…Argentina's Esteban Paz cut almost a second off of his National Record in the 400 IM over the weekend at his country's National Championships, with a 4:28.31. Among other notable times from the meet was a 1:10.29 from 19-year old Julia Sebastian in the women's 100 breaststroke. That was just a few tenths from the National Record, and gives her a FINA “B” time at the 11th hour, putting her in position for a potential Olympic berth. Full results from that meet are available here…
…The 2012 World Masters Championships have begun in Italy, and full results can be found here. There have been no monstrous swims yet, however look out for 1976 three-time Olympic gold medalist Jim Montgomery, who will be competing in Riccione…
…North Carolina State has hired Gary Taylor as their newest assistant coach to replace the recently-departed Stephen Thompson. Taylor, as was mused in this recent blog post from Chris DeSantis, is one of the most well-respected assistant coaches in this country. He will come to the Wolfpack from Florida State. He focused on distance swimmers while working with the seminoles, and that gives him serious credentials – he was the direct trainer of Mateo de Angulo, who was one of the country's top distance swimmers in the 2011-2012 season. He was in Tallahassee for 4 season. The Wolfpack are a program that made a huge leap last year in the first season under Braden Holloway. This should continue them on that path…