Eric Shanteau and Daniel Bell prevail Men’s qualifying rounds - 2011 Speedo Grand Challenge
Eric Shanteau and Daniel Bell overwhelmed the qualifying rounds of the Men’s events to proceed as the fastest swimmers into their respective finals on the third day of the 2011 Speedo Grand Challenge, held at the William Woollett Aquatic Center.
The session included the Men’s 100m back-stroke, 200m breast-stroke, 200m butterfly and the 100m freestyle heats.
The first event of the session was the 200m back-stroke, where UN-ST’s Eric Shanteau impressed the arena with his undisputed effort of 2:14.18 minutes. Shanteau occupied the top qualification spot and was followed by 30-year-old Andrew Bree, who finished his swim in the second fastest place, clocking a time of 2:16.26 minutes.
Bree was considerably away from his following swimmer, California Aquatics-PC’s Sean Mahoney, who secured the third fastest qualification spot, with timing of 2:20.35 minutes. UN-AZ’s Mike Alexandrov followed them on the finishing wall as the fourth fastest swimmer, clocking a time of 2:21.18 minutes.
The next event was the 100m back-stroke, where New Zealand’s Daniel Bell earned the fastest qualification spot into the finals, finishing his swim in a time of 56.21 seconds. The 21-year-old Bell was followed by UN-PC’s Guy Barnea and Trojan’s Alex Lendrum, who qualified as the second and third fastest swimmers, with timings of 56.39 and 56.76 seconds, respectively. Matt Thompson of UN-CA completed his swim in the fourth fastest place, posting a time of 57.16 seconds.
After a few minutes, Zane Grothe dominated the Men’s 200m butterfly heats, touching the wall first in a time of 2:03.29 minutes. TRA-CA’s Daniel Egly and California Aquatics-PC’s Tom Shields followed him into the finals, qualifying as the second and third fastest sprinters, with timings of 2:04.47 and 2:04.84 minutes, respectively. Shields was only 0.24 seconds away from his subsequent swimmer, Young Tae Seo of PASA-CA, who touched the wall for the fourth spot in 2:05.08 minutes.
The final event was the Men’s 100m freestyle, where California Aquatics-PC’s Graeme Moore emerged as the fastest swimmer into the finals, posting 49.80 seconds. He was 0.22 seconds faster than his closest competitor, Nathan Adrian, who clinched the second qualification spot in a time of 50.02 seconds. They were followed by William Copeland and ROSE-CA’s Jason Lezak, who qualified as the third and fourth fastest swimmers, with wonderful timings of 50.16 and 50.20 seconds, respectively.
The session concluded after the 100m freestyle heats, whereas, the finals of the same events will take place in the second session to identify the winners of each event. In addition, the winners will receive awards and accolades for their performances after the conclusion of all swimming events.
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