Oct. 7, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - Former Sun Devil swimmer Nick Brunelli brought home the gold medal at the World Short Course Championships Thursday night at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. Brunelli joined Neil Walker, Nate Dusing and Jason Lezak on the championship team.
Brunelli, who ranks second on the all-time ASU list in the 50 and 100 freestyle, swam the opening leg of the 400 freestyle relay for the United States. With a time of 3:09.96, narrowly missing the world record by 39-hundreths of a second, the Americans out swam second-place Brazil and third-place Canada.
The United States team of Walker, Ian Crocker, Brunelli and Dusing started off the first day of competition with a qualifying time of 3:11.18, leading the rest of the field by more than a second, putting them first heading into the finals.
Brunelli will hit the water again Friday as he tries for gold again in the 50 freestyle. He will swim in the 12th of 12 heats.
Still to compete at the World Short Course Championships is senior Florencia Szigeti (Argentina), the reigning 200 freestyle Pac-10 Champion and school record-holder in the 100 and 200 freestyle. She will compete in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events with competition beginning for her Friday in the 100 freestyle, swimming in heat five of seven.