Right from the start of the medley relay, Natalie Coughlin, swimming the backstroke leg, was 1.5 seconds under the world-record split. Her teammates Rebecca Soni and Dana Vollmer didn’t fall off the pace, allowing Franklin to dive in with the world-record line in her wake.

The 16-year-old dazzled in the anchor spot, with a blistering 51.32 split to break the world record by over two seconds in  3 minutes 45.56 seconds.

Franklin continued to build her international resume, which includes three world championship gold medals, with first-place finishes in the 200 backstroke and 200 freestyle. She was just .11 off her own world record in 2:00.14. Using her final two walls, she broke free from Elizabeth Simmonds (Great Britain) and Elizabeth Pelton (USA) to win the race.

ATLANTA, GA - Jessica Hardy reacts after winning the Women's 100m Breaststroke during the Duel in the Pool at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center on December 17, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The United States commanded the dual meet from start to finish, enjoying a lead of 93.5 to 28.5 after the first day of competition against the European All-Star team that looked tepid at best and unprepared to challenge the American team.

Virginia star, Matt McLean (SNOW/Potomac Falls High School) enjoyed success in the freestyle events, taking third on the Friday night in the 400 freestyle and following up that performance on Saturday by coming from behind to take second in the 200 freestyle.

Former Mount Vernon High School and Curl-Burke swimmer, Markus Rogan (Austria) finished third in the 200 individual medley behind the event’s winner, Ryan Lochte, and Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh, who took second.

Ryan Lochte of the U.S. (bottom) starts alongside Europe's Radoslaw Kawecki of Poland in the men's 200 meters backstroke race during the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool swimming competition at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia December 16, 2011. (Tami Chappell/Reuters)

Swimming un-tapered, Lochte looked like a different person in the water after a disappointing Winter Nationals two weeks ago in this same pool, where his highest finish was fifth in the 400 individual medley. He cruised in the 200 backstroke, torpedoing off every wall and working his underwaters in the short-course format. Winning both individual medley events, he looked like the favorite to win as many as eight gold medals next year in London.

Also looking good this weekend after coming out of retirement, Brendan Hansen pulled off an amazing upset on Friday night, knocking off the world-record holder Daniel Gyurta to win the 200 breaststroke in a personal best time of 2:03.62. The next day the 30-year-old comeback swimmer brought more of the same to win the 100 breaststroke in 57.47.

Caitlin Leverenz was just .3 off the world record in the 200 individual medley in 2:04.91, one of the strongest events for the American women. This will certainly be one of the toughest events to make next year in Omaha at the Olympic Trials, where Duel teammates Pelton, Julia Smit, and Olympian Katie Hoff will challenge for a spot in the event.

To open day two, distance freestylers Lotte Friis (Denmark) and Pal Joensen (Faroe Islands) won the women’s and men’s 800 freestyle to give the European team some life. But it proved to be too little, as the American team rolled up the meet with several sweeps.

The United States clinched the meet early on Saturday, earning the necessary 131 points to win the meet with nine events to go.

Despite the lopsided score, the Europeans didn’t walk away empty handed, winning several events. Katinka Hosszu (Hungary) won the women’s individual medley ahead of Leverenz in 4:24.37 and Ranomi Kromowidjojo (Netherlands) won the 100 freestyle in 51.87. Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh won the 200 butterfly with a brilliant final 50 meters, against an American field sorely missing superstar Michael Phelps.

To close the meet, the European All-Stars went under world-record time in the women’s 400 freestyle relay to win the event. However, the record will not stand because the relay members were from different countries.

Click here for full results and times.

Missy Franklin (right) hugs Australia's Belinda Hocking after the women's 200 back final on Saturday at the FINA World Championships. Franklin won gold, while Hocking finished second. (Photo: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

She’s not only been the breakout swimmer for the United States, she’s also been the top U.S. female competitor in the last major tune-up for the 2012 Summer Games in London. Every time she’s hit the water, she’s lived up to the nickname U.S. women’s team coach Jack Bauerle handed her a couple of weeks ago: Missile Franklin.

On Saturday night, she won a pair of gold medals and took part in two American-record performances, raising her week’s tally to three golds, one silver and one bronze medal.

“I said this all along: she’s s stud,” 14-time Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps said after winning the 100 fly final in 50.71 seconds as American Tyler McGill got the bronze in 51.26. “She’s super-good. To be able to watch what she’s doing, it’s incredible. . . . She does it all.”

In the 200 backstroke final, Franklin finished in 2 minutes, 05.10 seconds – 0.8 better than her American-record swim Friday, 0.96 faster than silver medal winner Belinda Hocking of Australia and the fifth-fastest time in history.

Shortly after belting out the National Anthem during the medal ceremony, Franklin anchored the U.S. 4×100 medley relay team that won the gold, went under the American record and came within 0.17 of the world record. Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer and Franklin each outswam the competition to post a time of 3:52.36, allowing the United States to top China by 3.25 seconds and Australia by 4.77. Franklin swam the freestyle leg in 52.79 seconds.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Franklin said. “I knew this was the last session of my first world championships and I will never have that again. I wanted to make sure I came here and left everything in the pool and I did that, and I am so, so happy. . . . I’ve never been so happy in my life.”

All week, Franklin’s teammates have commented on – and occasionally laughed out loud at – her infectious enthusiasm. She has bubbled over with nothing short of pure joy at every opportunity, beginning when she got up during the rookie show that preceded this event and produced a lengthy hip-hop routine that left the entire team in stitches.

“Having someone on the team to come in and be like, ‘Oh yes! It’s prelims!’” Vollmer said. “It’s really awesome.”

“She’s really happy and excited to race, moreso than any other swimmer on the team,” Coughlin said. “All of us are trying to mimic that as much as possible.”

Most would also be happy to mimic her performances. Great Falls’ Kate Ziegler added a bronze medal to the silver she won last week in the 1,500 final, finishing behind world-record holder Rebecca Adlington (8:17.51) and Denmark’s Lotte Friis (8:18.20) in the 800 freestyle with a time of 8:23.36.

“I’m a little disappointed, because I wanted to be faster,” Ziegler said. “This meet has definitely been a stepping stone, my first [major] international competition back since the [2008] Olympics.”

On the opening night of the meet last Sunday, Franklin swam the fastest leg on the silver-medal winning 4×100 relay team, and the second-fastest leg of any competitor from any country. Four days later, she won a bronze medal in the 50 backstroke on the same night she helped the U.S. team to a gold-medal in the 4×200 relay – with a time that would have won her the gold in the individual 200 had she been entered in the race.

Friday, she led all semifinalists in the 200 back, breaking Margaret Hoelzer’s three-year-old American record in the event. Only Soni, who won both individual breaststroke events before joining in Saturday’s gold-medal relay, has a comparable collection of medals on the U.S. women’s side.

“Missy is very, very unique,” Coughlin said. “She’s got the maturity to handle the pressure.”

Phelps, too, won his first world title at age 16, setting a world record while winning the 200 butterfly in Fukuoka, Japan, in 2001.

“I kinda remember myself being like that,” Phelps said. “Full of energy all the time, always happy, never tired, always swimming fast. . . . She’ll remember this for a long time.”

Bauerle sensed Franklin had star potential back in December of 2009, when she joined Phelps and other stars on the senior U.S. team at an international meet in Manchester, England. There, she led off the women’s 4×100 relay – as a 14-year-old.

“She’s unbelievably coordinated in the water,” Bauerle said. “She just has fun with the sport. That’s how you try to teach it, but it seldom works out perfectly.”

shipleya@washpost.com

Dana Vollmer competes on her way to winning the gold medal in the women's 100 fly on Monday at the FINA Swimming World Championships. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Yet she became the first American to collect a gold medal at the swimming world championships here Monday, righting Team USA’s world by toppling a field in the 100-meter butterfly that included the world-record holder and defending world champion.

Vollmer, 23, quite literally rode a wave — actually, a bunch of ocean waves in a new training regimen — to her first major individual title. On a night fellow American Ariana Kukors collected a bronze medal in the 200 individual medley and Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte easily advanced to the men’s 200 freestyle final, Vollmer, finally, stepped to the top of a medal podium all by herself.

“This was absolutely surreal and amazing,” Vollmer said. “To finally win in my favorite event, and to feel like I did it individually … It’s so empowering, so exciting… It kind of felt like I was always second…. Being on all of the relays, and never really being the top shot.”

Vollmer’s performance here has not only been surprising, it’s also been emphatic and convincing. She won Monday in 56.87 seconds, beating Aussie Alicia Coutts (56.94) and China’s Lu Ying (57.06). The time she swam in the preliminaries (56.47) was the fourth-best ever and fastest by a woman not wearing one of the speed suits that were banned in 2009, going under Dutch legend Inge de Bruijn’s 56.61 from 2000.

Early in a meet widely expected to validate the truly skilled and fit swimmers while exposing the pretenders — those who got special enhancement from the speedsuits that led to 43 world records at the ‘09 championships — Vollmer has emerged as a legitimate star. She is within sight of Sarah Sjoestroem’s plastic-suit world record of 56.06.

“I feel like the suits now let more of an athlete’s ability show rather than the technology making the athlete,” said Vollmer, who won an Olympic gold in the 4×200 freestyle relay in 2004.

As Vollmer stepped up in textile, Kukors proved she could perform in both kinds of material. The defending world champion and reigning world-record holder in the 200 medley, Kukors considered her performance against a strong field a victory of sorts — at least, in perception. She finished in 2 minutes, 09.12 seconds, behind China’s Ye Shiwen (2:08.90) and the versatile Coutts (2:09.00).

“I really felt like I needed to prove myself, after 2009, of not just being a ‘suit swimmer,’” said Kukors, who swam a 2:06.15 in a speedsuit. “I’m really proud of that time.”

Vollmer said the extra buoyancy the suits added actually proved burdensome. A natural floater who had emphasized core strength under her coach Teri McKeever, Vollmer said she actually feels sleeker and faster in textile. That feeling has been enhanced as she’s dived into novel training; she has traveled to Fiji and Australia in recent months to work with ocean guru Milt Nelms, who prescribed drills that involve swimming into waves, alongside them, and with them, a practice designed to build strength while encouraging perfect technique.

The workouts have not only helped her stroke, Vollmer said, but they’ve also enhanced her enthusiasm. After pondering retirement when a string of injuries contributed to her failure to make the 2008 Olympic team cut, Vollmer felt rejuvenated.

Even so, the physical problems that have dogged her for years never quite ceased. She noticed last fall she would become easily fatigued in practice, and she did not know why. Nutritionist Anita Nall, the former swimming star who trained at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, ran blood tests and confirmed that Vollmer had a host of food allergies, including to eggs and gluten. She recommended dramatic changes to Vollmer’s diet. Gradually, her strength returned.

But the ailment had taken its toll. She hadn’t been able to train adequately at any distance beyond a sprint. She increased her already significant dependence on ocean workouts, dryland training, dance classes and pilates as a substitute for endless pool workouts. The reduced workload led McKeever to pull Vollmer out of the 200 freestyle here, but it also seemed to enhance her sprints – namely, the 100 fly — and direct her focus.

“I do love the sport,” Vollmer said. “I just didn’t like how I was doing it before.”

Vollmer, who plans to marry former Stanford swimmer Andy Grant Aug. 20, arrived to Shanghai feeling great.

With the 100 freestyle left to swim, she is certain to leave feeling even better.

“That’s part of being seasoned,” McKeever said. “This has been a decade now that she’s been at the national level. She’s had ups and downs, getting through the disappointment of not making Beijing and getting through that, it lets you know you can get through things.”

Michael Phelps looks on during the Men's 4 x 100 Free Relay final on Sunday at the 14th FINA World Championships. The U.S. men finished a disappointing third, breaking a streak of six straight gold medals in major events. (Photo: Clive Rose/GettyImages)

Third place. And it wasn’t a contest.

What a way to kick off the swimming world championships, the final major tune-up for the 2012 London Summer Games. Ending a streak of six straight gold medals in major events, the U.S. men put forward a performance that left them, their coaches and teammates shell-shocked. And mad. And worse.

“Truly,” said Weber-Gale, “I feel sick about it.”

Moments after the U.S. women lost the lead – and earned the silver – on the final leg of their relay, the once-dominant U.S. men never led and finished in 3 minutes, 11.96 seconds at the Oriental Sports Center, behind the Australians (3:11.00) and French (3:11.14).

“It stinks,” Phelps said flatly moments after the race.

He then added later, “As Americans, we want to win everything we do. We want to be the best. . . We all know we can be better than that.”

The race featured a good start by Phelps, two substandard legs from Weber-Gale and Lezak, and a strong but not superb finish by Adrian. It also featured Ryan Lochte, a star of the ’09 world championship relay, relegated to only the preliminary round Sunday morning; his time then was not fast enough to get him onto the night’s squad.

But it looked like the United States could have used him. Weber-Gale misjudged his speed at the start, going out too slowly, and Lezak, a swimmer who relies on heavy rotation in his stroke , got pushed around like a buoy by the waves generated by the teams in front. Weber-Gale’s split (48.33) registered as the 18th fastest of the night; Lezak’s was tied for 17th.

Nearly 90 minutes after the race, Weber-Gale stood in front of reporters, shaking the bouquet he had received on the medal stand.

“It’s pretty embarrassing for me to go slow like that,” Weber-Gale said. “It’s very disappointing for me. Such a slow leg, I feel like it’s my fault we did poorly. I swam nowhere near my ability.”

U.S. men’s head coach Eddie Reese confessed he couldn’t quite believe what he saw on the results sheet. Australian James Magnussen beat Phelps on the opening leg, 47.49 to 48.08. Three men bested Weber-Gale on the second leg and five topped Lezak on the fourth. Two anchors, France’s Fabien Gilot and Italy’s Filippo Magnini, beat Adrian’s concluding 47.40.

“Those other countries did an amazing job,” said Lezak, famous for his gold-medal-saving anchor at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. “It takes 100-percent of a team doing best splits to win nowadays . . . Unfortunately, I was one of the average guys out there.”

As they assembled on the medal stand, the Americans watched the Australians celebrate. They muttered something else entirely.

“We just talked about not liking where we were standing,” Phelps said.

The U.S. women were considerably happier with their silver, despite losing it on the final leg as Dutch anchor Femke Heemskerk dropped the fastest time of the night (52.46) to overtake Dana Vollmer (53.27). The women trailed Netherlands (3:33.96), finishing in 3:34.47 as Germany took third in 3:36.05.

The women got a great start from Natalie Coughlin (54.09) and a jaw-dropping second leg from teen sensation Missy Franklin (52.99). Jessica Hardy faded at the end of her swim but held the lead with a 54.12. Vollmer, who had competed earlier in the 100 butterfly semifinals, could not fend off Heemskerk despite posting a personal best.

“Obviously, you never like diving in ahead and coming in second,” Vollmer said. “Personally, it lights a little bit of a fire for me.”

By night’s end, the U.S. team was just about burning up.

“We never like it,” Reese said. “We think we’re a country that, no matter how good we are in individual events, we always swim the relays . . .We had splits not at all like we thought they would be.”

Notes: Towson’s Katie Hoff emerged disappointed after the final of the 400, where she finished seventh in 4:08.22, more than six seconds behind winner Federica Pellegrini of Italy, who claimed first in 4:01.97. Hoff, a five-time world champion who narrowly made it into the final with the eighth-best qualifying time, said she had hoped to go 4:05 or better.

“It just wasn’t there,” she said. “That little extra-special something that you need to win a race, it wasn’t there. . . It’s obviously good to make a final, other than that. . . ask me tomorrow.”

Dana Vollmer signed on with Speedo earlier on this week through 2012.

The University of Florida wins the 2010 NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships. According to jconline.com, the Florida Gators women’s team beat second-place Stanford by 2.5 points (382-379.5), which was even more impressive considering they were in fifth place headed into the last day of the tournament.

Florida has not won an NCAA Women’s Championship since 1982, and this year’s championship is the second in its history. Stanford has won eight total women’s championships, with the last championship taking place in 1998.

Dana Vollmer agrees to a contract with Speedo through 2012. Vollmer, one of the most impressive young swimmers in the country, has agreed to terms with Speedo, according to its website.

The announcement comes just a few weeks after Speedo extended their deal with Natalie Coughlin during the first week of March.

The informational release states that Vollmer had “always envisoned herself as part of the Speedo family” from a young age.

Vollmer is currently in second place in the USA Swimming Grand Prix with 39 points, trailing only leader Chloe Sutton (68 points).

The 2010 NCAA Men’s Swimming Championships have been postponed one day due to gastrointestinal illness. The championships, which are being held in Columbus, Oh., have been delayed due to 18 swimmers coming down with the illness, according to CollegeSwimming.com. The report states that athletes from three colleges have been affected: Arizona, Texas and Stanford.

The NCAA Crisis Management Team finalized the decision.

One college swim team is eliminated, one is added . The University of North Florida (Jacksonville, Fl.) announced that they will cut their women’s swim program earlier today. On the flip side, Queens University of Charlotte announced that they will add men’s and women’s swimmingprograms to their athletics programs.

Some colleges that have cut or considered cutting their swim programs earlier on this year are Duquesne University and Cal-State Bakersfield.

Dana Vollmer was one of the most impressive swimmers in the Austin Grand Prix, held this past week at the University of Texas in Austin, Tex.

Reach For The Wall brings you the week in U.S. swimming one day earlier this week, with highlights from Michael Phelps’ swim in Maryland, the Austin Grand Prix and a feature story on a coach you have to read about.

Michael Phelps sets new record at Maryland event. On Sunday at the Maryland Swim Championships, Michael Phelps set a new American record in the 200 yard butterfly (1:39.65), breaking his old record of 1:39.70, set in 2006. Phelps also took home wins in the 200 yard individual medley (1:40.58) and the 400 yard individual medley (3:39.01).

Phelps competed for his club team, the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, which won the meet with 5,739.5 points. The Naval Academy Aquatic Club came in second place (2,274) and Loyola Bakerfield Aquatic secured a third-place finish (1,801.5).

A complete results document is available online at Maryland Swimming.

Dana Vollmer has impressive final day at Austin Grand Prix. Vollmer, 22, was one of the most impressive athletes on the final day of competition at the Austin Grand Prix. She swam a 54.30 in the 100 meter freestyle, which was the second fastest time in the world, according to Swimming World Magazine. Incredibly, the fastest time in this event was set earlier in the same day by a swimmer in France (54.27).

In the 200 meter butterfly, she dominated the field, finishing more than two seconds in front of second-place finisher, Kelly Nelson (2:15.88). Vollmer completed the event in a time of 2:13.86.

Complete results from the Austin Grand Prix event can be found at USA Swimming.

Natalie Coughlin agrees to a new deal with Speedo. Swimnetwork.com is reporting that Coughlin and Speedo have agreed to terms through 2013. Coughlin, who swam this past weekend at the Austin Grand Prix in Austin, Tex., has been with Speedo her entire career. The article notes that Coughlin is attempting to become the most decorated female swimmer of all time with her eyes set on 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Other American swimmers who are currently with Speedo include Michael Phelps, Katie Hoff and Ryan Lochte.

Donald Watkinds is a swim coach that has seen (and coached) it all. There was amazing feature story out of San Diego this week: If you haven’t heard of Donald Watkinds, you’re going to be impressed with his accomplishments. The Beach and Bay Press reports that he’s coached two Olympians and national record-holders, children as young as five and six years old and disabled swimmers as well.

Watkinds is the first coach to ever hold a USA Swimming-based camp for disabled swimmers.  

U.S. Collegiate Synchronized Swimming Championships to be held at Stanford this weekend. The national synchronized swimming event is scheduled for March 11-13 of this week. Ohio State is the current defending champion of the event.

Reach For The Wall reported on this earlier in the month, and an updated article on the event details can be found at Palo Alto Online.

Dana Vollmer won the women's 200 meter freestyle event at the U.S. swimming championships. (Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

Locals Results

INDIANAPOLIS, July 8 — Towson’s Elizabeth Pelton, 15, did it again.

The rising star at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club upset some big names and won herself a spot — a second one — on the U.S. team that will compete at the world championships later this month in Rome.

Pelton finished just behind Hayley McGregory, who also trained at NBAC until moving to Austin to train five weeks ago, in the 100 backstroke Wednesday night at the U.S. swimming championships.

Pelton touched the wall in 1 minute 0.66 seconds as Gregory came home in 1:00.07. The two claimed the available berths for Rome and Pelton, perhaps, cemented her status as the hottest up-and-coming swimmer in the United States.
Margaret Hoelzer, a three-time Olympic medal winner, took third in 1:00.78. Reston’s Mei Christensen, who has swum for years for Curl-Burke and attends the University of Virginia, finished fifth in 1:01.16.

“I was just really, really excited to come to this meet,” Pelton said immediately after the race. “This is just the cherry on the top.”

Pelton, whose time established a new national age-group record, also finished second in the 200 individual medley Tuesday night, so she will compete in both events — and possibly more — in Rome.

She said she received 35 text messages and 10 phone messages after her performance Tuesday.

“It’s a little overwhelming,” Pelton said. “I didn’t even think about [qualifying in] the 100 back — I just wanted a best time.”

Pelton is also entered in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 back, but the only race in which she is expected to even make the final is the 200 back. She is seeded fifth in that event.

Vollmer Wins 200M Freestyle: In the women’s 200 free, Dana Vollmer finished first in 1:56.20, followed by Allison Schmitt, who came home in 1:57.25. Ariana Kukors got third (1:58.28) and Alyssa Anderson fourth (1:58.45).

Dagny Knutson of North Dakota finished fifth in 1:58.46, and NBAC’s Katie Hoff claimed eighth in 1:59.59 — more than four seconds off of her American record in the event (1:55.78).
Hoff, who won three Olympic medals last year, also failed to make the world team in the 400 freestyle Tuesday when she finished sixth.

“I admire her tonight as much as I ever did when she was winning all of those events,” Hoff’s coach Bob Bowman said. “It’s tough to stand up, when all of the expectations are on you and when you’re not at your best and give it all you’ve got.”