Smashing Day at Grand Challenge

Considering the quality of the field, it’s small wonder so many meet records fell Friday in the Speedo Grand Challenge at Heritage Aquatics Complex in Irvine.

Seven records were established in the 10 events, and it could have been eight but Olympic champion Dara Torres, who set a meet record for the 50-meter freestyle in the preliminary race (25.54 seconds), finished the final in 25.65.

Former USC star Lenny Krayzelburg and Newport Harbor sophomore Aaron Peirsol engaged in the evening’s most eagerly anticipated race, the 200-meter backstroke, and did not disappoint.

Despite slipping off the starting block, Krayzelburg covered the distance in 1 minute 58.40 seconds, shattering by two seconds the mark he’d set in Friday morning’s preliminaries.

The difference in age and experience did not faze Peirsol, who finished in 1:59.47, four seconds faster than the record broken by Krayzelburg earlier in the day, and six seconds ahead of Brad Bridgewater, gold medalist in the 100 backstroke at the 1996 Olympics.

Bridgewater, a member of the Trojan Swim Club, broke a five-year-old meet record in the 200 individual medley (2:07.43), edging former Marina High and Southern Methodist standout Blaine Morgan, who finished in 2:07.91.

Olympic gold medalists Kristine Quance-Julian and Jenny Thompson squared off in the women’s 200 IM, with Quance-Julian finishing in a record 2:16.43, a half-second ahead of Thompson. Erin Sieper, 15, set a record in the preliminaries, then bettered her own time in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.75).

Diana MacManus, 14, set a record in the 200 backstroke at 2:18.18.

“This is a really good meet because you get a chance to see where you are in your training,” said MacManus, who swims for Irvine Novaquatics. “Everybody here has been in training and is shooting for the next level. That really makes this fun.”

MacManus edged Lindsay Benko (2:18.50), enying Benko a chance to emerge as the day’s only double winner. Earlier, Benko set a record in the 400 free, finishing in 4:19.13.