Meyer takes 200 backstroke title at U.S. Open
August 05, 2009 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Maggie Meyer entered the 2009 U.S. Open Swimming Champions second to one in the 200-meter backstroke.
In the pool Wednesday in Federal Way, Wash., the University of Wisconsin junior-to-be was second to none.
Meyer won the U.S. Open title in a time of 2:09.53, distancing herself from the rest of the field in the championship final of the 200 breast and dropping more than a half-second of her mark from the morning preliminaries that gave her the top seed for the final.
The performance came on the heels of the 20-year-old's outstanding fourth-place finish in the 200 back at last month's USA Swimming National Championships.
2009 U.S. Open Swimming Championships
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Also, Meyer gave the Badgers their second top seed for an event final in as many days, as sophomore-to-be Ashley Wanland set a U.S. Open record in the prelims of the 200-meter breaststroke on Tuesday.
Unlike Wanland, who was later upset in the final, Meyer cruised to victory.
The North Oaks, Minn., native -- who entered the meet ranked second in the event -- won by a comfortable margin of 1.15 seconds over runner-up Escarlata Bernard of Spain, who clocked in at 2:10.68.
Meyer led throughout the race, building a lead of more than 2 seconds at the 100-meter mark before Bernard chipped away at the advantage with a strong push over the final length. Impressively, Meyer's winning time represents a drop of more than 12 seconds from the long-course best she recorded at last summer's U.S. Olympic Trials.
Meyer also is slated to compete in the 100-meter backstroke on Friday, an event in which she was 10th-fastest at last month's U.S. championships.
Also advancing to a final Wednesday was redshirt freshman Monika Stitski, who scored a fifth-place finish in the consolation final of the 400-meter individual medley. Stitski, who was coming off a fifth-place showing at the Canadian World Championships Trials last month, clocked in at 4:52.41.
Also in the 400 IM, rising senior Libby Brooks earned a 32nd-place overall finish with her time of 4:59.29 during the morning prelims session.
In addition to her performance in the 400 IM, Stitski also was 50th-fastest overall in the prelims of 200 back, clocking in at 2:19.71.
Sophomore-to-be Beckie Thompson also qualified for the `C' final of the 100-meter freestyle and took fourth place with a time of 57.09.
On the men's side, rising senior Phil Davies scored a fourth-place showing in the consolation final of the 100 free, clocking in at 50.67.
The U.S. Open continues Thursday at the Weyerhaeuser Aquatic Center, with the Badgers resuming competition Friday in three events.
