Piersol and Hanson dominate championships

The Americans had 21 victories in 40 events and 41 medals overall.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Aaron Peirsol found the energy he needed to cap a dominant performance in the grueling, five-day Short Course World Championships.
On Monday night, Peirsol lowered his own world record in the 200-meter backstroke, then helped his U.S. teammates set a world mark in the 400 medley relay.
"You'd be surprised where you find it," Peirsol said. "It's pretty sweet."
The United States won five of 12 finals Monday night, giving the Americans 21 victories in 40 events and 41 medals overall.
"It's incredible, we've never had a team like this," Peirsol said. "I don't know if the athletes understand how amazing it is."
Australia was second with 29 medals, with Brooke Hanson winning six of the country's seven golds.
Backstroke time
Peirsol's time of 1 minute, 50.52 seconds in the backstroke bettered the mark of 1:50.64 that he set in March at a short course World Cup meet in East Meadow, N.Y.
He also won the 100 back in the 25-meter temporary pool at Conseco Fieldhouse.
"I had a pretty good inclination that I could do something like that," said Peirsol, who swept the backstroke events in the Athens Olympics six weeks ago. "It's so easy when the crowd is behind you."
The team of Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Ian Crocker and Jason Lezak won the relay by more than 5 seconds over Australia, finishing in 3:25.09 to break the mark of 3:25.38 set by the University of Texas in the World Cup meet in March.
When the race ended, the crowd chanted "USA! USA!"
"Every time we get together some magic happens," said Lezak, who began the evening with a victory in the 100 freestyle.
Peirsol led off and Hansen put them under world-record pace on the breaststroke leg. They fell slightly off record pace during Crocker's fly before Lezak brought it home in record time on the freestyle anchor leg.
"Those guys got me going," Peirsol said. "It's just amazing. I'm real tired."
All about Hanson
While the final night belonged to Peirsol, the championships belonged to Hanson. She won the 50 breaststroke, 100 and 200 individual medleys, 100 breaststroke and was part of Australia's world-record 400 medley relay team.
She closed it out Monday, breaking the gold-medal mark she shared with China's Le Jingyi (1993) and American Neil Walker (2000) when she edged American Amanda Beard by nearly a full second -- 2:21.68 to 2:22.53 -- in the 200 breaststroke.
"I'd been telling my dad all day how bad I was feeling and that this 26-year-old body couldn't hold up anymore," Hanson said.
She proved otherwise.
At night's end, Hanson and Hansen stood side-by-side on the podium as FINA officials awarded them the most outstanding female and male swimmer awards.
Hansen added two more golds to his medal count with wins in the medley relay and 50 breaststroke Monday. He finished with four golds, three in individual events.
The night also gave American Jenny Thompson a chance for a personal closing ceremony.
The 31-year-old Thompson, competing in her final meet, added another medal, a bronze in the 100 butterfly, before finishing seventh 25 minutes later in her final race -- the 50 free.
After the 50 free, Thompson remained in the pool until the other competitors congratulated her. She finished her career with 83 international medals, making her America's most decorated swimmer.
Got emotional
In Indianapolis, she won the 50 fly and swam on the winning 400 free relay team and was part of the second-place 400 medley relay team.
"I'd say the day was joyous most of the time," Thompson said. "I was upbeat all day. I did get a little emotional during the presentation and on the awards stand and those are normal times to get emotional."
The United States started the night strong, winning the first three finals.
Lezak won the 100 free in 47.97, Haley Cope took the 50 backstroke in 27.49, and Peirsol followed with his record-breaking swim in the 200 back.
In other events, Peter Mankoc of Slovenia won the 100 individual medley in a meet record of 52.66, and Martina Moravcova of Slovakia took the 100 fly in 57.38, defeating Americans Rachel Komisarz and Thompson.
Marleen Veldhuis won the 50 free, ahead of Lisbeth Lenton of Australia and world record-holder Therese Alshammar of Sweden. Yuri Prilukov of Russia won the 1,500 free, Josefin Lillhage of Sweden defeated world record-holder Lindsay Benko to win the 200 free, and James Hickman of Britain won the 200 fly for the fifth straight time.
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