World Championships Archive

ROME, July 30 — It certainly wasn’t an easy thing to do, but he did it anyway. Aaron Peirsol forced himself to take a seat in the stands Tuesday night and watch the 100-meter backstroke final.

The final was a rare one this week in that it did not feature a world record; that might have had something to do with the fact the current world-record holder in the event, Peirsol, wasn’t in the pool.

“It was hard to swallow, but at the same time, I’d already moved on,” Peirsol said. “I’ve never seen a 100 back from the stands at a world championship.”

On Monday, Peirsol had stunningly failed to qualify for the final because he lost track of his position in the semifinal round. That, Peirsol said Thursday morning after easing through the first heat of the 200 backstroke, will not happen again.

What approach will Peirsol take in Thursday night’s semifinal?

“It will,” he said, “be much safer.”

Peirsol posted a time of 1 minute 55.88 seconds in Thursday’s heat, finishing just behind rising star Ryosuke Irie of Japan, who came home in 1:55.20. Ryan Lochte qualified with the third-best time of 1:55.97.

Peirsol, who broke both the 100 and 200 back world records at the U.S. championships, said the wait from Monday to Thursday seemed like eternity.

“I’ve been ready to go for weeks now,” Peirsol said.

Austrian Markus Rogan, who attended Mount Vernon High, finished 27th in the 200 back heats, failing to advance to the semifinals. Rogan has been a rare proponent of the high-tech suit technology in recent days, saying fans like speed and the suits bring speed.

“Comparing with the last years, swimming is not a job anymore, but a pleasure,” Rogan said. “Swimming is the most beautiful thing of my life and I enjoy it all. I don’t know if I am competing in London 2012, but maybe this has been my last 200-meter backstroke event.”

Weir Sets American Record

Amanda Weir broke Natalie Coughlin’s American record in the 100 freestyle in Thursday’s preliminary round, ending the morning with the top qualifying time, 53.20 seconds. Coughlin, who is taking this year off, set the previous U.S. record, 53.39, at last year’s Olympics.

Weir outswam current world-record holder Britta Steffen of Germany, who qualified fourth in 53.62, and former world-record holder Libby Trickett of Australia, who was second in 53.49. The Netherlands Ranomi Kromowidjojo finished third in 53.61.

Kukors Leads Off Relay In WR Time

Ariana Kukors led off the U.S. women’s 4×200 freestyle relay team with a first leg that was under world record pace, coming home in 1 minute 56.05 seconds. The United States finished in the second qualifying spot, finishing in 7:49.51, behind Great Britain’s 7:49.04.

Kukors has been on a roll; she set two world records in the 200 individual medley earlier in this meet.

Her longtime coach, Sean Hutchison, said Kukors might seem to have emerged out of nowhere here but, in fact, was ready for a breakout meet. He her performance at the recent U.S. trials was largely derailed by a bout with the flu.

“She had had an amazing year, and then she got sick right before the trials meet,” Hutchison. “It was more an anomaly what happened at trials than what you saw here.”

Knutson Switches To Jaked

Kukors’s morning relay teammate, Dagny Knutson, 17, swam the second leg in 1:57.73 wearing a brand-new Jaked.

Knutson said she decided to dump the Speedo LZR she wore at the U.S. championship in favor of the more acclaimed suit out of pure fear. Knutson, hailed as a star of the future entering the championships, did not qualify for the U.S. team in a single individual event while wearing the LZR.

“Originally I was going to stick with the LZR, but at the last minute with all the world records going down and [many on] the team wearing the Jaked, I thought maybe I should give it a try,” Knutson said. “I don’t want to feel left out, to feel like I’m wishing that I would have possibly been swimming in a way-faster suit.”

Eric Shanteau broke the championship record in the 200 breaststroke but missed his own American record in the event during Thursday’s morning heats. Shanteau led all qualifiers with his time of 2:08.55, which topped the 2:09.42 that Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima swam at the 2007 world championships. American Rebecca Soni posted a time of 2:22.09 in the women’s 200 breast, an event in which she holds the world record. She finished behind only Annamay Pierse (2:21.68) in the morning’s heats.