Wanezek places third in 50 free at World Championship Trials
INDIANAPOLIS -- Senior All-American Sarah Wanezek (Brookfield, Wis.) touched the wall third in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 25.53 seconds, just one one-hundredth of a second behind second-place finisher Amanda Weir, highlighting current Texas swimmers on the third day of the U.S. trials for this summers world championships. Kara Lynn Joyce, the NCAA champion in the 50-yard freestyle two weeks ago, captured the win with a mark of 25.17. The winner of each event is guaranteed a spot on the U.S. team that will compete in the world championships July 24-31 in Montreal. Depending on multiple-event winners, second-place finishers could be added to the American squad. The showdown for second place in the women's 50 free had been foreshadowed this morning, where two one-hundredths of a second separated Weir from Wanezek in the prelims. Wanezek had posted a runner-up finish to Joyce at the NCAAs. Saturday's second event renewed swimming's best single-event rivalry as world-record holder Texas Ex Ian Crocker and eight-time Olympic medal-winner Michael Phelps went head-to-head in the 100-meter butterfly. As was the case at the Athens Olympics, Phelps out touched Crocker, 53.13 to 53.16, joining 15-year old Katie Hoff as triple-winners at the meet. Phelps won the 400 freestyle Friday night and the 200 free Saturday. In addition to winning the 400 individual medley on Sunday, Hoff also won the 200 IM on Friday and the 200 free on Saturday. While Phelps won this race as well as the race at the Olympics, it was Crocker who set the world standard at the Olympic Trials in July and won the title at the 2003 World Championships. Former Longhorn Nate Dusing and All-America freshman Daniel Rohleder (Austin, Texas) swam alongside Crocker and Phelps in the championship final of the 100 fly and placed sixth and eighth, respectively, while senior Daniel DiToro (Brant Rock, Mass.) finished fifth in the `B' finals. UT sophomores Garrett Weber-Gale (Fox Point, Wis.) and Elizabeth Tinnon (Bowling Green, Ky.) also qualified for championship finals on Sunday. Weber-Gale, fresh of All-America performances in six events at the Men's NCAA Championships last week, finished fourth in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 22.44, while Tinnon, an All-American in both breaststroke events, posted the seventh-fastest time (1:10.59) in the 100-meter breaststroke. Tinnon placed 12th in that event at the Olympic Trials last summer. Texas Ex Neil Walker placed two spots behind Weber-Gale in the 50 free, while freshman All-America Matt McGinnis (Raleigh, N.C.), who placed sixth in the 200-meter freestyle on Saturday, posted the 17th-fastest preliminary time of 23.53 in the 50 free but did not compete in the finals. Texas World Championships Notes: Texas signee Alexandra Spann placed fifth in the `B' final - 13th overall - in the 100-meter breaststroke with a mark of 1:11.97 ... Texas Ex Tanica Jamison placed fourth in the `B' final of the 50-meter freestyle while junior Kristin Siminski (Portage, Ind.) and sophomore Katie Robinson (Dillsboro, Ind.) ranked 32nd and 45th after the preliminaries ... sophomore Thomas Sacco (Dallas, Texas) placed 30th in 56.43 in the preliminaries of the 100-meter butterfly ... sophomore Elaine Ferritto (Columbus, Ohio) and junior Amanda Larence (Nashville, Tenn.) competed in the prelims of the 400 IM and placed 28th and 48th, respectively.
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