McLean Wins USA Swimming National Championship in 400 Freestyle
Story Links
STANFORD, Calif. – Former Virginia swimmer Matt McLean posted a personal-best time in the 400-meter freestyle en route to capturing his first national title at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships Tuesday night in Stanford, Calif. The event began today and runs through Saturday at Stanford University’s Avery Aquatic Center.
McLean topped the field with a time of 3:47.33, which marks the second-fastest American time this year in the event behind only Peter Vanderkaay’s 3:44.83 from the FINA World Long Course Championships last week in China.
“I just tried to stay in my own head and swim my own race,” McLean said following the event. “I knew it was going to be an awesome race. (This summer) is really important because I am really big on process goals. I have some things I want to accomplish so it’s a stepping stone. We’ll see where it takes me.”
Rising sophomore Rachel Naurath, who along with McLean will swim at the World University Games later this month, also earned a spot in the 400 freestyle final. She took ninth overall with a mark of 4:13.57 after recording a personal best time of 4:10.64 in the preliminaries.
Another former Virginia swimmer, 2000 Olympian Ed Moses, tied for seventh in the consolation final of the 100-meter breaststroke (1:02.14) and finished tied for 17th overall in the event.
Incoming freshman Sarah White swam in the bonus final of the 200-meter individual medley and recorded a 27th-place finish. She touched in 2:18.75 to finish sixth in the heat after recording a time of 2:16.99 during the preliminaries.
Rising sophomore Bradley Phillips joined White in the bonus final. He competed in the 400-meter individual medley and posted a time of 4:29.65 to place 29th after tallying a ninth-place performance in the heat. Phillips notched a mark of 4:25.33 in the prelims.
Day two of the ConocoPhillips National Championships continues Wednesday. Preliminaries begin at 12 p.m. Eastern (9 a.m. Pacific) with finals scheduled for 9 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Pacific). All sessions will be webcast live at www.usaswimming.org/nationals.
2011 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships
Aug. 2-6, 2011 | Avery Aquatic Center | Stanford, Calif.
Day 1 Results
Women’s 100-Meter Butterfly 36. Rachel Naurath 1:01.01 41. Alison Haulsee
1:01.14 55. Sarah White
1:01.66 76. Shaun Casey
1:02.16 80. Ellen Williamson
1:02.32 144. Emily Lloyd
1:03.82 151. Riley Flanagan
1:03.92 Men’s 400-Meter Freestyle 1. Matt McLean*
3:47.33 / 3:49.53 prelim
36. Bradley Philips
3:58.56 37. Parker Camp 3:58.63 77. Nathan Vredeveld
4:02.19 87. David Karasek 4:02.69 97. Jackson Partin
4:04.71 Women’s 200-Meter IM 26. Sarah White
2:18.75 / 2:16.99 prelim
50. Ellen Williamson
2:19.07 108. Shaun Casey
2:21.74 120. Erika Stewart
2:22.16 Men’s 100-Meter Breaststroke 17. Ed Moses*
1:02.14 / 1:02.54 prelim
84. Taylor Grey 1:05.18 103. Tom Casey
1:06.14 Women’s 400-Meter Freestyle 9. Rachel Naurath
4:13.57 / 4:10.64 prelim
34. Kelly Offutt
4:16.38
36. Alison Haulsee
4:16.48 43. Katya Bachrouche*
4:17.57 58. Caroline Kenney
4:18.86 Men’s 400-Meter IM 29. Bradley Phillips 4:29.65 / 4:25.38 prelim
42. Jon Daniec
4:28.24 59. Matthew Houser
4:30.56 64. Serge Gould
4:30.91 *former Virginia swimmer