Backstroke

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- If there were any questions of who reigns as the world's backstroke king, Aaron Peirsol answered them all Thursday at the Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships. Peirsol, the Newport Harbor High product who is headed for the University of Texas, displayed his competitive fire in the 200-meter backstroke and defeated former world-record holder, Lenny Krayzelburg, by more than two seconds. Peirsol, the current world-record holder in the 200 back, was just about a second off his record time, finishing in 1:56.

Newport Harbor High product Aaron Peirsol is among the nominees for the 2007 Golden Goggle Awards, an event celebrating the accomplishments of top American swimmers. Peirsol is nominated for 2007 Male Athlete of the Year, where he will be up against fellow world record-holders Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. All three set individual world records this summer at the FINA World Championships. Peirsol won the 100-meter backstroke at the world championships in Australia in March, lowering his own world-record time to finish in 52.98 seconds.

BEIJING, China — Aaron Peirsol, the former Newport Harbor High star, began his quest today to become the second swimmer in history to sweep the backstroke events at consecutive Olympic Games. Peirsol competed in the 200-meter backstroke preliminary at 4:09 a.m., Pacific Standard time. The semifinal is set for 9:23 Thursday morning (PST) and the final later in the evening at 7:16. The final is scheduled to air on NBC 8-9 p.m. The 25-year-old captured his fifth gold medal Monday, when he lowered his world record to win the 100 backstroke in 52.52 seconds.

IRVINE -- To thousands wedged into the stands at the USA Swimming National Championships on Saturday, it may have appeared that the men's 200-meter backstroke final went, surprisingly, down to the wire. But according to three-time Olympic gold medalist Aaron Peirsol, who held off strong challenges by Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte to win his 11th national title in his hometown, the race at Irvine High was over before it started. Peirsol, a Newport Harbor High product and the reigning world and Olympic champion in both the 200 and 100 backstroke events, said his success was assured just moments before, when younger sister Hayley Peirsol won the women's 800 freestyle final.

Steve Virgen There have been moments when it seemed a different story would be written about Aaron Perisol. There were sleepless nights this past spring when he would vomit from mononucleosis, seemingly losing pounds by the minute. There were mornings throughout his life when he could have slept in, rather than go back to the pool and swim. Swim, swim and swim. At times in his life, Peirsol has been at a crossroads. Because his path has been geared toward gold in the Olympics, choices have been made, sacrifices, too, all of it leading up to the summer of 2004.

Roger Carlson Aaron Peirsol, a junior at Newport Harbor High School, left for Indianapolis and the U.S. Olympic swim trials Monday. His first competition, the 100-meter backstroke, is Thursday. Peirsol is a longshot to make the team in the 100-meter backstroke, though he will probably advance to the eight-man finals. But he's one of the favorites in his specialty, the 200-meter backstroke, which begins Sunday. Peirsol is ranked No. 2 in the world in the event with a sizzling time of 1:57.

BEIJING, China — Newport Harbor High product Aaron Peirsol began his quest for a second gold medal at the Beijing Olympics Wednesday by winning his preliminary heat and qualifying second for today’s semifinals of the 200-meter backstroke. Peirsol, who defended his 100 backstroke title by breaking his own world record earlier, won the fifth preliminary heat in 1 minute, 56.35 seconds Wednesday. Peirsol, also the defending Olympic champion in the 200 backstroke, saw his qualifying time bested only by American teammate Ryan Lochte, who posted a time of 1:56.

SWIMMING The Newport Hills Killer Whales fell to the first-place Green Valley Dolphins in a South Coast Swim Conference dual meet held July 15. Although the score was close throughout the meet, the Dolphins' older girl swimmers helped lead Green Valley to the victory. A number of Newport Hills swimmers established season-best times at the meet, including Paige Nelson in the girls' 7- and 8-year-old division backstroke. Other season bests were posted by Morgan Cortens in both the boys' 6-and-under 25-yard breaststroke and 25 backstroke, Henry Wilde in the boys' 6-and-under 25 butterfly, Mitch Dean in the 7-8 boys' 25 freestyle, Taylor Cortens in the 7-8 boys' 50 freestyle and Andrew Larsen in the 9-10 boys' 50 breaststroke.

Newport Hills defeats Green Valley   Even an atypical steady June rain in southern California, a number of sick swimmers and a strong opponent could not derail the Newport Hills Swim Team on June 20th when they hosted the Green Valley Dolphins in a South Coast Swim Conference dual meet at their home pool.  On a day full of strong individual performances by swimmers on both teams, with one pool record shattered and another tied, the Newport Hills Killer Whales defeated the Dolphins 715.

Jared Namba is the backstroke king for the Corona del Mar High boys' swim team. The junior first broke the school record in the 100-yard backstroke his freshman year. Since then, he's whittled it down to the current 51.72 seconds, which Namba swam at the tri-meet with Capistrano Valley and Loyola on April 19. The backstroke time is the fastest in Orange County this season. But to understand Namba's year in swimming, one needs to backtrack to the CIF Southern Section Division I finals last year.

Backstroke king and five-time Olympic gold medalist Aaron Peirsol, the former Newport Harbor High swim star, won't be aiming for the 2012 Olympics. That's because he's retiring, according to swimmingworldmagazine.com. When Texas coach Eddie Reese was asked if his former swimmer Peirsol was hanging it up, Reese told Swimming World's Peter Busch, "he has done that. " "I think [Peirsol] has made it official-unofficial or unofficial-official that he is not going to 2012," Reese said during the interview.

This time, Aaron Peirsol doesn't get a second chance at defending a backstroke gold medal at the Pan Pacific Championships. The Newport Harbor High product on Friday could not depend on a U.S. teammate to reach the finals in his second backstroke event in as many days at the international meet. Peirsol recorded the third-fastest time overall in the 200-meter backstroke preliminaries in the morning, but two fellow Americans finished ahead, eliminating Peirsol from the eight-man final at night at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine.

IRVINE — Aaron Peirsol was night and day on the first day of the Pan Pacific Championships. He went from being out of contention in the 100-meter backstroke to winning it. What a crazy nine hours for the former Newport Harbor High star. The home-field advantage did not help Peirsol qualify out of Wednesday morning's heat to the finale, but his U.S. teammate Ryan Lochte did. Lochte opted out of the 100 backstroke to focus on other events, opening the door for Peirsol to be the second American in the evening's race.

IRVINE — Aaron Peirsol sat in a room that is used by ballerinas and gymnasts. With a straight face, the 6-foot-4 swimmer tried his best to answer questions Monday. He found ways to dance around a couple of them. Peirsol is one of the captains on the U.S. men's team at the Pan Pacific Championships, which start Wednesday at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine. He is supposed to lead the Americans and be vocal. The Newport Harbor High graduate has already made sure some of the younger members of the team show off their personality.

IRVINE — Aaron Peirsol stood out during his mid-afternoon swim at Irvine High on Monday. Peirsol, in Orange County for this week's USA Swimming National Championships, splashed around as he has done so often in that pool over the years. The man some call the "backstroke king" worked on his backstroke, yet there was one thing that made the 2002 Newport Harbor High graduate pretty easy to spot. Most of the swimmers in the pool had on their college swim caps. Peirsol's swim cap had the American flag on the side, with his last name under it in blue letters.

Newport Harbor High alumnus Aaron Peirsol is one of more than 30 U.S. Olympians expected to compete at the USA Swimming National Championships at Irvine High on Aug. 3-7. Peirsol is looking to defend his 200-meter and 400-meter backstroke titles, which he won at last year's national championships in Charlotte, N.C. The overall field should include Peirsol, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, and gold-medal winners Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte,...

ROME — Aaron Peirsol’s second semifinal backstroke event at the FINA World Championships turned out better than the first. The former Newport Harbor High standout advanced out of the semifinals of the 200-meter backstroke with a meet record in the first heat of 1 minute, 54.06 seconds. Peirsol redeemed himself after failing to qualify for the 100-meter backstroke finals earlier in the week. Peirsol, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 100 back, was the three-time defending world champion in the event.

ROME — It was only three weeks ago that Aaron Peirsol added to his legend lowering the world record in the 100-meter backstroke. But at the FINA World Championships Monday, the former Newport Harbor High standout received a crushing blow: he failed to even reach the finals of the 100 back. According to the Associated Press, Peirsol, who is also a two-time Olympic champ in the 100 back, wanted to save energy for the final swim. But that turned out to be a huge mistake.

Newport Hills defeats Green Valley   Even an atypical steady June rain in southern California, a number of sick swimmers and a strong opponent could not derail the Newport Hills Swim Team on June 20th when they hosted the Green Valley Dolphins in a South Coast Swim Conference dual meet at their home pool.  On a day full of strong individual performances by swimmers on both teams, with one pool record shattered and another tied, the Newport Hills Killer Whales defeated the Dolphins 715.