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FAST sent eight swimmers to
the Santa Clara International Grand Prix last weekend in Northern
California. This was the last stop of the 2011-2012 Grand Prix
circuit. The meet always attracts big international names from
Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea, just to name a
few. The FAST Elite Team traveled to Santa Clara from the Olympic
Training Center in Colorado Springs where they just completed a
four week training camp. Everyone performed well, posting strong
swims in their final meet before the Olympic Trials.
The distance swimmers
kicked things off on the first day with Emily Brunemann and Michael
Klueh each claiming second place in their respective events.
Emily's 1500 Free time of 16:23.36 places her 11th in the world for
2012! Michael's 800 Free time of 8:01.23 was a season best and
ranks 29th in the world. Lauren Morford also raced the 1500 Free
taking 5th place overall. The Senior Team's Gian Berino swam a
lifetime best 8:42.04 to claim 13th place.
Day Two was a great day for
FAST's 400 Freestylers. Matt McLean (3:50.86), Klueh (3:52.30), and
Tyler Clary (3:52.75) took the second, third, and fourth spots in
the Men's event. Robert Margalis swam in the Consolation Final and
took 17th place overall. Berino swam his second lifetime best in as
many days with his finish in 4:12.60. The first place finisher was
Korea's
Taehwan Park who posted an incredible 3:44.96, the third
fastest time in the world this year. Park is the defending Olympic
Gold Medalist in this event as well as the 200 Freestyle. On the
Women's side, Brunemann and Morford represented in the Consolation
Final taking 14th and 16th place, respectively.
FAST had four more Finals
swims on the third day, three of which came in the 400 IM. Clary
won the Men's event in 4:15.02, slightly faster than the 4:15.88
posted by Michael Phelps on the same night at the Longhorn Aquatics
Elite Invite in Austin, Texas. Clary and Phelps last faced off in
the 400 IM two months ago at the Indianapolis Grand Prix and the
event will be a major race to watch at the upcoming Olympic Trials.
Margalis took third place with 4:21.02, just one second off of his
season best which stands 58th in the world. Brunemann raced in the
Women's event with a strong evening swim to take sixth place in
4:50.53, four seconds faster than her Prelims time. The fourth FAST
race on the third night was Klueh's 200 Free. He took second place
with a time of 1:49.53, a full second improvement from his morning
time and just one second slower than his best time this
season.
On the final day of the
meet, Clary won his second event of the weekend when he took the
top spot in the 200 Back. His time of 1:57.90 was just three tenths
of a second slower than his season best from the Mission Viejo Meet
of Champions in April, the second fastest time in the country for
2012. Clary also raced in the Final of the 200 Fly taking third
place in 2:00.53 just behind teammate Klueh who claimed second with
1:59.27. Margalis raced to second place in the Consolation Final
for 11th place overall. Brunemann and Morford competed in the Final
of the Women's 800 Free taking 4th and 10th place,
respectively.
Great job, FAST! Complete
results from the meet can be viewed here.
World rankings can be viewed here.
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