Day 1 Prelims

The first session of the meet went a long way toward setting the tone. The energy was definitely flowing through the crowd, the athlete/coaches section, and through the swimmers in the pool. Usually a preliminary session is low key, especially on the first day and this session was definitely that in some parts. But the crowd is ready to burst at any second, and they showed it when Elizabeth Beisel was under world record pace at the 200 meter mark in the 400 IM and when stars like Phelps, Hoff, and Vendt were in the pool. Tonight there is the potential for three World Records (both the men's and women's 400 IM and the men's 100 Breaststroke) and possibly two American Records (women's 100 Fly and men's 400 Free). Be sure to tune in to NBC at 8pm tonight!

GCIT Swimmers fared excellent today. Mike Joyce started things off with a 2 second drop in the 400 IM (4:27.34) to finish 31st. A few heats later Billy Cregar dropped a couple of seconds from his best 400 IM (4:22.52) time for a 15th place finish. Christian Sprang dropped nearly 3 seconds from his best time in the 400 Free (3:53.96) for a 12th place finish. Finally Jamie Marks posted her best time in three years in the 400 IM (4:54.21) for a 47th place finish.

What To Watch For Tonight:
1) Katie Hoff's turnover in the breaststroke leg of the 400 IM. Its simply amazing how fast her arms are moving.
2) Erik Vendt on the last 100 of the 400 Freestyle. Erik is the fastest 1500 swimmer in the world right now and will have a lot of energy at the end of that race.
3) Alicia Aemissenger from Germantown Academy is seeded 6th in the Final of the 400 IM tonight. Look for her in lane 7 in that race tonight.
4) Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte in the first of a number of match-ups between the world's #1 and #2 in a particular event this week. Both Phelps and Lochte put up fast times this morning and were completely cruising on the freestyle leg of the race. They both will be A LOT faster this evening.