University Southern California Trojans
USC
NCAA Championships Day Two Finals
Sandeno Breaks American Record In 400 IM
March 19, 2004 | Women's Swimming & Diving
March 19, 2004
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Junior Kaitlin Sandeno broke the American record in the 400 IM (short course meters), winning her second NCAA title in 24 hours, while senior teammate Jana Krohn earned her fourth career All-American honor in the 100 fly during the second night of finals at the 2004 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday (March 19) at Texas A&M's Student Rec Center Natatorium in College Station, Texas.
USC is finished just out of the top 10 overall, in 11th with 94 points. Auburn is in first with 399 and is followed by Georgia (278) and Arizona (261).
Sandeno, who won the 200m IM on Thursday, swam a 4:30.44, the fastest time in the world this year. She broke Allison Wagner's 1993 American record (4:31.76), SMU's Alenka Kejzar's 2001 NCAA record (4:33.46), Columbia's Christina Teuscher's 2000 NCAA meet record (4:33.81) and Tracy Caulkins 1981 U.S. Open record (4:33.44), set before the 21-year-old Sandeno was born. The time also bettered her own USC record of 4:34.74 set in prelims today.
Sandeno led Arizona junior Emily Mason by 0.86 after the first 100 meters of backstroke and led Auburn junior Kirsty Coventry by 0.83 after 100 meters of fly. Sandeno, who has worked extensively on her breaststroke in the past year, extended her lead to more than two seconds after 100 meters of breast and was simply racing the clock in the final 100 meters of freestyle. She finished less than three seconds off of the world record of 4:27.83 set by Ukraine's Yana Klochkova in 2002.
She became only the fifth Trojan woman to win at least two career NCAA titles and the first USC swimmer to win the event since Kristine Quance in 1997. It was the fourth USC individual record Sandeno lowered so far this meet. In addition to the 400m IM twice, she set school records in the 200m IM and the 50m free on Thursday. She later earned another in the 800m free relay.
Sandeno came through with a dominant performance even though she felt less than perfect after the race.
"I usually feel so good at night, but I've felt horrible tonight. I'm not sure if it's due to the race or what. I'm still trying to calm down," said Sandeno about 30 minutes after the win. "It's my first American record and I'm so excited. It's also my second win here.
"I was almost in tears on my backstroke since it hurt so bad. I could tell from the crowd that I was doing well. I fell off world record pace on the free, but it's still encouraging. Like I said last night (after the 200m IM win), there's still room for improvement. But I'm on the right track."
Said USC Coach Mark Schubert: "Kaitlin's breaststroke has really improved a lot in the 200m IM and tonight (in the 400m IM) she did it with such confidence and actually gained on the stroke. She's making good progress. I actually expected her to go under 4:30, but her first free length wasn't as aggressive as it could be.
"When she got out of the pool, she said, 'It's my first American record.' Which blew me away. You think she's so good but you forget she's so young and still relatively new to the sport. I think now she's getting beyond swimming to win, where she can do something spectacular."
Krohn, one of USC's top butterflyers ever, made her fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA 100 fly finals, finishing eighth in 1:00.23. Her morning swim of 59.45 broke Nora Zhong's 1998 school record of 1:00.60. Krohn has finished fifth twice and eighth twice, earning four career All-American honors in the event.
USC's 800m free relay turned in an All-American performance (top eight) for the third consecutive year, this time the group of Sandeno, freshman Cait Connealy, freshman Kalyn Keller and junior Joanna Fargus finishing sixth in a USC record 7:58.20.
"I'm happy with Cait," said Schubert. "She was a question mark coming into the relay, but she came through. It was a solid relay. And it was good to see Kalyn swim well. The thing with her is she needs to improve her speed, and today's 200 was a solid sign."
Other USC individual finishers included sophomore Stacy Vazhenin (400m IM, 33rd, 4:48.41, season best), Fargus (200m free, 24th, 2:00.26, season best), Connealy (200m free, 41st, 2:01.93) and junior Marisa Kozak (100m fly, 23rd, 1:01.02, season best). Keller, whose time in the 400m IM would have been good enough for consolation finals, was disqualified for one of her turns.
The meet, normally competed in yards, is being swum in short course meters because it is an Olympic year. The meet continues on Saturday with prelims at 11 a.m. and finals at 7 p.m.
For full results, go to: http://www.aggieathletics.com/specialsites/ncaaswimming2004/schedule.php
