Elizabeth Beisel, left, hugs Elizabeth Pelton after Beisel's win in to 200 backstroke at the U.S. swimming championships. Pelton finished second to earn her another berth in the world championships. (Darron Cummings, Associated Press)

Locals Results

U.S. swimming championships archives

INDIANAPOLIS, July 10 — North Baltimore Aquatic Club Coach Paul Yetter attempted to respond to a bystander’s congratulations, but he had difficulty saying anything at all. His words came out stripped of various syllables.
It was understandable: Yetter had just screamed himself hoarse for the third night this week.

His star pupil, Towson’s Elizabeth Pelton, 15, had just won her third silver medal at the U.S. swimming championships Friday night, her latest finish in the 200-meter backstroke ensuring that she would be considered Team USA’s hottest teen star entering the July 26-Aug. 2 world championships in Rome.

With her performances this week, Pelton earned the right to compete in four individual events in Rome, a distinction that, with one day of competition here remaining, only one other U.S. swimmer can claim.

That swimmer, you may have heard of him, is Michael Phelps.

“This team is kind of the ‘next generation,’.” Pelton said. “I think the next generation is starting to make [its] move. I’m really excited.”

Leading the generational shift is Pelton, who also claimed second in the 100 backstroke and 200 individual medley earlier this week. Her finish in the 100 back gave her an additional world-team berth in the 50 backstroke, an event not raced here, raising her total of individual events to four.

“It’s always fun to see somebody break out like she’s broken out here,” said Mark Schubert, USA Swimming’s National Team Director. “She’s starting to swim like a veteran.”

Because the 200 medley and 100 back take place nearly back-to-back in Rome, it’s possible Pelton will compete in only three events, perhaps the trio of backstrokes. That likely will be sorted out in the coming days as the U.S. team begins its preparations here before departing for a U.S. training base in Italy on Tuesday.

In any case, it’s an impressive load for a swimmer whose previous biggest meet was last January’s Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Guam. In fact, she didn’t even think to pack a bag for Italy. A suitcase assembled by her brother arrived Friday, carried by the mother of another swimmer competing here this weekend.

In Guam, North Dakota’s Dagny Knutson, 17, had been the unequivocal star, winning seven gold medals. Elizabeth Beisel, 16, meantime, had emerged as a promising prospect years before, having made her international debut at the senior Pan Pac championships at age 13.

Both of those teens were more acclaimed up-and-comers entering this meet. Both have made the U.S. world team — Knutson qualifying for a 200 relay team spot — but neither has shined as brightly as Pelton.

“The meet in Guam, that’s where I kind of realized I could do pretty well at this meet,” Pelton said. “That’s kind of where the motivation comes from for this season.”

Beisel won the U.S. title in the 400 individual medley and Friday’s 200 back, outracing Pelton over the last 50 meters. Beisel finished in 2 minutes, 8.80 seconds. Pelton touched the wall in 2:09.19. Both of them finished ahead of American-record holder Margaret Hoelzer, 26, who finished third in 2:09.63.

Virginia swimmer Mei Christensen, 20, who has represented Curl-Burke Swim Club here, finished seventh in 2:12.28.

“It was really nerve-wracking,” Pelton said. “All of these races are nerve-wracking.”

Pelton, however, swam a smart race. Fifth after the first 50 meters, she made her move during the backstroke leg and swam steadily after.

“I didn’t really expect her to qualify in as many events as she did, but in the back of my mind I expected she would perform at a high level,” Yetter said. “She’s really, really cool, calm and confident. The credit goes to her family.”

Pelton uprooted her family for the sport in the summer of 2006. The Peltons had grown tired of a 100-mile round-trip commute to swim practices from their home in Fairfield, Conn. They realized they had to make a move to ensure Pelton and her brother Greg — who will swim next fall at Harvard — could get the training their talents warranted without wearing out the family.

Knowing the reputation for churning out young stars at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, the home club of Phelps and three-time Olympian Katie Hoff, the Pelton family put their house up for sale. Elizabeth Pelton, her mother Anne and three siblings moved to Towson.

But the family patriarch, Greg Pelton, a former collegiate swimmer who competed at the 1980 U.S. Olympic trials, stayed behind. He moved into a studio apartment in Manhattan, close to his job as a professor at Columbia University. He travels to Towson on weekends.

The Peltons have never regretted the move, Anne Pelton said during a recent interview, but in case there was any wavering, Elizabeth Pelton’s performance this week surely erased it.

“She definitely has the potential,” Beisel said, “to medal in the events she is going to swim.”

Nathan Adrian celebrates his win in men's 100 meter freestyle at the U.S. swimming championships. Adrian, 20, also won the 50 free Thursday. (Tom Strickland, Associated Press)

Locals Results

U.S. swimming championships archives

INDIANAPOLIS, July 10 — Nathan Adrian claimed his second sprint title of the week at the U.S. swimming championships Friday night, winning the men’s 100-meter freestyle final in 48.00 seconds.

Adrian’s time did not approach the American record in the event (47.51) held by Michael Phelps, who withdrew from the field Friday morning because of neck soreness.

Despite his early departure, Phelps ended the meet with victories in the 100 and 200 butterfly and 200 freestyle, with the possibility of competing in those events and all three relays at the world championships later this month in Rome.

Phelps’s premature exit opened the door for Adrian, who outraced David Walters of Yorktown, Va. Walters claimed second place in 48.17, and Garrett Weber-Gale claimed third in 48.19.

Adrian, 20, who also won the 50 free Thursday, emerged this week after finishing fourth in the 100 free at the U.S. Olympic trials last year. A pre-med student at the University of California, Adrian trained prior to last year’s Trials in Islamorada, Fla., with Olympic great Gary Hall Jr.

“I wouldn’t say I saw [this] coming, but it was what I wanted to do,” Adrian said. “It’s very exciting. This is the year after the Olympics. This is when a lot of people start stepping up and start establishing themselves as swimmers on an international level, and that was kind of my focus.”

Another Win for Lochte: Olympic star Ryan Lochte, 24, won the men’s 200 individual medley in 1 minute 54.56 seconds, adding to the U.S. title he had won in the 400 medley earlier in the week. Cancer-survivor Eric Shanteau, 25, earned his second world-team spot with his second-place finish in 1:56.00. Tyler Clary, 20, claimed third in 1:57.25.

Lochte was under world-record pace through 150 meters, but he fell short of Phelps’s record of 1:54.23.

“I just wanted to take it out smooth, but fast, and just hold on for dear life,” Lochte said.

In the women’s 200 fly, Kathleen Hersey, 19, got first in 2:06.44, topping Mary Descenza, 24, who finished second in 2:07.13.

Local Swimmers Shine: North Baltimore Aquatic Club’s Felicia Lee finished second in the B final of the women’s 200 fly in 2:10.56. Her teammate Kailey Morris claimed fifth in 2:12.68 and the University of Virginia’s Elizabeth Shaw tied for seventh in 2:13.24. NBAC’s Camryne Morris finished seventh in the C final of the event. In the B final of the men’s 200 individual medley, NBAC’s T.P. Patrick finished first in 2:01.80 and Austin Surhoff finished seventh in 2:02.87. In the C final, Bethesda’s Adam Meyer, who swims for SwimMAC Carolina, finished first in 2:01.03. In the C final of the 200 back, Curl-Burke swimmer Meredith Monroe finished third in 2:15.03.

Elizabeth Pelton, 15, could win her third world championship berth Friday night. (Toni L. Sandys, The Washington Post)

Phelps Pulls Out Of 100 Free

Locals Results

U.S. swimming championships archives

INDIANAPOLIS, July 10–Towson’s Elizabeth Pelton, 15, did not expect to make the world championship team in one event here at the U.S. swimming championships, let alone two.

By Friday night, it could be three.

Her performance in Friday’s morning heats of the women’s 200-meter backstroke gave her the second seed for Friday night’s final.

“I kind of like being under the radar,” she said.

She’s not anymore. Her finish in 2 minutes, 09.72 seconds trailed only Elizabeth Beisel, 16, who touched the wall in 2:09.36. Making things interesting will be Katie Riefenstahl, 19, of the University of Texas; she placed third in 2:09.98.

Curl-Burke’s Mei Christensen, 20, also will compete in the final; she drew the eighth seed with her finish in 2:12.98.

The top two finishers in the final will earn spots in the July 26-Aug. 2 world championships in Rome. Pelton is already ticketed for Italy in the 200 medley and the 100 back.

“It’s always fun to see somebody break out like she’s broken out here,” said Mark Schubert, USA Swimming’s National Team Director. “She’s starting to swim like a veteran. Swimming at the world championships can be an important part of that process.”

Because the world championship team will remain in town until departing Tuesday for Italy, Pelton has had a bit of scrambling to do. Her brother Greg, who will swim at Harvard this fall, packed her suitcase Friday, she said. The suitcase will be shuttled here by the mother of another athlete competing this weekend, Pelton said.

“I don’t really like to predict things,” Pelton said when asked why she hadn’t brought extra clothing. “I feel like that jinxes it.”

After the world championships, Pelton will beginning training under Bob Bowman, who coaches Michael Phelps, Katie Hoff and a few other elite athletes at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. Pelton has trained under Paul Yetter since her family moved from Fairfield, Conn., but Yetter will assume an assistant coaching position at Auburn after these championships.

“I’m very excited about it,” Bowman said. “It will be really nice to take somebody at the start of her career. It’s a situation where we will have a long-term plan and just gradually take her along.”

Torres Out of 100 Free

Dara Torres, 42, said she would not compete in the 100 free Saturday since she clinched a spot on the world championship team with her victory Thursday in the 50 free. Torres said pushing off the wall taxes her arthritic left knee too much to risk competing in that event.

She will, however, swim in a time trial in the 50 butterfly Saturday in an attempt to set a new world record (she already holds the American record in the event). Torres could compete in the 50 fly event at the world championships. USA Swimming rules give 100 fly champion Christine Magnusson and second-place finisher Dana Vollmer first dibs, but if they decline to compete in the sprint, Torres could get the call.

Schubert Rails Against Suits

Schubert said the new high-tech suits that have proliferated in recent months likely cost some deserving U.S. athletes places on the world championship team.

The world swimming governing body (FINA) in May considered banning more than 100 of the most controversial suits, but then changed its mind and approved 400 suits for use this year.

“I think there are some athletes that are very loyal to their companies who may not have made changes because of that loyalty, and it cost them spots on the team,” Schubert said.

Schubert declined to elaborate, but he surely was referring to some of Speedo’s sponsored athletes. Besides Phelps, Speedo’s top athletes have not had great success here. One that has, Torres, wore a Jaked01 suit in her victory Thursday. Though Speedo was at the forefront of the suit technology last year, dozens of newer and increasingly performance-enhancing suits have since been released.

Speedo’s LZR, the suit of choice at last year’s Olympics, is now considered archaic.

“It would be unfortunate if it makes a difference in who the true world champion is,” Schubert said. “We want athleticism to determine the world champion. There certainly is a risk.”

Schubert also said: “The coaching community and swimming community would like us to go back to the 2007 generation of suits. That’s been the proposal; that’s what FINA promised in January. But they also promised something in May that they didn’t deliver on … I’ve been disappointed.”

Sutton Shines in 800; Ziegler, Hoff, Don’t Swim

Mission Viejo’s Chloe Sutton, 17, qualified first in the women’s 800 heats, which went off without defending world champion Kate Ziegler or Hoff in the field. Sutton, who trained for two years with Ziegler at the McLean-based Fish, finished in 8:29.55.

Ziegler’s hopes of defending her title were erased by a bout with the flu that prevented her from traveling here. Hoff also did not compete in the 800 and she has pulled out of the 100 Saturday as well. A three-time medal winner in Beijing, Hoff finished sixth in the 400 here and eighth in the 200, then described this past year as the hardest of her life.

“I think everybody can have a down year over a long career,” Schubert said. “She’s been a person on top of the national level since she was 14 years old … I’m not concerned; I’m disappointed for her because I know she wanted to be on this team.”

Local Results

NBAC’s Brennan Morris, 18, qualified for the 1,500 final, earning the fourth seed in 15:17.39. Besides Brennan, Pelton and Christensen, there were no other local finalists, but there were a host of top-20 placements: NBAC’s Andrew Cosgarea, 16, finished 13th in 15:32.43 and George Mason grad Thomas Koucheravy, 24, 14th in 15:32.56.  Curl-Burke’s Meredith Monroe, 20, finished 20th in the 200 back in 2:15.61; NBAC’s Austin Surhoff, 18, and T.P. Patrick made the B final of the 200 individual medley, Surhoff coming home in 2:03.46 and Patrick in 2:03.94. In the women’s 200 fly, NBAC’s Lee, Kailey Morris, 21, and Virginia’s Elizabeth Shaw, 20, all qualified for the B final. Lee finished in 2:12.49; Morris, 2:13.94, and Shaw, 2:13.97.

Michael Phelps pulled out of the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. swimming championships Friday morning. (Michael Conroy, Associated Press)

INDIANAPOLIS, July 10—Michael Phelps pulled out of the 100-meter freestyle Friday morning because of a stiff neck, ending his participation in the U.S. swimming championships.

Phelps, who set a world record in the 100 butterfly just hours before on Thursday night, said he woke up with neck pain Thursday morning. He said he was able to compete in the fly event because he doesn’t have to turn his neck to execute that stroke.

Though the pain had worsened Friday morning, Phelps said he wanted to give the 100 heats a try but decided to withdraw on the advice of his coach, Bob Bowman, and a USA Swimming doctor who advised him not to risk injury.

“I came in this morning … hopped in the water and I literally could barely move my neck to breathe,” Phelps said. “We decided it was probably better not to risk anything over the next two weeks.”

Said Bowman: “I made the call.”

Phelps, 24, won the 100 and 200 fly events here and the 200 freestyle, meaning he will compete in all three at the late-July world championships in Rome. He also is eligible for slots on all three relay teams, meaning he could try for as many as six gold medals.

Bowman said Phelps would not have swum the 100 free at the world championships even if he had competed here and made the team because it conflicts with the 200 fly, one of his strongest events.

“The 200 fly, that’s a big race, a race we don’t want to give up,” Bowman said. “We were going to swim the 200 no matter what.”

Phelps, however, hoped to test out an event that has been a grand experiment for him this summer. Phelps had competed in the 100 free previously but never focused on it. Using a new straight-arm freestyle stroke designed for speed and power, Phelps still plans to make the 100 free the next event in which he is dominant, he said.

“This doesn’t effect the long-term plan,” Bowman said.

He said he received treatment on the neck before and after Thursday night’s race and early Friday morning.

“I’ll keep going,” he said. “There will be many more races in the 100 free.”

Michael Phelps won the 100 fly Thursday night in a world-record time of 50.22 seconds. (Darron Cummings, Associated Press)

Locals Results

U.S. swimming championships archives

INDIANAPOLIS, July 9 — There has been one swimmer, and only one, who has been able to lord over Michael Phelps, and that’s a sweet old guy from Maine by the name of Ian Crocker. The now-retired Crocker, soft spoken and into his guitar, hated being Phelps’s nemesis, the bad guy.

But that’s exactly what he became by virtue of the fact he could kick Phelps’s rear, quite routinely, in one event, the 100-meter butterfly. Phelps taped Crocker’s picture on his bedroom wall for motivation six years ago, after Crocker set the 100 fly world record.

Crocker had held the record since — until Thursday, that is.

Phelps finally demolished the mark at the U.S. swimming championships by winning the 100 fly final in 50.22 seconds — 0.18 better than the 50.40 that has stood up since Crocker last set the record in 2005.

“It was big,” Phelps, 24, said. “It was something I really, really wanted to accomplish. Crock and I had a lot of great history, a lot of great races. ….. I’ve wanted that record ever since he took it at the 2003 worlds.”

The performance gave Phelps his first world record since the Beijing Olympics and upped his total of individual world records to five (he also holds world marks in the 200 freestyle, 200 fly, 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley). And it proved that he has not only recovered from a long post-Olympic break, but also that he is getting back into the form that helped him win eight golds in Beijing.

“At the Olympics, I was in the best shape of my life,” Phelps said. “To have the preparation I’ve had and do a best time [here] is pretty cool.”

Phelps’s chase may have seemed like an eternity to him, but for five-time Olympian Dara Torres, six years represents just a tiny blip in a career that spans no fewer than 28 U.S. championships. Torres, 42, took another unprecedented step and shook the usual fist at middle age, winning her 16th national title in the 50 free in 24.43 seconds.

“I guess I don’t think about the age thing,” Torres said, “until I get out of the pool and start limping.”

Thursday, in fact, Torres practically limped into the pool. Bothered by an arthritic knee that will require surgery after the world championships, which begin later this month in Rome — and which she qualified for with the victory — Torres got a slow start off the blocks and did not come close to her American record of 24.07.

She did, however, blow away the field over the last half of the sprint. During the race, “the adrenaline goes and you don’t really think about” the pain, Torres said. Amanda Weir finished second in 24.70 and Lara Jackson came in third in 24.71.

“My start was horrible,” Torres said. “I haven’t practiced starts. The one time I practiced my starts, I had to get my knee drained it swelled up so much. ….. It’s a great feeling to be able to go out of here and still race, but that time won’t medal at the world championships.”

Torres has retired after so many Olympic Games — only to return before the next — that she has competed in just one previous world championships, the 1986 event in Madrid. There, she won a silver medal in the 400 freestyle relay.

In Beijing last summer, as Torres finished second in the 50 free and set the current American record, Phelps set — or helped set — world records in seven of his eight events. The only mark he missed came in the 100 fly, a race he nearly lost to Serbia’s Milorad Cavic.

On Thursday, he easily beat Tyler McGill of Auburn University, who finished second in 51.06 and became the sixth-fastest man ever in the event . Backstroke specialist Aaron Peirsol claimed third in 51.30 seconds — making him the 11th-fastest man ever.

Phelps, of course, is now first.

After Crocker beat Phelps by 1.25 seconds in the event at the 2005 world championships in Montreal, Phelps told his coach Bob Bowman he wanted to “put a bag over his head.” Bowman told Phelps, he recalled, that he wanted to do the same.

“In the race Ian broke that record, that was the worst Michael had ever been beaten,” Bowman said. “We both remember that. ….. That is an amazing record. That’s why it stood the test of time.”

Phelps credits his emphasis on speed events since he returned to the pool six months ago for allowing him to approach what had been such an elusive mark. Phelps said he has never trained the 100 fly harder, and he’s also undertaken a far more rigorous weight-training regimen designed to build the upper-body strength he needs in sprint events.

“It’s killed my body,” he said. “There are days I can’t pick anything up.”

Phelps’s previous best in the event was the 50.48 he swam a couple of weeks ago in Montreal.

“Everything I’ve done has been something I’ve wanted to do, and something I’ve dreamed of,” Phelps said. “I would have liked to have gone eight for eight in Beijing, eight records and eight races. It feels good to have this one here.”

Locals Results

U.S. swimming championships archives

INDIANAPOLIS, July 9 — If not for a neck spasm as he approached the finish, Cullen Jones figured he would have set the American record in the 50-meter freestyle final Thursday night at the U.S. swimming championships.

Instead, he found himself stuck in a swim-off Saturday for second place and a berth on the world championship team, which hinges on a top-two finish. Nathan Adrian claimed his first U.S. title in the event with his victory in 21.52. seconds as Jones and Garrett Weber-Gale tied for second place in 21.55.

“My neck spasm ….. took me out of my streamline,” Jones said. “Things happen. It never goes the way it’s planned. ….. At least I still have a shot to make the team.”

Hours before the race, after reports surfaced that 65 African American and Hispanic summer campers had allegedly been denied entrance to a private swim club in the Philadelphia area because of their race, Jones, who is black, issued a statement condemning the action.

“I’m so appalled by it,” he said. For Cullen’s full statement on the situation, see above.

The 50 free presented this strange development: The winner of the B final swam a faster time than Adrian. Of course, the B final offered a stacked international lineup. Brazil’s Cesar Cielo came home first in 21.14, and France’s Fred Bousquet finished second in 21.36. Cielo and Bousquet both attended Auburn University.

Soni Sets U.S. Mark: Three-time Olympic medal winner Rebecca Soni got Thursday’s action off to a fast start when she set an American record in the 100 breaststroke final.

Soni finished in 1 minute 5.34 seconds, topping Jessica Hardy’s mark of 1:06.20. She beat rising star Kasey Carlson, 17, who finished in 1:06.54, and Keri Hehn, 28, who came home in 1:06.71. With those times, Soni, Carlson and Hehn became top 10 all-time performers in the event.

Ziegler Still Recovering: Four-time world champion Kate Ziegler said she had not recovered from her bout with the flu and would not compete in the 800 freestyle Friday as she had hoped. Ziegler, forced to pull out of the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle events here, said she probably would try to compete at the Aug. 4-8 U.S. Open in Federal Way, Wash.
“I just don’t think I’m in any state to compete,” Ziegler said by phone from her parents’ home in Great Falls.

Local Splashes: Curl-Burke’s Ellyn Baumgardner, 18, finished fourth in the C final of the women’s breaststroke, coming home in 1:10.73. George Mason’s Ashley Danner, 18, was seventh in 1:11.34. ….. T.P. Patrick, 24, of North Baltimore, finished second in the C final of the 100 butterfly in 53.56 seconds. Sean Fletcher, 17, of the Mason Makos Swim Team, touched the wall in 54.98 for eighth. ….. North Baltimore Aquatic Club’s Christie Raleigh, 22, finished fourth in the B final of the 50 freestyle in 25.72. ….. NBAC’s Kailey Morris finished eighth in the B final of the 400 individual medley in 4:54.30.

Dara Torres, 42, cruises to victory in her morning heat of the 50-meter freestyle as she opens her quest to make this summer's U.S. world championship team. (Michael Conroy, Associated Press)

Locals Results

U.S. swimming championships archives

INDIANAPOLIS, July 9–Even on a bum knee and with sub-standard preparation, Dara Torres, 42, can dominate women half her age.

Torres began her quest to make the U.S. world championship team by posting the fastest time in the Thursday morning heats of the 50-meter freestyle at the U.S. swimming championships.

Her finish in 24.72 seconds did not approach her American record of 24.07, but it topped Anne-Marie Botek, 21, who earned the second seed with a 24.89, and Amanda Weir, 23, third in 24.94.

“It kind of messes with your head a little bit when you know you’re not at peak form,” Torres said.

It surely messes with everyone else’s heads when Torres, apparently not in peak form, takes a quick lead and cruises to victory. It wasn’t, she insisted, as easy as it looked.

She said her arthritic left knee — on which she will have surgery at the end of the summer —  screams at her every time she bends at the start of a race to launch into the pool. On top of that, she said, she hasn’t been regimented in her training this year, busy as she has been with travel, promotional work and other opportunities outside the pool.

“I’m coming into this meet and I have no idea where I am … so it’s a little frustrating,” she said. “For this meet, it’s just a matter of making the team … I don’t really have super-high expectations.”

Torres wore the Speedo LZR that she wore at last year’s Olympics but did not rule out trying one of the more acclaimed new suits in the evening final. The world swimming governing body (FINA) considered banning more than 100 suits but decided against it after running into legal issues.

“FINA put us in a very difficult situation,” she said. “It’s unfortunate they kept going back and forth, back and forth on their decision. They should have just stuck to one thing. Now, it makes it tough for swimmers to decide what to do. It’s a very unfortunate situation.”

Earlier, Michael Phelps posted the fastest qualifying time in the 100 butterfly, then made it clear he will chase the world record in the event — one of the few he does not own — in Thursday’s final. Phelps touched the wall Thursday in 51.17. He has his eye on Ian Crocker’s four-year-old world record of 50.40.

“I was pretty happy with that swim,” Phelps said. “Tonight, for me to be able to go what I want to go, I have to be out a little faster.”

During a recent meet in Montreal, Phelps surprisingly dropping 0.10 from his personal best, finishing in 50.48.

Phelps said, at the time, he “had no idea” what the world-record mark was.

Now, he does.

“This is the event I’ve been looking forward to the most,” Phelps said.

Phelps said he has spent the majority of his last five months of training working on the 100 fly and 100 freestyle, as he has transitioned from more middle-distance events to speed events. He has spent more time in the weight room to bulk up and create the extra power he needs to go faster over shorter distances, he said.

“I think I’ve put on a lot more muscle mass than I have in the past,” Phelps said. “I think my upper body is a lot stronger than it’s been every before. I think for shorter events, it’s really needed.”

Cullen Jones led all qualifiers in the men’s 50 free, finishing in 21.54 seconds ahead of James Feigen (21.92) Nicholas Brunelli (21.94), Garrett Weber-Gale (21.99) and Nathan Adrian (22.01). The most interesting qualifier is Sabir Muhammad, who is 33 and earned the sixth seed in 22.08.

Julia Smit posted the best qualifying time (4 minutes, 40.27 seconds)  in the 400 individual medley, topping Elizabeth Beisel (4:40.60) and Dagny Knutson (4:42.00). In the women’s 100 breast heats, Kasey Carlson, 17, finished in 1:06.66 seconds, a meet record, topping Keri Hehn, 28, who also broke the meet record with her time of 1:06.80.

In other news: Springfield’s Ashley Danner, 18, won a spot in the C final of the women’s 100 breaststroke, finishing in 1:11.26, but Curl-Burke’s Ellyn Baumgardner, 18, (1:11.71), Rockville-Montgomery’s Colleen Haase, 20, (1:11.74) and Curl-Burke’s Jennifer Wilson, 18, (1:11.99) just missed … T.P. Patrick, 24, (54.36) of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club and Sean Fletcher, 17, (54.40) of the Mason Makos Swim Team qualified for the C final in the 100 fly … NBAC’s Christie Raleigh, 22, squeezed into the B final of the 50 free when she won a swim-off with three other women, finishing in 25.65, and NBAC’s Kailey Morris made the B final of the women’s 400 individual medley (4 minutes, 49.77 seconds).

Michael Phelps earned world championship berths by winning his first two events, the 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter freestyle. (Michael Conroy, Associated Press)

Locals Results

INDIANAPOLIS, July 8 — Michael Phelps muttered angrily as he got out of the water Wednesday night at the U.S. swimming championships. He spewed extremely unprintable things.

This was surprising.

He had just won his second of two finals, securing berths in the 200-meter freestyle and 200 butterfly at the world championships in Rome later this month.

He had officially overcome a tumultuous offseason that included six months of no training, a three-month ban for bad behavior and serious consideration of retirement. He had gone 2 for 2 on his first night back of serious, this-really-matters swimming, winning the 200 free in 1 minute 44.23 seconds and the 200 fly in 1:52.76.

Yet Phelps fumed and talked to himself.

“I’m not happy,” Phelps said later to reporters when asked about his obvious dismay. “That’s one of the things that’s really going to motivate me, these races today. ….. Some things happened today that are going to be helpful for me to swim faster.”

Phelps, 24, declined to elaborate on those “things.” He, perhaps coincidentally, also declined to elaborate on his feelings about the latest high-tech speedsuits that have caused so much controversy in the sport recently — and which happened to be worn by the two men who finished second to him Wednesday, and many others in both races.

In the 200 fly, Phelps beat Tyler Clary, 20, who sported one of the most popular and controversial new suits, a Jaked01. With his finish in 1:53.64, which makes him the fourth-fastest man ever in the event, he dropped nearly four seconds from the personal best he set in June and more than eight seconds from the personal best he set in May.

In the 200 free, David Walters, 21, also sported a Jaked01 and finished second in 1:44.95, 1.62 seconds faster than his previous best. Walters not only hung with Phelps, he topped Phelps’s pal Ryan Lochte, who finished third in 1:45.66, thereby keeping Lochte off of the world championship team in that event.

Walters, who won an Olympic gold swimming a preliminary leg of the 400 free relay last year, said he chose the “Ferrari red” Jaked01 suit because “objects that are red look faster than they actually are.”

“Everybody in that heat I look up to,” he said. “I’ll take the win, but I know any other day those guys would win.”

Clary, this year’s national champion in the 400-yard individual medley from the University of Michigan, prevented Michigan’s Dan Madwed, who came home in 1:56.13, from making the world team in the 200 fly. Madwed used to train at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, Phelps’s home club.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic with how that turned out,” Clary said.

Phelps, clearly, was not.

“After six months off, really being back in the water five months, I can’t be disappointed” with his times, Phelps said. “There are other things frustrating me. I’m just going to keep them inside.”

FINA, swimming’s world governing body, considered banning the Jaked01 and 136 other suits last month, but decided against it because of legal concerns, allowing 400 suits by more than two dozen manufacturers to be used this summer. Phelps has declined to discuss the issue this week, but his coach, Bob Bowman, has railed against the ruling and the newest suits.

Phelps’s two victories overshadowed five-time Olympic gold medal winner Aaron Peirsol’s world-record swim in the 100 backstroke. Peirsol regained the world record he lost just a week ago when Spain’s Aschwin Wildeboer Faber took Peirsol’s former record while wearing a Jaked01.

Wednesday, Peirsol also sported one of the hot — and controversial — new suits, the Arena X-Glide. But he only wore the pants, not the full-body version, drawing cheers from the crowd here. He touched the wall in 51.94 seconds, topping Faber’s 52.38.

“When the world record was broken, it was a total surprise,” Peirsol, 25, said. “But my goal going into this meet was to break that anyway. That was a little extra motivation. The guy got to hold the record for a week, so he can be happy with that.”

Before Faber broke it, Peirsol had held the 100 world record since 2004.

“He was making a statement,” said Matt Grevers, 24, who finished second in 53.11. “The other guy’s trying to take his record and the first opportunity he got, he took it back. That says a lot about his dominance.”

Grevers beat out Nick Thoman, 23, who also trains at NBAC under Bowman. Thoman missed a world championship team berth by .01 of a second.

Phelps, who will also compete in the 100 fly and 100 free later this week, added that he also would have liked to have reached personal bests; his time in the 200 free was well short of his world record of 1:42.96, and the time in the 200 fly missed his world record in that event by .73 of a second.

“When I’m satisfied is when I’m doing a best time,” Phelps said. “That’s what makes me happy. I’m happy with where I am, all things considered, but deep down inside I’m happy doing a best time.”

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.”

NBAC's Elizabeth Pelton finished a surprising second in the women's 200 IM on day one of the U.S. swimming championships. (Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

Locals Results Chart

INDIANAPOLIS, July 7 — This story has played out before, a 15-year-old youngster soaring out of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, all optimism and talent and potential. Elizabeth Pelton, the youngest swimmer entered in the 200-meter individual medley at the  national championships, flew into that joyous role with her surprising second-place finish, clinching a spot on her first world championship team.

Towson’s Katie Hoff, now 20, was once that 15-year-old sensation from NBAC.

Tuesday night, however, she could not have been farther away from that glorious place.

About 40 minutes after Pelton realized her dream faster than just about anyone expected, Hoff swam an almost incomprehensibly dismal race. Eleven months after a disappointing Olympic Games, Hoff — once labeled “the Female Michael Phelps” — sank, perhaps officially, into a slump: She did not make the team in an event she has been dominant.

She finished sixth in 4 minutes 12.34 seconds, more than 10 seconds slower than her personal best, more than five seconds behind first-place finisher Allison Schmitt (4:06.77) and nearly two seconds slower than she swam in the morning’s heats.

“It happens to everybody,” said her coach, Bob Bowman. “Katie hasn’t had a meet like this ever. She will learn from it and move on.”

Distraught after the performance, Hoff declined to talk to reporters.

Adding an additional slap to an already painful day: Julia Smit, 21, the Stanford swimmer who topped Pelton (2:09.34 to 2:11.03) did this, too: She broke Hoff’s American record (2:09.71) in the event.

That didn’t stifle Pelton’s celebration one bit. Leading after the butterfly and backstroke legs, Pelton lost ground during the breaststroke but hung on despite a fierce race over the final 50 meters.

She didn’t know she had earned a spot in Rome until she peered at her coach at NBAC, Paul Yetter, in the stands with the more than dozen other NBAC swimmers competing here. They were all jumping up and down, she recalled, and screaming.

“I was pretty surprised,” Pelton said. “I always knew, in the back of my head, I had a chance. But in the last 25 meters I was like, ‘Wow, this could happen.’.”

Happen it did. Pelton topped Ariana Kukors, 20, who was fifth in the 400 IM at the 2007 world championships and finished in 2:11.07. She also beat North Dakotan sensation Dagny Knutson, 17, who overshadowed Pelton at last year’s world junior championships in Guam but finished fourth in 2:11.11; as well as the highly regarded Elizabeth Beisel, 16, who came home in 2:11.80. It didn’t hurt that neither Hoff nor Olympic star Natalie Coughlan is competing in the event this year.

“It was a stacked field for sure,” Yetter said. “Liz is a very tough, determined swimmer. With the race on the line, she’s just going to gut it out.”

Pelton arrived at NBAC from Fairfield, Conn., in 2006. She moved with her mother and siblings, leaving her college-professor father behind, for one reason: To take advantage of the high-profile swim program that had made young stars out of Hoff and Michael Phelps, both of whom made their first Olympic teams at 15.

Like Hoff, Pelton developed under Yetter. And, like Hoff, she will now begin training under Bowman, who has coached Phelps since he was 11. Hoff left Yetter after she won three medals, but no golds, at the Olympic Games last summer. Pelton will leave Yetter simply because he is leaving.

Yetter accepted an assistant coaching position at Auburn University, still reeling from the recent death of coach Richard Quick from brain cancer. At the end of these championships, he will leave for the new job and Pelton will shift into Bowman’s training group.

“She has great potential,” Bowman said.

Hoff, meantime, will have to pick up the pieces, and fast. She competes Wednesday in the 200 freestyle. Bowman said she was surely affected by an illness that caused her to drop out of a recent meet in Santa Clara. She missed, Bowman said, substantial training time and, on top of that, she’s been tinkering with her stroke.

But physical problems are not her only ones, he said.

“She was just not there, probably psychologically and physically,” Bowman said. “She’s not doing too well right now.”

Said Yetter: “I believe she’s going to come back to be very, very good again.”

Gangloff Sets 100 Breast Mark: In the men’s 100 breast, Mark Gangloff, wearing a new Jaked suit, upset Eric Shanteau, wearing an Arena X-Glide, and claimed an American record in the process, topping former world record holder Brendan Hansen’s mark of 59.13. Gangloff touched the wall in 59.01 seconds, edging Shanteau, who finished in 59.45 — the second time he had gone under the one-minute barrier Tuesday.

Gangloff’s time approached Kosuke Kitajima’s world record of 58.91 and represented a drop of 1.09 seconds from Gangloff’s previous personal best.

The new suits seem to have had an inordinate affect in the breaststroke events, which have seen massive time drops around the globe.

“You just feel differently all over,” Shanteau said. “The way these suits are, you sit differently in the water.”

Madwed Claims Spot at Worlds: In the men’s 400 free, former NBAC swimmer Dan Madwed, 20, also claimed a spot at the Rome world championships with his finish in 3 minutes 47.24 seconds. Olympic veteran Peter Vanderkaay, 25, finished first in 3:45.17. …..

Reigning Olympic silver medal winner Christine Magnuson, 23, came close to her American record in winning the 100 fly, finishing in 57.15 wearing the X-Glide. Magnuson, who set her American record (57.08) at last year’s Olympic Games, beat out Dana Vollmer, 21, who touched the wall in 57.32. North Baltimore Aquatic Club’s Felicia Lee, 17, finished sixth in 58.53.

“I know I can be faster in Rome,” Magnuson said. …..

In the men’s 400 individual medley, Ryan Lochte out-touched Tyler Clary at the finish, winning in 4:06.40 to Clary’s 4:06.96.