Brendan Hansen Wins at the USA Swimming National Championships Two-time Olympian Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa.) won the 100m breast Tuesday on the first night of competition at the 2011 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships.
Photo Courtesy: www.usaswimming.org - Brendan Hansen swimming the semifinals of the 100m breast.
Two-time Olympian Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa.) won the 100m breast Tuesday on the first night of competition at the 2011 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships. Hansen returned to competition for the first time since the 2008 Olympics this past June.
Hansen finished in 1:00.08, a top-ten time for 2011. He was followed by Kevin Swander (Carmel, Ind.) who swam a 1:00.59 and Marcus Titus (Tucson, Ariz.), who was third in 1:00.82.
“My whole goal this summer was to put myself in top ten in the world,” Hansen said after his race.
In the first final of the night, Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) had a strong swim to win the women’s 100m fly in 57.26. Last week, Vollmer became the World Champion in the event at the FINA World Championships in China. Western Kentucky’s Claire Donahue placed second in 58.05 and 2008 Olympian Elaine Breeden (Lexington, Ky.) finished third in 58.60.
Matthew McLean (Sterling, Va.) won the men’s 400m free with a time of 3:47.33 to earn his first National title. Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) placed second in 3:48.48 and Charlie Houchin (Raleigh, N.C.) was third in 3:48.84.
World Championship gold medalist Elizabeth Beisel (Saunderstown, R.I.) won the 200m IM touching out Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) with a time of 2:10.75. Hoff finished in 2:11.26 and Stanford’s Madeline Dirado was third in 2:11.92.
Ashley Steenvoorden (East Brunswick, N.J.) earned her first-ever National title with a win in the 400m free. Steenvoorden won in 4:07.63 while Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) was second in 4:08.52. Elizabeth Beisel, swimming in her second final of the night, took third in 4:09.25.
Robert Margalis (St. Petersburg, Fla.) won the National title in the men’s 400 IM in 4:15.61. Florida’s Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) was a close second in 4:15.97 and Tyler Harris (Richmond, Va.) was third in 4:18.48.
Competition continues Wednesday with prelims and finals in the women’s 100m back and the 200m free and the men’s 200m free, 100m back and 200m fly. Finals will also include the women’s 4x100m free relay. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. PT and finals start at 6 p.m. For more information on Nationals, including a LIVE webcast, visit our dedicated webpage at www.usaswimming.org/nationals. Results can be found at www.omegatiming.com.
