INDIANAPOLIS — Aaron Peirsol took temporary custody of the 200-meter backstroke world record. With all the controversy about the high-tech suits dominating the pool these days, the true owner may not be decided for a few more weeks.
Peirsol broke the record at U.S. nationals Saturday night, beating previous owner Ryan Lochte while lowering his second world mark in three days.
The Olympic silver medalist touched in 1 minute 53.08 seconds, bettering Olympic champion Lochte's mark of 1:53.94 set in Beijing.
"I'm elated I went that fast, but the real work is in two weeks," Peirsol said, referring to the upcoming world championships in Rome.
That's where Peirsol, Lochte and Ryosuke Irie of Japan are expected to decide who truly owns that record.
Irie swam 1:52.86 at a meet in Australia on May 10, but the sport's world governing body refused to ratify the mark because he was wearing a suit deemed illegal by FINA.
"That's a great thing to have that for the next two weeks, but I'm well aware that's probably not even the world record right now," said Peirsol, who wore the once-banned Arena X-Glide. "There's a Japanese kid who went 1:52 in pretty much the same thing I'm wearing now."
Having broken two world records in three days, the low-key Peirsol made a rare boast.
"I feel like if I race the way I can, I don't think he can touch me, I don't think he can beat me," he said of Irie. "But he's going to be very good in the future when he tacks on about 30 pounds. He's a kid, he's about 5 foot 6 and 130 pounds. He has probably the most beautiful backstroke I've ever seen."
Peirsol reclaimed his 100 back world mark with a time of 51.94 seconds Wednesday.
Wearing a Speedo LZR in the 200, Lochte was under his world-record pace in the opening 50 meters before Peirsol took over for good.
"I went out too fast in the first 50," said Lochte, who donned oversized Clark Kent-like black-rim glasses even though he has 20/20 vision. "If I had approached it differently, I would've had a better shot. He had a good swim, but he's still my friend and we're still going to talk about surfing."
Peirsol dipped a full second under the mark after 150 meters.
"The last 50 really hurt, so I know the other two guys really, really hurt," he said, referring to Lochte and third-place finisher Tyler Clary, who made the team for worlds in the 200 butterfly and 400 individual medley.
