Wave of records falls at Rec Complex

By Ryan Huber

Published Feb. 19, 2008

In its second year, the Missouri Grand Prix Series, held at the Student Recreation Complex, spoiled fans and swimmers alike as two world records and three American records were broken.

Among the world-class athletes who graced the Grand Prix stage in preparation for the Olympic Trials beginning Jun. 29 was 13-time world record holder Michael Phelps, seven-time gold medalist Amanda Beard, Katie Hoff, Kirsty Conventry and Natalie Coughlin.

Unlike last year where the prelims were held in the morning and finals at night, the Grand Prix committee scheduled the finals at 9 a.m. to simulate the TV schedule the Olympics will follow later this summer in Beijing.

Coventry began the record smashing on Saturday morning, the second day of the four-day competition, with a 2:06.39 in the 200-meter backstroke, breaking an 18-year-old world record.

The world record was the second set in the Missouri pool, as Michael Phelps broke his own world record in the 200-meter butterfly set in the Grand Prix last year.

Phelps swam four tenths faster than his world record-setting performance last year but did not come close to his newest world record time of 1:52.09, which he set a month after the 2007 Grand Prix. Following a broken wrist, which required surgery four months ago, Phelps said he was happy with his performance in the event — his second fastest ever — considering the circumstances.

“Having not had the training I would have liked to have and going through some ups and downs, I think right now I am back to the rhythm I need to be in order to do want I want to do at the end of the year,” he said.

In Beijing, Phelps plans on topping Mark Spitz’s seven-gold medal performance set in 1972 in Munich.

Another young star reining the podium this weekend was 18-year-old Hoff. A former teammate of Phelps, Hoff’s three records on the weekend included the 400-meter freestyle mark set by Janet Evans in 1988 — more than eight months before Hoff was born. She also set US Open records in the 200-meter freestyle and 400-meter individual medley.

“I am really shocked to be going that fast right now,” she said. “I am still in shock. I am very honored to be named with Janet Evans. She was the distance queen, and still is.”

Natalie Coughlin set the second world record of the meet on Sunday evening when she broke her own world record by more than two tenths of a second in the 100-meter backstroke.

“If you could see my face, I was slightly shocked,” Coughlin said after the race. “I was thinking about barbeque and no warm down. It was a strange race. I really didn’t expect it.”

With all the unusually fast times for this time of year, many top athletes said how much they enjoyed swimming at a "fast water" pool.

“Michael Phelps, Erik Vendt and Aaron Peirsol were comparing the Mizzou Aquatic Center to the international competitive facility in Sydney, Australia and with our colleagues down at the University of Texas-Austin,” said Diane Dahlmann, director of the Student Recreation Complex. “All three of these Olympians said, ‘boy, Mizzou has fast water.’ Knowing that is extraordinarily gratifying and absolutely thrilling for us as a university and certainly for the staff who work so hard to put these kinds of events into motion.”