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U.S. Team Breaks Five Worlds Records on First Night of the 2009 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool

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Men’s and Women’s 400m Medley Relay, Rebecca Soni, Nick Thoman and Julia Smit Set World Marks

MANCHESTER, England – Five world records were broken Friday on the first day of competition of the 2009 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool in Manchester, England. The men’s and women’s 400m medley relay, Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.), Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Julia Smit (Mt.Sinai, N.Y.) all set world marks as the U.S. team battled the E-Stars, a European all-star team made up of swimmers from Great Britain, Italy and Germany. The short course meet will conclude Sunday, December 20

The men’s 400m medley relay team of Thoman, Mark Gangloff (Akron, Ohio), Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) and Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.) beat the E-Stars team to win the relay in a world-record time of 3:20.71. Thoman’s leadoff leg also set a world mark in the individual 100m back event with a time of 48.94.

The women’s 400m medley relay finished in 3:47.97 to break the world record. The team of Margaret Hoelzer (Huntsville, Ala.), Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.), Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas), and Amanda Weir (Lawrenceville, Ga.) were close to the E-Stars for the first 200 meters of the race, however, the team quickly increased their lead to finish in world-record time.

In addition to Thoman’s 100m back record, individual records were set by Soni in the 200m breast and Smit in the 400m IM. Soni’s time of 2:14.57 beat the previous mark by almost a second while Smit’s time of 4:21.04 in the 400m IM was more than a second and a half better than the previous record.

U.S. swimmers won 11 of 14 events Friday. Phelps had one individual win in the 100m fly with a time of 50.46. Phelps was fourth after the first 50 meters of the race, but had a strong final 10 meters to win the event. Nathan Adrian placed first in the men’s 100m free with a time of 45.42. Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.) was first in the men’s 400m IM with a time of 4:02.02, while Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) won the 200m back with a time of 1:48.74. Other winners included Mike Alexandrov (men’s 200m breast in 2:03.72), Peter Vanderkaay (men’s 400m free in 3:35.54) and Allison Schmitt (women’s 400m free in 3:55.89.

The bi-annual Duel in the Pool is a made-for-TV event, designed to showcase the sport’s most exciting swimmers. Competition footage from the event will be broadcast as a two-hour special on NBC, December 27 from 2-4 p.m. ET.

The meet format is short course meters. World-record swims will earn up to $15,000 (U.S. dollars) bonus and $1,000 will be awarded to swimmers for each win at the meet.

This is the fourth Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool in the history of USA Swimming. Past Duels were held in 2003, 2005 and 2007 and pit all-star teams from the U.S. and Australia against each other. The U.S. is 3-0 in the history of the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool. For more information about this year’s Duel, visit www.duelinthepool.com or www.usaswimming.org.