Kathleen Hersey and Jessica Hardy win gold medals - 2011 Charlotte UltraSwim
Una TXLA-ST’s Kathleen Hersey and Trojan Swim Club’s Jessica Hardy put up an outstanding show to conquer gold medals in the Women’s swimming events on the third day of the 2011 North Carolina Charlotte UltraSwim, held at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Centre.
The session started with the finals of the Women’s 200m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 100m back-stroke, 400m freestyle and the 200m breast-stroke.
The session started with the 200m butterfly final, where Kathleen Hersey won the gold medal in a time of 2:09.12 minutes. Hersey was only 0.20 seconds ahead of Unattached-PC’s Elaine Breeden, who earned the silver medal with a timing of 2:09.32 minutes.
The third spot on the podium was secured by PPO Montreal’s Audrey Lacroix, who remained only 0.08 seconds slower than Breeden and touched the wall for the bronze medal in 2:09.40 minutes.
In the next event, Trojan’s Jessica Hardy proved her eligibility for the golden crown of the 50m freestyle, by clocking a time of 25.13 seconds. She was followed by Colorado Stars-C Kara Lynn Joyce and Swim Atlanta-GA’s Amanda Weir, who reached the podium
for the silver and bronze medals by clocking a time of 25.17 and 25.31 seconds, respectively.
Moments later, Natalie Coughlin of California-PC secured the title of the 100m back-stroke final. The 28-year-old Coughlin out-touched her closest competitor, Missy Franklin by 0.20 seconds and clocked a time of 1:00.02 minutes for the gold medal. Franklin
followed her on the podium for the silver medal, posting a time of 1:00.22 minutes. Aquajets-MN’s Rachel Bootsma settled on the podium for the bronze medal by touching the wall in a time of 1:00.33 minutes.
After a few minutes, Chloe Sutton claimed the title of the 400m freestyle final by proving her eligibility for the crown, in a time of 4:08.73 minutes. She was followed by PPO Montreal’s Barbara Jardin and Andreina Pinto, who touched the wall for silver
and bronze medals in a time of 4:11.02 and 4:12.30 minutes, respectively.
The last event of the session was the 200m breast-stroke, where Trojan’s Rebecca Soni remained undisputed by clocking a time of 2:23.33 minutes. Soni won the gold medal ahead of Tucson Ford Deal’s Amanda Beard and TN Aquatics-SE’s Ma Moravcikova, who touched
the wall for second and third position with a time of 2:26.24 and 2:30.03 minutes, respectively.
These swimmers will once again battle each other at the final stop of 2010-11 USA Grand Prix Series in Santa Clara, this June. The swimmers posting a time under the FINA A-Time Qualification Standard will ensure their places in the USA Swimming Squad for
the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, this July.
Tags: