Peirsol does it again

YOKOHAMA, Japan -- Aaron Peirsol, who graduated from Newport

Harbor High in June, attained his fourth world record, this time

contributing to the U.S. team’s record-breaking swim in the 400-meter

medley (3:33.48), the final event of the Pan Pacific Championships in

Japan Thursday.

Peirsol began the relay and gave Team USA the lead with a 54.17

backstroke split, leading to the relay time that was the only world

record of the meet.

“It was a great end to an excellent meet,” said Peirsol, who’s

bound for the University of Texas. “It was the best Pan Pac meet

we’ve had in more than 10 years. Everyone did their part and more.

Our relay decided we wanted to step it up and get that world record.

We knew what we had to do and we were stoked. It was an excellent

race.”

Peirsol helped the U.S. 400 medley relay team come in lower than

the previous world record set by the 2000 U.S. Olympic relay team,

which finished in 3:33.73.

After Peirsol’s 54.17 start, Brendan Hansen built on the

Americans’ lead with the third-fastest breaststroke split in history

(1:00.14). Michael Phelps followed with the fastest butterfly split

ever at 51.13.

That provided Jason Lezak nearly a two-second lead, and Lezak, who

is a club teammate of Peirsol on Irvine Novaquatics, secured the

victory with a 48.04 freestyle split.

The win also gave the U.S. team its 21st gold of the meet, as the

Americans won all possible scoring categories -- team points (476)

overall medals and gold medals for both men and women combined.

Peirsol, the reigning backstroke king, won a gold medal in each of

the three events he competed in at the Pan Pac Championships, tying

for the most goals among the U.S. men with Phelps. Earlier in the

week, Peirsol won the 100 back in 54.22 and the 200 back in 1:56.88.

After his 200 back victory, he received the MVP award for that night.

Peirsol, who led the Newport Harbor High boys team to its first

CIF Division I swim championship, has broken or been a part of

breaking four world records in a six-month span this year. He broke

the world record in the 200 back (1:55.15) in the National

Championships March 20. That fulfilled a promise he made to his

mother, Wella, when he was 7 years old. When Peirsol’s family visited

the U.S. Swimming Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., he told his

mother, “Someday I’m going to break a world record.”

Peirsol, now 19, broke two more world records at the Short Course

World Championships in Moscow in April. He won gold in the 200 back

with a 1:51.17 short-course (25-meter pool), world-record time,

breaking the mark once held by two others.

Peirsol, the 2000 Olympic silver medalist in the 200 back, also

swam the backstroke leg on the victorious 400 medley relay, which

clocked a world-record 3:29.00, and included David Denniston

(breaststroke), Peter Marshall (fly) and Lezak (free).