Thiago Pereira was crowned king of the Pan-American pool when his victory in the men's 200m backstroke earned him his fifth gold medal and seventh overall Friday. Argentina, meanwhile, confirmed its superiority in women's hockey as the world champion beat Canada 7-3 in Pool A in what could go down as their toughest match of the tournament. Pereira clocked one minute 57.19 seconds, breaking his own Games record set four years ago in Rio de Janeiro though well short of American Aaron Piersol's world record of 1:51.92. Omar Pinzon of Colombia was second and American Ryan Murphy third on the last night of swimming finals. Brazil also won the closing men's 4x100m medley relay ahead of the United States with Argentina a surprise third. In the women's equivalent, victory went to the US in a Games record of 4:01.00, Canada second and Brazil third. “It was important for us to qualify in this relay for the Olympics. We had do under 3:36.00,” said world 50 meters freestyle champion and record holder Cesar Cielo, a winner of four gold medals, after helping Brazil win the final in a time of 3:34.58. Lara Marie Jackson, with a Games record time of 25.09 seconds in the women's 50m, also contributed to the United States' table-topping haul of 44 medals in the pool, 17 of them gold. Brazil won 10 gold medals and 24 overall in swimming. Canada, Chile, the Cayman Islands and Venezuela had one gold each with the Venezuelans third overall with eight medals. On the second day of women's hockey action, the US looked set to top Pool B after a 2-1 win over Chile. Argentina coach Carlos Retegui said he now expected his Leonas (lionesses) to meet the Chileans in the semifinals. If that were the case the other semifinal is likely to be the US against Canada. The Canadians contributed to a memorable first half which ended with Argentina 4-3 ahead and in which all seven goals were from field plays. But two first-half goals from captain Luciana Aymar and two by Noel Barrionuevo from short corners in the second helped Argentina to an ultimately comfortable win. Canada took gold in the synchronized swimming teams' free routine, while Brazilian favorites Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca beat Mexico's Mayra Garcia and Bibiana Candelas in the women's beach volleyball final at Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific coast. The United States' all-round haul of medals after seven days of competition stands at 41 gold and 119 overall after victories for Jason Parker in the men's 50m rifle three positions and Kimberly Harryman in the women's skeet at the shooting range and the men's archery team, who beat Mexico in their final.
