200 Backstroke – 2014 US Nationals:
It’s a rough night for Elizabeth Beisel. She scratched from the final of the 200 freestyle to focus on her backstroke. Beisel slipped off the start, falling way back off the start. Missy Franklin won the race with her time of 2:08.38. In this writer’s opinion, Beisel should have won that race. After starting from behind, she ran down the field and finished sixth. She would have been right there with Franklin, and probably in front of her. Kathleen Baker secured her spot on the Pan Pac’s team with a second place finish at 2:10.42. Lisa Bratton was third at 2:11.57, and she will be on the bubble for the Pan Pac’s team with that swim. Finishing in fourth was Melanie Klaren at 2:11.58, followed by Liz Pelton in fifth at 2:11.99. Elizabeth Beisel came back for sixth with her time of 2:12.37. Rounding out the top 8 in the women’s 200 backstroke was Kylie Stewart at 2:12.42 and Courtney Bartholomew at 2:13.49. Hali Flickinger won the B-final of the women’s 200 backstroke with her time of 2:11.55. Sarah Denninghoff finished second at 2:12.99. Bonnie Brandon would have been in the mix if not for a bad slip off the start. Danielle Gayler won the C-final of the women’s 200 backstroke with her time of 2:12.25, a three second drop from her morning swim.
