SWIMMING / MEET OF CHAMPIONS : Wojdat, Jacob Use Strong Kicks to Come From Behind and Win

Mission Viejo distance freestyle stars Artur Wojdat and Lisa Jacob let their competitors take the lead Thursday, then shifted into overdrive in the last half of the 800-meter freestyles for a pair of convincing victories on the opening day of the Chrysler Swim Meet of Champions at Mission Viejo International Swimming Complex.

Wojdat passed Lars Jorgensen of Blue Fins after the 400 mark, and built a two-second lead in less than 60 seconds. Then, between the 600 and 700 mark, the 23-year-old from Poland pulled ahead by five seconds.

By the time he finished, in 8:06.4 seconds, he was 6.9 seconds ahead of Jorgensen, who will be a senior at USC next fall.

Wojdat gave an assist to the Nadadores’ massive scoreboard.

“My goal was to finish between 8:05 and 8:08, so when I saw the 6:06 split on the scoreboard after the turn at the 600 I tried to swim the final 200 in two minutes,” Wojdat said.

Mission Viejo Coach Terry Stoddard was elated with Wojdat’s effort.

“For Artur to get after the 800 like that is great,” Stoddard said, “Especially the last 300, he closed really well.”

In the women’s race, Jacob trailed Costa Rica’s Claudia Poll until the 450-meter mark when she caught her at the turn and passed her coming off the wall.

Jacob pulled away swiftly, building a 4.8-second lead between the 500- and 600-meter marks. While Poll faded all the way to seventh in her heat and 13th overall, Jacob finished in 8:42.84, some 11.2 seconds ahead of the runner-up, 15-year-old Kari Lyderson of Encinitas YMCA.

For Jacob, 17, the 8:42 clocking marked a dramatic drop over her previous best, an 8:47 at the Canada Cup last month in Vancouver.

Moreover, the time is 16th in the world rankings for 1991 and fourth among American swimmers .

“That’s an outstanding swim,” Stoddard said. “There are only a few who have gone 8:42 or better. It’s a whole different ballgame. It seems simple, going 1:05’s (for each 100) instead of 1:06’s, but it puts her in a whole different group of swimmers.”