Olympian Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) lowered the pool record in the men’s 200m breaststroke on the final day of the Austin Grand Prix. His time of 2:09.97 was Shanteau’s personal best time, as well as the fastest time recorded in the world this year.
“To set the record in this pool, with the history of breaststrokers this pool has had, is a huge honor,” Shanteau said. “I looked at the world rankings before this weekend. I’m where I need to be – ahead of everyone else.”
Zimbabwe Olympian Kirsty Coventry, who trains at Longhorn Aquatics, lowered the pool record in the women’s 200m backstroke with a time of 2:07.59. Longhorn teammate and fellow 2008 Olympian Kathleen Hersey (Atlanta, Ga.) followed in a time of 2:11.20. Mary DeScenza (Naperville, Ill.) rounded out the top three in 2:11.98.
DeScenza now owns nearly twice as many points as any athlete on the Grand Prix leaderboard, with 104 points. Ryan Locthe (Daytona Beach, Fla.), who did not compete in Austin, is second on the charts with 57 points. Olympian Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) is third with 45 points.
In a stacked heat loaded with Olympians and National Teamers, it was two-time Olympian Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor, Mich.) who garnered the gold with her time of 55.03. Teenage standouts Dagny Knutson (Minot, N.D.) and Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) took second and third with times of 55.69 and 55.82, respectively.
“I feel like I kept getting better throughout the meet,” Joyce, who finished second in the 200m free earlier this week, said. “I haven’t raced since Beijing, so I’m glad to be racing again. I just wanted to use my speed to get out in front.”
French Olympian Fred Bousquet chased down the pool record in the men’s 100m freestyle, but fell just .06 seconds shy of the mark when he clocked in at 48.48. Longhorn Olympian Garret Weber-Gale (Milwaukee, Wis.) was the runner-up in 48.88, while Bousquet’s Auburn teammate Cesar Cielo (Brazil) finished third in 48.92.
DeScenza returned later in the evening to covet the women’s 200m butterfly title in a time of 2:09.01. Knutson earned her second silver medal of the night with a time of 2:12.74 in the event, while Alex Forrester (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) was responsible for the third-fastest time of 2:14.16.
On the men’s side, Ian Clark (Malvern, Pa.) emerged with the victory in the men’s 200m back with a time of 1:59.65. Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio) earned silver in 2:01.47, and Michael Sheppard (Eads, Tenn.) took home the bronze in 2:02.79.
Larua Sogar (Exeter, R.I.) and Elizabeth Tinnon (Bowling Green, Ky.) went stroke-for-stroke, ultimately posting the same time of 2:31.73 in the women’s 200m breaststroke to share the gold. Corrie Clark, the sister of Ian who won the men’s 200m back, finished third in 2:32.23.76.
In other events, University of Texas swimmer Susana Escobar hammered out the win in the women’s 800m free with a time of 8:36.95. Andrew Gemmell (Wilmington, Del.) won the men’s 1500m free with a time of 15:23.76. Robert Looney (Shreveport, La.) claimed the final individual title of the three-day meet when he swam a time of 1:58.92 in the men’s 200m fly.
Only two stops remain on the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series. The circuit returns May 14-16 for the Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix followed by the Santa Clara Grand Prix, June 11-14. For complete results of the Austin Grand Prix, click here.