TEAM USA WINS 13 MEDALS ON FINAL NIGHT IN THE POOL

IRVINE, Calif. – Team USA closed out the pool competition of the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships Saturday by winning 13 medals, including six golds, four silvers and three bronze.

That brought the Americans’ official four-day medal count (all events except the 50 strokes, men’s 800m free and women’s 1500m free) to 47 – 25 gold, 15 silver and seven bronze. They dominated all teams in both the medal count and the team scoring.

Winning gold for the USA on Saturday included Ryan Lochte in the men’s 200m IM, Jessica Hardy in the women’s 50m freestyle, Nathan Adrian in the men’s 50m freestyle and Rebecca Soni in the women’s 200m IM. The women’s and men’s 4x100 medley relay also won gold.

Ryan Lochte was the top individual performer of the meet, winning six gold medals overall. He capped his performance Saturday with a win in the 200m IM.

Lochte steamrolled the competition in that event, winning in 1:54.43, the third-fastest time in history and a Pan Pac record. Teammate Tyler Clary finished second more than three seconds behind in 1:57.61, while Brazil’s Thiago Pereira was third in 1:57.83.

Saturday’s race marked the third time this week Lochte and Clary took 1-2 in their races together. They also swept the 400m IM on day 2 and the 200m back on day 3.

In addition to the races already mentioned, Lochte won gold in the 200m free, the 4x100m free relay and the 4x200m relay. His performance in tonight’s IM earned him Men’s Swimmer of the Meet honors.

“I wasn’t focused on the world record or anything,” Lochte said after the 200m IM. “I was just focused on racing tough. I knew I had it in my sight, but I think all the races I had this week kind of tired me out a bit. But I put up a really good time, and I’m really happy.”

Team USA owned the men’s and women’s 50m freestyle Saturday, with Jessica Hardy and Nathan Adrian snagging gold in both events in Pan Pac record times of 24.63 and 21.55, respectively.

Hardy out-touched teammate Amanda Weir by seven-hundredths of a second for gold, while Canada’s Victoria Poon was third in 24.76. American Kara Lynn Joyce was ninth in 25.26.

Hardy finished the night by anchoring the women’s gold-medal-winning, Pan Pac record-setting 4x100m medley relay. She, Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni and Dana Vollmer bested the field with a time of 3:55.23. Australia was second in 3:56.96, while Japan was third in 3:57.75.

Hardy finished the week with four gold medals overall, including two more in the women’s 50m breast and 4x100m free relay.

“I didn’t even think I would get one,” Hardy said. “There’s no way I ever expected to do this at all.”

It was also Vollmer’s fourth gold medal of the meet. She took home five medals overall, including one silver.

“It was absolutely amazing,” Vollmer said. “I’m so proud of the girls’ team.”

Adrian upset world record-holder Cesar Cielo of Brazil for the second time this week, first beating him in the 100m free on day 2 then taking the 50m free tonight. Cielo finished two-hundredths of a second behind Adrian in 21.57. Canda’s Brent Hayden was third in 21.89.

“It was just a scramble to get my hand on the wall,” Adrian said. “I knew it was close. I had to look up at the board to see who won. Hopefully this establishes American sprinting as a force to be reckoned with.”

Like Hardy, Adrian finished the meet with four gold medals and finished the night by anchoring the Americans’ gold-medal-winning men’s 4x100m medley relay. He, Aaron Peirsol, Mark Gangloff and Michael Phelps pulled off the win in 3:32.48. Japan was second in 3:33.90, while Australia was third in 3:35.55.

Phelps finished the meet with five gold medals – in the 100m fly, 200m fly and all three relays.

“It’s always good to be able to finish a meet with a win in the relay,” Phelps said. “We really wanted to end the meet in front of the home crowd with a win.”

Soni won the Americans’ last individual gold Saturday, cruising to a Pan Pac record in the women’s 200m breast in 2:20.69. The race featured the top four performers of all time in this event, including Canada’s Annamay Pierse, Australia’s Leisel Jones and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Amanda Beard.

Jones finished second in 2:23.23, followed by Pierse in 2:23.65. Beard was fifth in 2:24.30,while teammate Micah Lawrence was ninth in 2:25.19.

Soni won three gold medals this week and earned Women’s Swimmer of the Meet honors for her efforts in the 200m breast Saturday.

“I definitely felt the crowd,” Soni said. “It’s my best time this season, so I’m really happy with it.”

Also winning medals for Team USA Saturday included Chad La Tourette with a bronze in the men’s 800m freestyle (7:51.62), Ariana Kukors with a silver in the women’s 200m IM (2:10.21); Caitlin Leverenz with a bronze in the women’s 200m IM (2:11.21), Eric Shanteau with a bronze in the men’s 200m breast (2:10.13) and Kate Ziegler with a silver in the women’s 1500m free 16:03.26.

Other Americans swimming in tonight’s finals were Peter Vanderkaay, who finished fifth in the men’s 800m free (7:54.10); Elizabeth Pelton, who finished ninth in the women’s 200m IM (2:12.90); Morgan Scroggy, who finished 10th in the women’s 200m IM (2:13.08); Scott Spann, who finished seventh in the men’s 200m breast (2:13.08); Elliott Keefer, who finished 10th in the men’s 200m breast (2:13.10); and Haley Anderson, who finished fourth in the women’s 1500m free (16:18.10).

Click  here to see complete results.