Lochte earned the top spot in the men's 200m free with a time of 1:49.25. He was tied at the first 100 meters with Ricky Berens (Charlotte, N.C.) but was able to take the lead in the second half of the race for the win. Dave Walters (Yorktown, Va.) placed second in 1:50.63 and Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) finished third in 1:51.39. Berens was fourth in 1:51.68. Phelps swam in the B final of the event and finished with a time of 1:49.90.
Phelps took home his first gold medal of the meet with a win in the men's 100m fly with a time of 52.55. Lochte placed second in 53.65 while David Russell (Wellesley, Mass.) was third with a time of 53.75.
Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) earned gold with her strong swim in the women's 200m free. She led the field after the first 100 meters and finished strong with a time of 1:58.69. Melissa Franklin (Centennial, Colo.) placed second in 1:59.00 and Elizabeth Pelton (Baltimore, Md.) was third in 2:00.07.
In the men's 100m breast, 2008 Olympian Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) placed first in 1:02.35. The race, which was one of the closest of the night, saw four of the eight finalists finishing under 1:03.00. Kevin Swander was second in 1:02.63 and Canada's Scott Dickens was third in 1:02.70. On the women's side, Canada's Haylee Johnson won the 100m breast in 1:10.60, Siri Eva Kristiansen was second in 1:11.07 and Romy Landeck was third in 1:12.17.
Olympian Elaine Breeden (Lexington, Ky.) won the women's 100m fly with a time of 59.22. Rachel Bootsma (Eden Prairie, Minn.) was second in 1:01.09 and Pelton was third in 1:01.13.
The final event of the evening, the 400m IM, was won by Julia Smit (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) on the women's side and Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.) on the men's side. Smit won in 4:38.83 and was followed by Nicole Vernon, who was second in 4:49.05, and Kathleen Hersey (Atlanta, Ga.), who was third in 4:50.63. Clary had a dominant win on the men's side with a time of 4:21.17. Jordan Hartney was second in 4:25.45 and Andrew Cosgarea (Baltimore, Md.) was third in 4:26.63.
The Austin Grand Prix continues Saturday with six events. Finals competition will include the 200m fly, 50m free, 100m back, 400m free, 200m breast and the 800m free relay. Prelims begin at 9:30 a.m. and finals start at 5:30 p.m.
You can follow the 2011 USA Swimming Austin Grand Prix Swim Meet Results on-line.
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.
