Backstroke

Elizabeth Pelton of Ruxton broke the pool record in the 200-meter backstroke on the final day of the Columbus Grand Prix at Ohio State. Pelton erased the record by more than four seconds with a time of 2 minutes, 8.67 seconds. MLS: Substitute Kenny Mansally scored in the 80th and 82nd minutes to help the New England Revolution to a 2-0 victory over D.C. United, which was playing its home opener. Mansally, who entered in the 68th minute, redirected Chris Tierney 's deflected cross past United goalkeeper Troy Perkins to put New England (1-1-0)

The West Howard swim team lost to Springlake, 242-241. Standout performances were made by the following West Howard swimmers who won their individual races: Individual Medley 11-12G: 1. M. Kemp. 11-12B: 1. Ryan Jones. 13-14B: 1. M. McGee. 15-18G: 1. C. Jordan. Freestyle 6-UB: 1. D.J. Stolba. 9-10G: 1. A. O'Byrne. 9-10B: 1. M. Thompson. 11-12B: 1. C. Reese. 13-14B: 1. T.J. Barlow. 15-18G: 1. A. Browning.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Beth Botsford finished second in the 100-meter backstroke yesterday, as the North Baltimore Aquatic Club women's team took an 11-point lead over the Bolles School of Jacksonville, Fla., into the final day of competition at the Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships.Botsford finished in 1 minute, 3.32 seconds.Whitney Phelps of NBAC was ninth in the 100-meter butterfly in 1:02.42, and Kelly McPherson was 11th in the 400-meter freestyle in 4:19.88.NBAC's women's 800-meter freestyle relay team of Melinda Rehm, Phelps, Whitney Metzler and McPherson was second in 8:25.

The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. on Mondays. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). We do not accept results by phone. When two Howard County teams play, players from both teams (first and last names) must be mentioned in the write-up. Questions? Call 410-332-6578. Baseball Savage Boys and Girls Club The Savage Boys and Girls Club's U-12 Screaming Eagles just returned from a successful trip to Cooperstown, N.Y. where they participated in a week-long tournament that included 104 teams from across the country and Canada.

Ten-year-old Brian Best of Columbia broke a 13-year-old national YMCA record for his age group at the East Field Regional YMCA Swim Championship last weekend in Princeton, N.J.Brian came in at 30.2 seconds in the 50-yard backstroke, lowering the previous record of 30.3, set in 1979 for the 10-and-under age group.Brian, who swims for the Howard County YMCA team, also won the 100 backstroke and 50 butterfly on Saturday and came in second in the 100 freestyle Sunday."He definitely has a lot of potential," said team coach Matt Cetlinski, who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics on the U.S. Swim Team.

HAVANA -- Indianapolis in 1987 belonged to Sylvia Poll. She was this 17-year-old who came from nowhere and everywhere to win eight swimming medals at the Pan American Games.She looked like a basketball player and swam like a submarine out on maneuvers. And she had this exotic life story to tell, of bumping around Latin American with her German-born parents.The story and the swimmer are a little older, yet no less enchanting. Poll is now 21 and even more self-assured. But to be honest, these Pan Am Games are merely a training exercise for her.Last night, she appeared in her first and only race at the sweltering pool complex, taking the women's 100-meter backstroke gold medal in 1 minute, 3.15 seconds.

SYDNEY, Australia - From the convicts exiled here by England two centuries ago, to the Asians who have arrived in recent decades, Australia has long been a symbol of a fresh start. That's what Lenny Krayzelburg's parents sought in 1989, when they pulled up their roots in the Ukraine, fled anti-Semitism and joined a booming community of Eastern European and Russian Jews in Los Angeles. Krayzelburg has made another long journey, this time to the Olympics, to collect three gold medals in swimming and prove he's the sport's fastest backstroker ever.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - How busy was Michael Phelps' day? The unique swimmer made a decathlete look lazy, gave enough blood to please the American Red Cross and had more wardrobe changes than Britney Spears. Phelps finished an eventful Santa Clara International Invitational last night exhausted, but satisfied. He easily passed a key stress test with his third and fourth victories of the weekend, which would have been unbeaten if not for Aaron Peirsol, the best backstroker in the world. "Michael had a perfect weekend as it was," Peirsol said, "it's just that someone got in the way."

ATLANTA -- North Baltimore backstroker Beth Botsford, who became the first American woman to win a gold medal at the Atlanta Games on Monday night, goes for her second gold medal today in the women's 4 x 100 medley relay.She'll probably get it.The U.S. team has to be considered the favorite in the second women's relay event, and Botsford -- by virtue of her victory in the 100-meter backstroke -- has earned the opportunity to swim that leg of the relay if the Americans make the final tonight.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Still a year away from the Summer Olympics, coaches, commentators and swimming enthusiasts are already running out of adjectives to describe what Michael Phelps is capable of in the pool. You have to dig deep to capture his latest feat - nearly breaking the world record in an event that wasn't even part of his last Olympic program. "Another Michael moment basically," said Bob Bowman, Phelps' coach with Club Wolverine. Phelps won the 200-meter backstroke last night with a time of 1 minute, 54.65 seconds, less than 0.3 of a second off the world-record pace.

Missy Franklin and Elizabeth Beisel were the top two finishers in the 200-meter backstroke Sunday, earning spots on the Olympic team. Former North Baltimore Aquatic Club swimmer Elizabeth Pelton came in third. "You don't really swim to get to third," a dejected Pelton said. Her family, who moved from Connecticut to the Baltimore area for her to swim at NBAC, were in the stands. She has been training in Naples with her former NBAC coach, Paul Yetter, and is headed to Cal-Berkeley in the fall.

Baltimore's Michael Phelps has scratched from Friday's 200-meter backstroke preliminaries at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, his coach Bob Bowman said Thursday. He won't be taking it easy, though: He'll swim the morning preliminaries for the 200 individual medley and, presumably, the semifinals in the evening at CenturyLink Center. And Saturday, he'll enter the 100 butterfly in the morning, with, again presumably, the 200 IM finals and the 100 fly semifinals that evening.

Atholton Swim Club The Atholton Swim Club Barracudas lost their first dual meet of the 2012 season to the Westminster Stingrays, 248.5-225.5. Despite the loss, Barracuda swimmers posted 75 best times and Ally VanNetta set team records in the 11-12 girls individual medley and butterfly. Mitchell Haugh won his three individual events and swam on a winning relay team. Ally VanNetta also won her three individual events. Winning two individual events each and swimming for winning relay teams were Julia Habiger, Pinya, Ryan Murphy and Kaitlyn Warner.

The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. on Mondays. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). We do not accept results by phone. When two Howard County teams play, players from both teams (first and last names) must be mentioned in the write-up. Questions? Call 410-332-6578. Gymnastics Docksiders Gymnastics Docksiders Level 8 gymnast Maria Ramsey, of Columbia, competed at the 2012 Parkettes Invitational Junior 12-13 meet Jan. 29, in Allentown, Pa., with the following results: 1. all-around (35.5)

The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. on Mondays. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). We do not accept results by phone. When two Howard County teams play, players from both teams (first and last names) must be mentioned in the write-up. Questions? Call 410-332-6578. Swimming Columbia Clippers Columbia Aquatics Clippers swim team participated in two meets in December, the Maryland Suburban Swim Club's Christmas Championship at Fairland Aquatics Center and the Sport Fair Winter Classic at George Mason.

North St. John's, 323; Dulaney, 164 The North St. John's Blue Marlins swim team hosted the Dulaney Dolphins July 9. The Blue Marlins won the meet overall, 323-164, with strong performances by many swimmers on the Marlins. Three swimmers took first place in three individual events - Maggie Roman (9-10 girls IM, backstroke and breaststroke), Brooke Hoffman (11-12 girls IM, freestyle and backstroke) and Jeffrey Roman (11-12 boys IM, freestyle and butterfly). Justin Carguilo, Alex Holland, Emily Purnell, Brendan Rice, Tharen Rice and Benjamin Skopic all took first place in two events for their age brackets.

All around her, as she was preparing for one of the biggest races of her career, 17-year-old Elizabeth Pelton tried to ignore the swimmers who looked like they were about to throw up on the pool deck. Some of them didn't just look sick. For two days, they were literally vomiting right in front of her at the Maryland State Championships, held this past weekend at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. "We were calling it The Plague," Pelton said. "I was a little nervous about it, thinking I was going to get it next.

Elizabeth Pelton of Ruxton broke the pool record in the 200-meter backstroke on the final day of the Columbus Grand Prix at Ohio State. Pelton erased the record by more than four seconds with a time of 2 minutes, 8.67 seconds. MLS: Substitute Kenny Mansally scored in the 80th and 82nd minutes to help the New England Revolution to a 2-0 victory over D.C. United, which was playing its home opener. Mansally, who entered in the 68th minute, redirected Chris Tierney 's deflected cross past United goalkeeper Troy Perkins to put New England (1-1-0)