U.S. Swimmers Dominate

Jenny Thompson defeated a strong field in the final meet of her career to win the 50-meter butterfly in the world short course swimming championships Saturday night at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Kaitlin Sandeno won her fourth gold medal of the meet and Brendan Hansen completed a sweep of the breaststroke events by winning the 200, helping the Americans dominate in the 25-meter pool in front of 11,488 -- the largest crowd at a non-Olympic swimming event in the United States.

At 31, Thompson was the oldest swimmer in the eight-woman final that included world record holder Anna-Karin Kammerling of Sweden, Lisbeth Lenton of Australia, Martina Moravcova of Slovakia and fellow Olympian Rachel Komisarz.

Thompson barely out-touched Kammerling, the defending champion, at the wall after a furious sprint through the final 25 meters.

She won in 25.89 seconds. Kammerling finished in 26.02. Lenton, who won the 100 freestyle earlier in the evening, was third. Komisarz and Moravcova tied for fourth.

Sandeno led a 1-2 finish in the 400 freestyle. She won in 4:02.01, ahead of Sara McLarty in 4:04.49. Sandeno won three golds on opening night Thursday -- the 200 butterfly, 400 individual medley and anchored the U.S. 800 freestyle relay.

Hansen won the 200 breaststroke in a meet record 2:04.98. Brenton Rickard of Australia was second in 2:08.34. Australian Jim Piper finished second, but was disqualified for leaving the starting blocks early.

Australia set a world record in winning the women’s 400-meter medley relay. Sophie Edington, Brooke Hanson, Jessica Schipper and Lenton won in 3 minutes 54.95 seconds, lowering the old mark of 3:55.78 set by Sweden at the 2002 championships in Moscow.

Tennis

Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova overpowered Mashona Washington, 6-0, 6-1, to win the Japan Open title in Tokyo on a day when rain from an approaching typhoon leaked through the arena’s retractable roof and interrupted play. A 35-minute delay came during a men’s semifinal in which fifth-seeded Jiri Novak upset top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Novak will play Taylor Dent in today’s final. Dent, seeded seventh, defeated Bohdan Ulihrach, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Amelie Mauresmo and Lindsay Davenport won their semifinals in straight sets, setting up a No. 1 vs. No. 2 final at the Porsche Grand Prix in Filderstadt, Germany. Mauresmo, who defeated fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-5, 6-4, has now beaten the U.S. Open champion all three times they have played. Davenport beat third-seeded Anastasia Myskina, 6-2, 6-4.

Motor Racing

Joe Nemechek kept Tony Stewart winless in the NASCAR Busch Series, then earned his first victory of the season in the series’ closest race this year.

Stewart, who has a Winston Cup championship and an Indy Racing League title but has never won a Busch race, led all but the last few laps of the Mr. Goodcents 300 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

But Nemechek caught him after a late restart, and Stewart was trying to hold him off when their Chevrolets made contact with 1 1/2 laps remaining.

Stewart spun into the backstretch wall, forcing a three-lap shootout that, combined with a caution lap, added six miles to the race. Nemechek held off Greg Biffle’s Ford by .041 of a second. Stewart finished 25th.

Stewart earlier took a verbal swipe at NASCAR, insisting friend and competitor Dale Earnhardt Jr. should not have lost points for cursing during a live TV interview last weekend.

Instead of leading by 13 points, Earnhardt enters today’s Nextel Cup Series Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway trailing Kurt Busch by 12 points after the third of 10 races in NASCAR’s new playoff-style championship format.

He was fined $10,000 and docked 25 points for using inappropriate language during the interview at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

Stewart was fined $50,000, had 25 points taken away and was put on probation for allegedly hitting Brian Vickers after a race in June at Sonoma.

But the severity of Earnhardt’s penalty irritated the 2002 series champion. “I think we’re starting to nitpick and scrutinize way too much in this series,” the often outspoken Stewart said.

Rookie driver Audra Sasselli won the 40-lap Ford Focus Midget series feature, making U.S. Auto Club and Irwindale Speedway history by becoming the first woman to win a USAC feature race at the track.

In the 50-lap West Coast Pro Truck series feature, Aaron Staudinger held off series leader Chris Johnson in a battle that lasted 40 laps.

Miscellany

Jason Kidd will attend both day and night practices during the New Jersey Nets’ training camp rather than pay fines he feels are misguided. The All-Star point guard was fined by the Nets last week for missing practices at night. While he didn’t question the Nets’ right to fine him, Kidd debated the wisdom of being there because he was undergoing rehabilitation on his surgically repaired left knee.

Ricky Williams has acknowledged having an intimate relationship with a woman who filed a paternity suit against him, according to court papers. The retired Miami Dolphin running back, who said last week that he wants to rejoin the team, faces a court hearing in the suit Dec. 15. Cherie Nicole Clark, formerly of Miami Beach and now a resident of Honolulu, filed papers in August asking Williams to pay child support for her 14-month-old son.