WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB
April 11, 2013
SOFLO’s Alia Atkinson, fourth fastest morning qualifier, finished fifth in the 200-meter breaststroke Thursday night of the Arena Mesa Grand Prix at the Skyline Aquatic Center.
Atkinson, who went 2:32.15 in the morning, was faster at night in 2:31.31. Her best time is 2:28.77.
Hometown favorite Breeja Larson, with a loud crowd behind her, won the breaststroke event with a great final 50 meters and finished in 2:28.03. Caitlin Leverenz was second in 2:29.
Larson, born and raised in Mesa, was coming off her second straight 100-yard breaststroke title at the NCAA championships.
It was the first of four events for Atkinson, a three-time Jamaican Olympian.
On Friday, Atkinson will swim the 50-meter freestyle (seeded 11th in 25.90) and Saturday the 100-meter breaststroke (seeded third in 1:06.79) and 200-meter individual medley (seeded ninth in 2:14.75).
The 100 breaststroke will be an interesting matchup for Atkinson against Olympians and top seeds Jessica Hardy and Larson of Texas A&M, where Atkinson graduated from.
Also on opening night, Olympian Missy Franklin won the 100-meter freestyle.
Franklin won in a season-best 54.27 followed by Hungarian Katinka Hosszu in 54.60 and Natalie Coughlin, the top morning qualifier, in 54.61. Franklin qualified third in 55.04 and in the final split 26.36.
Coughlin was making her first meet appearance in the U.S. as a 30-year-old.
In other championship finals:
Teenage Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky won the 400-meter freestyle in 4:05.21, second fastest time in the world this year behind Camille Muffat’s time. She also won the B final in the 100 freestyle in a best time 56.00.
Virginia’s Matt McLean, an Olympic gold medalist, won the 400-meter freestyle in 3:51.95. Michael Klueh was second in 3:52.20.
B.J. Johnson of Palo Alto won the men’s 200-meter breaststroke in 2:14.51 closely followed by Alex Mihail in 2:14.56.
Nathan Adrian won the 100-meter freestyle in 48.42, third fastest time in the world this year, followed by Ricky Berens in 49.06 and Darian Townsend in 49.73. Ryan Lochte won the B final in 50.98.
Cal’s Marcin Tarczynski won the 100-meter butterfly in 52.83 ahead of Tom Shields in 52.99.
Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell upset the field to initially win the 100-meter butterfly in 59.48 but was disqualified for a 15-meter underwater violation and Olympic gold medalist Claire Donahue, who frequently trains at SOFLO, was awarded the win in 59.58 in her first major meet back since surgery.
Hosszu, an Olympian, USC alum and reigning FINA World Cup champion, has the most ambitious schedule of the meet, entered in nine events over three days.
The field is loaded mainly because of the venue’s closeness to the west coast and the top training sites in California.
It is the fourth stop on the Arena Grand Prix Series and first time the meet has been held in Arizona since 1997.
Universal Sports Network will broadcast the swim meet live on Friday from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday’s broadcast was delayed because of technical difficulties.
Prelims are noon and finals 8 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).
Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
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