Carvin, Beard Add to Victory Totals at National Meet

Chad Carvin of Laguna Hills won his third event and Amanda Beard of Irvine won her second Saturday at the Phillips 66 U.S. National Swimming Championships.

Carvin, 22, won the 400-meter freestyle in 3 minutes 52.19 seconds. This is his first major meet since recovering from cardiomyopathy, a virus that attacks the heart muscle. A lock for the Olympic team, Carvin was forced to drop out of the Olympic trials. Carvin also won the 200 freestyle and 400 individual medley events in Buffalo.

Beard, 15, won the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:09.97. She also won the 200-meter breaststroke earlier in the week.

Beard, Olympic silver medalist in both events, has only been swimming a month since having a cyst removed from her right wrist.

Olympic gold medalist Brooke Bennett won her second event of the meet, the 400 freestyle.

Bennett, who won the gold medal in the 800 free in Atlanta, won the 800 title Wednesday. Bennett has won the last three national titles in the 400 and 800 events, and has not lost a race since the 1996 Olympic trials.

“It’s nice being on top but it’s such a different feeling to have everyone chasing after you,” Bennett said. “Two years ago I was doing the chasing.”

It was a good night for U.S. Olympians on fourth day of the five-day meet.

Beth Botsford, 15, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist in the 100-meter backstroke, won her third national title in the event in 1:01.94.

Tripp Schwenk, the 1996 Olympic silver medalist in the 200 backstroke, won the 100 backstroke in 55.82. Schwenk, 25, is one of the oldest swimmers in the field.

Kurt Grote, an Olympic gold medalist on the medley relay team, won the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.73. Steve West of Huntington Beach finished second in the 100 breaststroke.

Misty Hyman, 17, won the 100 butterfly in 59.14, which would have won her a silver medal at the Olympics. Nate Dusing, 18, won the men’s 100 butterfly in 53.99. Philippe Demers of Rancho Santa Margarita finished sixth in 56.00.