up to four entries per country in the semis, anda maximum of two in the finals. This makes it attractive forlarger teams but in no way creates the pressure-cookersituation of the World Championships or Olympics. In 1999the meet was decided in the final relay for the USA; this timethe Aussies were not as strong, mostly due to having competedin the Commonwealth Games three weeks before. Twoweek-long competitions may be too much to deal with.Natalie Coughlin (USA) was the star of the competitionwith an unprecedented triple win in the 100s of the strokes(free, back, and fly), as well as one win in the three relaysshe swam.MEDAL TOTALSGold Silver Bronze TotalUSA 21 16 15 52AUS 11 14 3 28JPN 2 4 8 14CAN 0 0 7 7CHN 0 0 1 134 34 34 102Canada missed out on gold and silver, with threeindividual and four relay bronze medals. Canadians didbetter 15 national records in 10 events. In 1999, Canadawon 11 medals (2-4-5).Thorpe and Hackett were saving themselves for thecrucial 4x100 metre freestyle relay. “I knew what I wantedto do and I did it to plan, but the relay is the priority later inthe night,” Thorpe said.“I was pretty surprised to be up with the two Aussies atthe 200,” Keller said. “That caught me off guard and threwme off my race plan. My time could have been faster, butthat’s where I am at this point in the season. It should be apretty good stepping stone.”Women’s 1500 Freestyle—Diana Munz (USA) wonwith 16:07.86, with Sachiko Yamada (JPN) second with16:16.28 and Morgan Hentzen (USA) third with 16:29.25.Taryn Lencoe (CAN) was sixth with 16:42.82, her best ever.“This is my first Pan Pacific Championships gold, soI’m very thrilled,” Munz said. “I’m excited to get the goldfor the U.S. to get us started.”Women’s 4x100 Freestyle Relay—A three-way battlebetween Australia, USA, and Japan dominated the middlelegs, with 16-year-old Alice Mills (55.15) and Petria Thomas(55.35) both putting together strong swims. In the final leg,Australian veteran Sarah Ryan (54.34) went head to headwith American veteran Jenny Thompson. Ryan swam astunning final lap to seal the Australian women’s teamvictory in a new Commonwealth record of 3:39.78. USA tookthe silver with 3:40.23 while Japan took the bronze with3:42.23. Canada finished fourth with 3:47.18, well off thenational record of 3:42.92.“Nothing is sweeter than beating the American team,and in their pet 4x100 metre freestyle event, it’s a greatfeeling,” Sarah Ryan said.“As a team, we’re pretty happy with that race,”Coughlin said. “Australia and Japan had some fast swimstonight, but as a whole, we’re happy with our swims tonightand we’ll build on them the rest of the week.”Men’s 4x100 Freestyle Relay—The Australian men’s4x100 metre freestyle relay team took inspiration from thewomen’s performance to grab a nail-biting gold againstthe United USA to maintain their ranking as the numberone relay team in the world. In the much-publicizedshowdown, an over-anxious American team led by AnthonyErvin went out too hard in the opening leg, leaving Australianlead-off Ashley Callus to come home in a new personal besttime of 49.26.Strong performances by Todd Pearson (48.92) anddistance specialist Grant Hackett (49.05) had the Aussies inthe lead going into the final changeover. Anchor IanThorpe raced Jason Lezak, who moved into the lead at the350, but Thorpe was able to move up to touch first in 3:15.15to 3:15.41. Both split 47.92. Canada was third in a nationalrecord of 3:17.69, two seconds faster than in Manchesterwith a different team.“It was a great race to be a part of,” Nate Dusing (USA)said. “It seems to always come down to us and Australia andtonight they were a little faster. We know we have some workto do before the World Championships to take back our title.We were reminded of Sydney (Olympics) tonight. Wedidn’t have a great first day there, but there we came backon day two and cranked it up. This is a 12-session meet,not just two.”At the end of Day 1, Australia led in golds 4 to 1 over theUSA; USA led in total medals 6 to 5.Day 2, Sunday, Aug 25Men’s 400 IM—A week or so after Michael Phelps(USA) and Erik Vendt (USA) had an epic battle at USNationals resulting in a new world record, they were at itagain. Phelps again took the early lead and was way aheadof record pace after the fly (55.49) and back (1:58.95), withVendt at 2:01.97. But in the breaststroke, Vendt moved intoa slight lead (3:14.23 to 3:14.63) as he split 1:12.26 toPhelps’ 1:15.68. It was decided again in the freestyle leg asPhelps moved into the lead, winning with 4:12.48 to Vendt’s4:13.15. Both were off their bests but not for lack of trying.In third, Takahiro Mori (JPN) swam 4:16.35, slower thanhis Asian records from the prelims of 4:15.41, and BrianJohns (CAN) finished fourth in 4:16.44, his best.“Our goal was to go 1-2,” Phelps said. “We had arough start on the first day, so we wanted to get the teamfired up today and show them something. I wanted to breakthe world record, but you don’t get everything you want allDay 1, Saturday, Aug 24Women’s 400 IM—Jennifer Reilly (AUS) won the firstrace in an Australian record of 4:40.84, with Maggie Bowen(USA) in second with 4:44.39 and Maiko Fujita (JPN) thirdwith 4:45.79. Elizabeth Warden (CAN) was fourth in 4:45.80,her best ever.“I was a bit surprised coming off the last turn, but tofinally get the Australian record and become the PanPacific champion, I am just stoked,” Reilly said.“I’m glad to have medalled at a good meet like this,”Bowen said. “Unfortunately, I’m not happy with my time,but it was great to swim against really fast swimmers andget the silver medal.”Men’s 400 Freestyle—In a tactical race, Ian Thorpe(AUS) and Grant Hackett (AUS) swam just to stay ahead ofthe field. Their times of 3:45.28 and 3:45.99 were well offtheir best but enough to give them a sweep of the top spots.Klete Keller (USA) was third with 3:48.40 and Erik Vendt(USA) fourth with 3:49.75. Mark Johnston (CAN) finishedsixth with 3:52.29.48At last under the minute, Jennifer Button with 59.68 for the 100 butterflyDan GalbraithSWIMNEWS / JULY-AUGUST 2002