Peirsol rested for 800 free

IRVINE — The decision was easy for Hayley Peirsol.

With the preliminaries for the 800-meter freestyle today, the former Newport Harbor High swimming star decided to scratch herself from Thursday’s finals in the 400 individual medley at the U.S. Swimming National Championships in the William Woollett, Jr. Aquatic Center at Irvine High.

She said she was not feeling well after the preliminaries for the 400 individual medley, which took place at 10 a.m.

“It’s great to have a day off,” Peirsol said. “I just wanted to rest a little bit for the 800. It’s always tough to get up in the morning and get it started. I’m not a morning swimmer. I’ve always been like that.”

At Auburn University, the mantra of Peirsol’s coach is that championships are won in the morning. This year, Peirsol led the team to a NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving championship with a pool record in the 1,650.

“It was by far the best feeling I’ve had,” said Peirsol, who added that Auburn was the underdog at the meet. “We accomplished so much this year. All of us were in it together. We wanted it so bad — more than anything.”

In the national championships on Tuesday, Peirsol finished third in the 400 freestyle with a time of 4 minutes, 11.24 seconds.

Peirsol also is enjoying the opportunity to be back in Orange County and watching her brother, Aaron, compete in the same meet.

“It’s great,” Peirsol said. “I haven’t seen him all summer. I get my heart rate up more for his race than I do for mine. It’s a different feeling, rooting for a sibling or a loved one.”

Despite her brother trailing for the first lap in the 100 backstroke on Wednesday, Hayley knew he would win.

“Without a doubt he can always pull it out,” she said.

Having an older brother who is an Olympic champion and world record holder has paid off for Peirsol in the pool.

“It’s good to look to him for experience and look to him for advice,” she said.

As a senior at Newport Harbor in 2003, Peirsol won the CIF Southern Section Division I Championship in the 200 and 500 freestyles.