Bennett Wins in a Breeze; Sanders Upset

For America’s swimming elite, the most intense competition of their lives awaits at the U.S. Olympic trials in four weeks.

So under the retractable roof of the Orlando YMCA Aquatic Center, the results varied Thursday on the first day of the Phillips 66 U.S. spring national championships, where a 15-year-old from Redlands upset 1992 Olympic star Summer Sanders and Brooke Bennett continued to prove she is ready to challenge Janet Evans as the country’s distance star.

For Shannon Cullen of Redlands, edging Sanders in the 200-meter individual medley was the highlight of her young career. But her winning time of 2 minutes 20.35 seconds was well off Sanders’ U.S. record of 2:11.91.

“It’s an emotional boost,” Cullen said. “I’m not afraid of racing against the big kids anymore.”

Still, Cullen’s time probably would not be good enough to get her into the finals at the U.S. trials.

That the 200 IM times were far off the American record was indicative of where most of the swimmers are in their final tuneup before the trials.

But nothing seemed to slow Bennett, who called this meet “just another workout.” Facing a tough 400-meter freestyle field, Bennett used a furious start to demolish her competitors. She won in 4:12.66, almost a second faster than Suzu Chiba of Japan, who competes for Golden West Swim Club in Huntington Beach.

Bennett’s only disappointment was the absence of Evans, the world-record holder who stayed in Southern California this week. With the rest of the crowded 400 field here, the race was the day’s premier event.

Whitney Hedgepath of Texas, winner of the 200-meter backstroke, enjoyed the meet’s relaxed atmosphere.

“It doesn’t feel like a national championship,” she said.

But at least one athlete thinks the swimmers should be more intense.

Said Seth VanNeerden, winner of the 100 breaststroke, “This is a building block. If you are not swimming well here, how can you expect to in four weeks?”