Phelps' other victories included the 200m fly on Friday and the 200m freestyle and 400m individual medley on Saturday. "I'm confident right now going into Worlds," said Phelps, referring to next month's FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. "We're kind of ahead of schedule in where we wanted to be, so now it's time to really get down to business, start getting serious and over the next three weeks, put your mental toughness together."
Phelps won the 100m fly in 52.33, finishing more than a second ahead of Club Wolverine teammate Davis Tarwater, a two-time NCAA champion in the 200 fly. Tarwater touched in 53.36, and Brazil's Thiago Pereira was third in 53.48. In the 100m back, Phelps blew away the competition with a time of 54.46. After posting a personal best in the preliminary, Fabio Santi came in second in 58.69, and Mexico's Miguel Robles was third (59.61).
Natalie Coughlin of Cal Aquatics continued her string of success at the Missouri Grand Prix, picking up her fourth gold medal tonight in the 100m backstroke. Her time of 1:00.13 is the eighth-fastest of all time. Margaret Hoelzer touched in second place with a 1:01.18, and Athens Bulldog's Mary Descenza finished third in 1:02.70. Hoelzer and DeScenza each won three medals at the meet.
"My stroke felt really strong," Coughlin said. "I've been working on a few things that I think are starting to take shape. I'm very happy with how the meet has gone. My freestyle is on, my backstroke is on. This is my first long course meet in a long time, and since Worlds are long course, it's good that I'm already swimming fast. It'll be a fun month getting ready for it."
Olympic medalist and four-time NCAA champion Tara Kirk (Palo Alto Stanford) completed her sweep of the breaststroke events this weekend, winning at the 100-meter distance tonight with a personal best of 1:06.82. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Megan Jendrick of King Aquatic Club finished second in 1:07.99, more than three seconds in front of Gator Swim Club's Vipa Bernhardt (1:10.35).
American record-holder Katie Hoff of North Baltimore dominated the women's 200m IM, winning in 2:11.42, more than five seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Ariana Kukors of King Aquatic Club picked up her third medal of the meet, touching in 2:17.08. German Olympian Vipa Bernhardt came in third in 2:19.31.
Club Wolverine's Kalyn Keller, who was an Olympic finalist in the 800m free in Athens, won the event tonight with a time of 8:39.43. Japanese Olympian Sachiko Yamada (Mission Viejo) finished second in 8:50.92, and 2006 National Junior Team member Monica Drake of Bloomington Waves came in third with a time of 8:56.77.
Olympic medalist Rachel Komisarz of Lakeside won her second medal of the four-day event in the 100m butterfly, finishing in 57.96. UCLA Swimming's Kim Vandenberg grabbed her second medal in a butterfly event, taking second with a time of 59.09. Margaret Hoelzer (Auburn Aquatics) won her second bronze of the weekend in 59.60.
Kevin Swander of Indiana took first place in the 100m breast with a time of 1:01.75. Olympian and World Championship team member Scott Usher (Wyoming Aquatics) landed a second-place finish with a time of 1:02.93, and Boilermaker Aquatics' Giordan Pogioli earned the bronze medal with a time of 1:03.80.
Pereira won his second medal of the night and fourth of the meet, taking the title in the 200m IM with a time of 1:59.19. Tunisian Olympian Ous Mellouli (Trojan Swim Club) took second place honors in 2:00.21, and Trojan teammate Tamas Kerekjarto finished third in 2:03.55.
In the men's 1500m free, 2006 National Junior Team member Chad LaTourette of Mission Viejo claimed gold with a time of 15:27.81. Gator Swim Club's Ricardo Monasterio finished in second (15:31.56), and two-time Olympian Erik Vendt of Club Wolverine came in third with a time of 15:33.06.
Results From The 2007 Missouri Grand Prix Swim Meet
Olympians Win Distance And Sprint Events On Day 1 Of The 2007 Missouri Grand Prix Swim Meet
Michael Phelps Smashes World Record On Day 2 Of The Missouri Toyota Grand Prix Swim Meet
Natalie Coughlin Sets U.S. Open Record On Day 3 Of Missouri Grand Prix Swim Meet
Phelps Takes Two More On Final Night Of Missouri Grand Prix Swim Meet
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