Recently in Olympic swimming Category

Naperville native Mary DeScenza is the top seed in both the 100 and 200-meter butterfly for the U.S. Open, which begins on Tuesday in Minneapolis.

The Rosary graduate is entered in seven events, including the 100 and 200 freestyle, the 100 and 200 backstroke and the 200 individual medley.

DeScenza will have company in the 200 IM as Naperville Central alumni Kelly McNichols and Amy Prestinario are both competing in that race. For McNichols, a junior at Georgia, and Prestinario, an incoming freshman at Notre Dame, the U.S. Open serves as a qualifier for the 2009 World University Games.

The top finisher in each event who is a full-time university student is guaranteed an all-expenses paid trip to Belgrade, Serbia next July. Visit Serbia, we have a high level of confidence that will be our country's name when you arrive!

McNichols will also swim the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 100 and 200 free.

With the Naperville Parks District Swim Conference age 15-18 City Championships in the books, Olympic Trials swimmer Kelly McNichols remains the only swimmer with multiple city records.

The Naperville Central grad and Georgia junior has the girls records for the 100-yard freestyle, the 100 individual medley, the 50 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke. She owns four of the six records.

None of her standards were even remotely challenged on Friday night.

That's what Mars Blackmon would tell Michael Phelps if the two were paired in a commercial for Speedo's LZR Racer.

A lot of world records have been set in that suit, 46 according to the Speedo Web site, and it has spawned lawsuits. TYR, a competitor that Naperville native Mary DeScenza endorses, has filed suit against Speedo, former TYR swimmer Erik Vendt and USA swimming head coach Mark Schubert. On Thursday, Vendt filed a countersuit.

Both Naperville Central graduate Kelly McNichols and Neuqua Valley graduate Melissa Marik wore the LZR Racer at the Olympic Trials last week.

The Heat Index asked them if they liked the suit and what it means for their sport.

When Naperville native Mary DeScenza, Neuqua Valley graduate Melissa Marik and Naperville Central graduate Kelly McNichols finish swimming a race this weekend at the U.S. Olympic Trials, they could be asked for a little something extra.

That's because for the first time, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency will be conducting blood tests for performance enhancing drugs at the swimming trials.

It's probably a good idea. USA Swimming doesn't want to get embarrassed like the Bulgarian weightlifting team. Filthy buggers.

Marik is entered in the 100-meter butterfly and the 200 freestyle. McNichols qualified for five events: the 100 breaststroke, 200 breast, 200 free, 200 individual medley and the 100 free.

DeScenza will race in the 200 backstroke, 200 butterfly, 100 fly, 200 free and the 100 breast.

USA Swimming released the pysch sheet for the U.S. Olympic Trials on Tuesday, and while The Heat Index isn't exactly sure what a pysch sheet is, it sure seems like a long list of people who are qualified for the trials.

Naperville native Mary DeScenza was near the top of three of those long lists. DeScenza is the third seed for both the 100-meter butterfly and the 200 butterfly. She is the fifth seed in the 100 backstroke.

The trials will be held June 29-July 6 in Omaha, Neb.

With two golds and a bronze at the Charlotte Ultraswim over the weekend, Naperville native Mary DeScenza finished the Toyota Grand Prix Series in second place behind Michael Phelps.

Phelps had 20 golds and four silvers for 112 points to win the $20, 000 prize. DeScenza had nine golds, nine silvers and four bronzes for 76 points to win nothing the hearts and minds of loyal Heat Index readers.

Naperville native Mary DeScenza broke the meet record for the 100-meter butterfly both in the prelims and the finals on Friday at the Charlotte UltraSwim.

She swam a 59.25 in the prelims and a 58.54 in the championship heat.

DeScenza's meet record in this morning's prelims shattered the 8-year-old mark held by Slovakian Olympian Martina Moracova by 24-hundredths of a second.

"It's my best time by about two-tenths," DeScanza said. "I don't normally go that fast in-season, but I've been training my butt off this year. This is just a trial run for (Olympic) Trials, and I've been getting out there and racing as much as I can. You can't do average times all year, and then expect to go fast at Trials. That's my philosophy this year."

Naperville native Mary DeScenza, who won the short course world title in the 200 butterfly in April, continued her march toward the U.S. Olympic team with her performance at the Santa Clara Grand Prix International meet last weekend.

DeScenza won four silver medals and one gold medal, in you guessed it, the 200-meter butterfly. She talks about her performance in this video.

"It just means that I've been training my little butt off and it just shows that my little workout-practice set has been doing wonders for my butterfly. So it just looks really good going into the trials."

The U.S. Olympic trials begin June 29 in Omaha, Neb.

Naperville native Mary DeScenza broke a 27-year-old U.S. record and won the gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly at the World Short Course Championships on Wednesday in Manchester England.

DeScenza, who also set a meet record in the process, won the event with a time of 2 minutes, 4.27 seconds, eclipsing the American mark (2:05.65) of Mary T. Meagher in 1981. The previous meet record (2:05.11) was set by Jessica Schipper two years ago in Shanghai.

"I've been training so hard lately," Descenza said after her race on usaswimming.org. "This is my first personal American record so it's very emotional for me."

After a coming up just short at the 2004 Olympic Trials, what do you think DeScenza's chances of making the U.S. Olympic team are this time around?