Hardy wins US 100m breaststroke title

World record-holder Jessica Hardy has won the women's 100m breaststroke title at the US swimming championships. Hardy won in 1min 6.81sec, well outside her world record time of 1:04.45. But she was comfortably in front of Ann Chandler, who was second in 1:07.17. Hardy withdrew from the 50m freestyle, opting not to double up on events as she did on the last day of the world championships on Sunday in Shanghai, where she won individual gold in the 50m breaststroke. "I'm not happy with the time, but I'm really grateful to have a good race," Hardy said. Hardy acknowledged she was feeling the strain of the national championships following so closely on the heels of worlds -- a schedule that prompted top swimmers including Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin to skip the US meet. "The whole meet is a cruel joke," Hardy said. "It's kind of awful having nationals this close to worlds." Nathan Adrian, who finished out of the medals in fourth at last week's worlds, won the men's 50m freestyle in 21.84sec. His time at the US meet would have been good enough for silver in Shanghai. "The only reason I came back here was my coach and I knew there was more in the tank," Adrian said. "I'm happy I got to come here and swim that time and be a little more satisfied with my season than I was." Elizabeth Beisel, who won the 400m individual medley world title at Shanghai, captured the national title in the same event. Beisel led from start to finish and won in 4:34.78. In other events, Lara Jackson won the women's 50m free in 24.98sec and Tim Phillips won the 100m butterfly in 51.69sec.