SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Peter Vanderkaay broke the American record in the 400 freestyle Saturday, winning in 3 minutes, 43.82 seconds.
With Club Wolverine teammate Michael Phelps cheering him on, Vanderkaay dominated the race from start to finish, touching the wall well ahead of Erik Vendt.
A gold medalist on the 800 relay team in the 2004 Olympics,
"I felt good this morning, had a good swim last night so I wanted to see how fast I could go," Vanderkaay said. "I didn't really expect to (beat) the record but it feels great."
Vanderkaay broke the mark of 3:44.11 set by Klete Keller on Aug. 14, 2004. It was the sixth-fastest time ever in the event. Ian Thorpe holds the world record of 3:40.08.
"I still have some more training to do and some rest to get under my belt but I think I can go faster," said Vanderkaay, who set a meet record in the 200 free Friday. "It shows where I am right now and hopefully what I can do."