University Southern California Trojans
Sandeno, Neethling First Winners of Janet Evans Invite
July 13, 2000 | Women's Swimming & Diving
July 13, 2000
LOS ANGELES - For the second consecutive year, Kaitlin Sandeno (Nellie Gail Saddleback Valley Gators) of Lake Forest, Calif., and South African Ryk Neethling won the women's and men's 800-meter freestyles, respectively, to kick off the seventh annual Janet Evans Invitational on Thursday (July 13) at the USC McDonald's Swim Stadium in the meet hosted by USC and presented by Speedo.
Sandeno, 17, won her second straight Janet Evans Invitational 800m free in 8:38.66, holding off Olympic veteran and gold medalist Claudia Poll of Costa Rica, who finished second in 8:40.70. Kalyn Keller (Phoenix Swim Club) was third in 8:47.39. Sandeno won the event last year in 8:36.21.
"My stroke was really good and the time was really great," said Sandeno, who recently recovered from a bout with shoulder tendinitis. "It feels great to be back in shape."
Neethling, who set the meet record in the event last year in 8:01.36, won this year in 8:06.48, overtaking USC sophomore Erik Vendt (8:08.09) in the final 100 meters. The win helped Neethling get a bit of revenge against Vendt, who upset the South African at the 2000 NCAA Championships in the 1500 meters in March.
"I really like to race against Erik," Neethling said. "We had a great race at NCAAs. I didn't know what to expect today. I just recently got back from South Africa and I'm really tired. I've hit a rough spot in training so I decided to hold back and just see what happens."
Said Vendt: "I swam kind of a stupid race. Normally, I like to take it out at even splits. I took it out too slow today. In order to beat him I should have taken it out faster. But I love racing Ryk. He's a great competitor."
The meet continues Friday through Sunday with prelims beginning at 9 a.m. and finals starting at 5 p.m. each day.
The order of events for the remaining days are as follows: Friday: 100m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 200m backstroke, 400m freestyle, 400m freestyle relay
Saturday: 200m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 50m freestyle, 400m individual medley, 800m freestyle relay
Sunday: 100m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, 400m medley relay
