Soni was one of four American Olympians to win gold on the second day of competition at the Mizzou Aquatics Center in Columbia, Mo. Also taking first were Kathleen Hersey (Atlanta, Ga.) in the women's 200m butterfly, Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) in the men's 100m backstroke and Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) in the women's 400m freestyle. U.S. National Teamer Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) won the women's 50m free.
Soni's performance in the 200m breast Saturday broke the former meet record of 2:26.98 by more than three and a half seconds. Her next closest competitor, Alia Atkinson was second in 2:29.00 while Terra Van Beilen was third in 2:31.69.
It was Soni's second win of the meet after setting the meet record in the 100m breast on day on Friday. "I didn't really expect to go that fast, but that's what my coach wanted me to do, so I hope he's happy with it," Soni said. "I know I am. It was a really good time for mid-season, so I'm really excited about it."
Hardy came out on top of what might have been the most anticipated match-up of the meet, winning the women's 50m free in 25.15. In addition to Hardy, the race included some of the top female sprinters in the U.S., including five-time Olympic legend Dara Torres (Parkland, Fla.), and Olympians Amanda Weir (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor, Mich.).
Weir finished second behind Hardy in 25.32, followed by Joyce in 25.35. Torres, competing in her first meet since the 2009 FINA World Championships and a major knee surgery, finished sixth in 26.13. Torres earned her 2012 Olympic Trials cut with her prelim 50m free swim earlier in the day.
Sutton's win in the women's 400m free was also her second win of the meet after finishing first in the 200m free on Friday. Her time of 4:09.09 was more than four seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Amber McDermott (Mill Creek, Wash.) was second in 4:13.37, while National Teamer Dagny Knutson (Minot, N.D.) was third in 4:14.65.
Grevers made up for a fifth-place finish in Friday night's 100m fly with his win tonight in the men's 100m back. He and fellow National Teamer Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio) raced neck-and-neck down the homestretch, with Grevers out-touching Thoman by four-hundredths at the wall, 54.29 to 54.33. Brazil's Thiago Pereira was third in 55.11.
Hersey cruised to the win in the women's 200m butterfly, touching about two and a half body lengths ahead of the field in 2:11.39. Knutson was second in 2:14.56, while Kelly Nelson was third in 2:14.59.
Other winners from Saturday nights finals included Brazil's Pereira in the men's 100m fly (1:59.21) and France's Fred Bousquet in the men's 50m free (22.07), Canada's Dominique Bouchard in the women's 100m back (1:04.14) and Japan's Ryo Tateishi in the men's 200m breast (2:14.24).
Tunisian Olympian Ous Mellouli took home his third win of the meet with a victory in the 400m free with a time of 3:46.64.
The winner of the men's 100m breaststroke was also decided in tonight's finals. The event was under protest Friday and re-swum at the start of the session Saturday. Tateishi took first in 1:02.81, followed by Mark Gangloff (Akron, Ohio), who was second in 1:02.89, and Pereira, who placed third in 1:02.98.
The 2011 Missouri Grand Prix runs through Monday, Feb. 21. The event will be webcast LIVE each day beginning at 9 a.m. CT for prelims and 5:30 p.m. CT for finals at usaswimming.org/webcasts.
2010-2011 USA Swimming Grand Prix Swim Meet Series
- Minnesota Grand Prix 12-14 Nov, 2010
Minneapolis, MN - Austin Grand Prix 14-17 Jan, 2011
Austin, TX - Missouri Grand Prix 18-21 Feb, 2011
Columbia, MO - Indianapolis Grand Prix 3-5 Mar, 2011
Indianapolis, IN - Michigan Grand Prix 8-10 Apr, 2011
Ann Arbor, MI - Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix 12-15 May, 2011
Charlotte, NC - Santa Clara International Grand Prix 16-19 Jun, 2011
Santa Clara, CA
Television and online coverage will also be provided of all 2010-2011 USA Swimming Grand Prix events. Universal Sports will broadcast the Austin Grand Prix (January 14-17), the Missouri Grand Prix (February 18-21), the Indianapolis Grand Prix (March 3-5) and the Michigan Grand Prix (April 8-10). Online coverage of all seven events will be provided by Swimnetwork.com and Universalsports.com.
This is the fourth year in a row that prize money has been awarded to the overall point leader of the Grand Prix Series. In its inaugural year in 2008, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps took home the prize. The 2009 purse went to National Team swimmer Mary DeScenza and Chloe Sutton took home $20,000 in 2010.
The scoring system awards swimmers points based on gold, silver and bronze-medal performances at each of the eight meets. A gold medal earns a swimmer five points, a silver medal is worth three points and a bronze medal is one point. The standings integrate male and female participants, recognizing the swimmer with the highest cumulative point total. In the event of a tie, the winner will be the swimmer who earned the highest single-race FINA power point ranking. Leaders will be tracked online at www.usaswimming.org and in Splash magazine, the official magazine of USA Swimming.
