Peirsol sets a pair of records

Aaron Peirsol finished the TYR Swim Meet of Champions at the

Marguerite Recreation Center in Mission Viejo Sunday by setting his

second meet record of the four-day competition.

The 19-year-old Newport Harbor High graduate, who was the NCAA

swimmer of the year as a freshman at Texas, won the 100-meter

backstroke Sunday in a time of 55.27, breaking the former record of

55.34 set by Jeff Rouse in 1992.

Peirsol, the world record holder in the 200 backstroke and a

silver medalist in the same event at the 2002 Olympic Games, also set

a meet record in that event. His time of 1:58.11 defeated the

second-place finisher by more than seven seconds and broke the

three-year-old meet record of 1:58.95 set by Lenny Krayzelburg in

2000.

Peirsol’s world-record time in the 200 backstroke is 1:55.15.