IRVINE Tom Shields pumped his fist and unleashed a mighty splash after touching the wall first in the 200-meter butterfly Wednesday night. The first stunning twist of the Phillips 66 National Championships had surfaced.
On an opening night that saw Michael Phelps make a surprising and costly mistake, Shields dominated one of the toughest long-course races to highlight a strong showing by Southern California swimmers at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.
Teens Katie McLaughlin of the Mission Viejo Nadadores and Abbey Weitzeil of Santa Clarita’s Canyons also delivered breakout performances to join Shields as likely members of the U.S. team bound for the Pan Pacific Championships later this month in Australia.
And Team Santa Monica’s Jordan Wilimovsky, 20, moved into contention with a bronze in the 1,500 freestyle.
The most decorated Olympian, however, isn’t on the U.S. team — yet. Phelps, who came out of a nearly two-year retirement in April, said he “barely touched” the wall during his flip-turn in the 100 freestyle final. He subsequently didn’t deliver his powerful underwater streamline and placed seventh, three spots shy of qualifying for the 400 free relay.
Reigning Olympic champion Nathan Adrian (48.31 seconds) and Ryan Lochte (48.96) touched first-second.
Phelps, 29, rolled his eyes in disappointment in his lane, a striking contrast to the reaction a short time earlier from Shields, who claimed his first national title in a lifetime-best time of 1 minute, 55.09 seconds.
“I think I yelled and hit the water,” said Shields, the former Edison and Cal standout know for his short-course prowess but now sits third in the world. “I’ve never really won – never won – a national title long course.
“I always thought my first one, if I ever were to get one, would be the 100 fly. … I know a certain someone didn’t do it (the 200 butterfly) but I’m really happy with it.”
That somebody, of course, was Phelps, the world-record holder in the 200 butterfly. But Shields, 23, led from the start, splitting the 100 at 54.22, more than a second ahead of the eventual runner-up Tyler Clary (1:56.00).
“When I looked over and saw him (Shields) that far ahead at the 100, I had an ‘Oh crap moment,’ ” Clary, an Olympian, said. “I didn’t think he was going to do that. It was a very different swim than this morning.”
In the morning prelims, Shields finished fourth in his heat, the second to last one, and watched nervously as he qualified fifth for the eight-man final.
McLaughlin wore black boots with shinny, silver sequin to the starting blocks for the women’s 200 butterfly final and grabbed silver with a 2:08.74, about 1 ½ seconds behind winner Olympian Cammile Adams (2:07.12). McLaughlin used one of her trademark strong finishes to out-touch Hali Flickinger of the Athens Bulldog club for second by three one-hundredths of a second.
“By the end (of the race), I don’t even feel it any more,” McLaughlin, 17, said. “It hurts but you just got to put your head down and get to the wall.”
Weitzeil, 17, finished ahead of Olympians Lia Neal, Natalie Coughlin and Amanda Weir to place fourth in 100 free with a lifetime-best 54.38, good for a berth on the U.S. relay team. Cal’s Missy Franklin, 19, outdueled Stanford-bound Simone Manuel, 18, for the winning touch in 53.43. “I really thought I could do it,” Weitzeil said.
Adrian said missing a turn in a sprint freestyle race is “pretty unforgiving” and that seemed to summarize Phelps’ feelings.
“It’s just kind of frustrating not to be able to start out (the meet) with a good one when I did feel good,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter if I’m making a comeback or not. I’m very hard on myself no matter what.”
Phelps returns to the pool Friday in the 100 butterfly, perhaps Shields’ best event. Phelps, however, is the world-record holder in the event and will be aiming to make the Pan Pac team.
